President Donald Trump's administration on Friday, May 8, released a trove of documents and photos related to phenomena known as UFOs through a publicly accessible website.
The release comes after President Trumppreviously signaledthat he had tasked Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and other government officials to make public "government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)."
"Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!" Trumpsaid on Truth Social in February.
The Pentagon released the files May 8 on its new website,war.gov/UFO. The site also includes a link to additional UFO material athttps://www.aaro.mil/, where unidentified phenomena are referred to as UAPs.
The war.gov/UFO website includes documents and other data listed by agency, location, date and other identifying information. Each listing is clickable and reveals details on the report.
Hegseth said in a statement on the May 8 news release that the Pentagon was "in lockstep" with Trump, "to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena."
Among the reports and recordings were 1972 recordings from Apollo 17 astronauts who said they saw strange lights and other sights during their trip to the moon and back.
What did Apollo 17 astronauts report in space?
The Apollo 17 astronauts were thelast humans to set foot on the moon, and the three crew members reportedvery interesting sights during the mission.
While scouring the lunar surface for intriguing rock samples in 1972 to take back to Earth, the astronauts also reported witnessing mysterious phenomenon inspace, including flashing lights that one crew member said lit up the sky “like the Fourth of July.”
The revelation was included in atrove of new files the government releasedFriday, May 8 related to reports of UFOs, which are now more officially referred to as the less stigmatized "unidentified anomalous phenomena." The release marks the latest chapter amid a resurgentpublic interest in UFOs, which has been spurred by a number ofhigh-profile Congressional hearingsin recent yearson the topic.
What was NASA's Apollo 17 moon mission?
TheApollo 17mission in 1972 was NASA's ninth and final crewed U.S. mission to the moon under the iconic program.
The Apollo 17 astronauts were largely tasked with collecting lunar regolith samples, but the crew also apparently witnessed a number of strange sightings above the lunar surface.
New documents released by the Pentagon reveal that the Apollo 17 astronauts reported observing unidentified phenomenon during three consecutive days of their mission. Atranscript of communicationsreleased in the disclosure detail the crew members' exchanges with the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
On the first day of operations, crew member Ronald Evans reported observing “very bright particles or fragments” drifting and “tumbling” nearby. Harrison Schmitt, the lunar module pilot, further described the phenomenon as looking “like the Fourth of July.”
The next day, commander Eugene Cernan reported spotting “some sets of the streaks" accompanied by an intense light flashing between his eyes, which he compared to a train headlight. Within the next three hours, Cernan said he observed more flashing, as well as a rotating phenomenon that he said seemed to correspond to objects in space.
On day three, Schmitt exclaimed that he had observed a flash on the lunar surface north ofGrimaldi(crater).
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To explain some of phenomena they observed, the astronauts assumed the source could have been separated stages of the Saturn V rocket thatpropelled them to the moon.
Pentagon to investigate photo from Apollo 17
The Pentagon also included a previously-released photo that shows three bright lights visible in a triangle formation above the lunar terrain that it said is now under investigation.
"There is no consensus about the nature of the anomaly," the Pentagon said in the disclosure files. "New preliminary US government analysis suggests the image feature is potentially the result of a physical object in the scene."
Other NASA missions, including Gemini VII, also included in UFO files
Apollo 17 is apparently far from the only NASA mission during which unidentified objects were observed in space.
Included in Pentagon's first release are files from Apollo 11 and 12, as well as Gemini VII andSkylab, an orbital outpost that was a predecessor to theInternational Space Station.
The Earth-orbiting Gemini VII mission in 1965 was NASA's 10th-ever crewed spaceflight. Here's what was said in a transcript of communications shared in thenewly-released filesduring the mission between crew membersJim Lovelland Frank Borman with what's now known as the Johnson Space Center in Houston:
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Borman reported sighting a "bogey" – referring to an unknown aircraft – and a debris field.
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Lovell described observing a “brilliant body in the sun against a black background with trillions of particles on it.”
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An attached document also includes handwritten notes detailing the encounter, annotated with the phrase “UFO Sighting by Borman."
Apollo 11, 12 astronauts witnessed unidentified phenomenon, Pentagon report states
Apollo 11 made history in 1969 as the first mission to successfully land astronauts on the moon. But areleased debriefingdated July 31, 1969 suggests the crew may have also witnessed three UFO sightings.
The observations highlighted in the document – all made during the crew's return trip to Earth – include an object on the way toward the moon that the astronauts speculated may have been the Saturn V launch vehicle. The astronauts also witnessed two, flashes of light inside the crew cabin, and a sighting of a bright light tentatively assumed to be a laser.
During Apollo 12 in 1969 – the fourth crewed mission under the program and the second to land astronauts on the moon – astronauts twice reported observing unidentified phenomenon above the surface, according to thefiles.
Here's what was said in excerpts from the Apollo 12 "technical air-to-ground voice transcriptions," based on the files:
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On day 5, Alan Bean, the pilot of the lunar module, described observing particles and flashes of light “sailing off in space” that he characterized as “escaping the moon.”
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On day 6, Mission Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad described observing floating debris outside the lunar module, which had been illuminated by the module’s onboard tracking light.
Do the files include Michigan sightings?
The reports released on Friday don't appear to includeMichigan-specific UFO information.
The National UFO Reporting Center, based in Davenport, Washington, includes dozens of reports on UFO or UAP activity in Michigan, including 15 in 2026.
The most recent UFO report from Michigan, reported onMay 2,says an individual near Reed City saw a very bright light "higher than a plane should be" that lasted for about 5 minutes.
"The object entered my frame of vision heading southeast in a sort of squiggle line fashion is the best way to explain it. It was almost like it wanted to look like a satellite but it couldn’t maintain a steady speed or course of direction. Speeding up and slowing down as it almost looked like a drunk driver swerving across the sky for a lack of better terms," the report said.
A differentreport from April 24,near Bridgeport, said an individual saw a "large Ferris wheel" object in the sky that followed them and hovered over their driveway before it "shot off."
The report included two blurry photos.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today:Where can I find the newly released UFO files. Where to find website
