Trump administration releases first batch of formerly classified UFO files
by Mike Glenn · The Washington TimesThe Pentagon is releasing a never-before-seen cache of UFO documents so the public can examine evidence gathered on what the government refers to as unidentified anomalous phenomena.
The files include dozens of government memos, photographs and FBI investigation reports.
One document in the tranche released Friday details a January 1994 report to the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan from the flight deck crew of a passenger jet that insisted they spotted a UAP in the skies over Kazakhstan. They described the object as a “bright light of enormous intensity” flying at an altitude much higher than their own.
“They watched the object for some 40 minutes as it maneuvered in circles, corkscrews, and made 90-degree turns at rapid rates of speed and under very high g’s,” embassy officials reported to the State Department.
The crew pushed back when the U.S. diplomats asked if the object might have been a meteor skipping off the Earth’s atmosphere.
“This, they insisted, was nothing like a meteor. On the basis of its speed and maneuverability, [the pilot] expressed the opinion, which his crew supported, that the object was extraterrestrial and under intelligent control,” according to the report.
The files also contain a brief transcription of a conversation in December 1965 between the crew of NASA’s Gemini VII mission and ground control. Astronaut Frank Borman told Houston that he spotted a “bogey at 10 o’clock high,” describing it as some kind of object accompanied by “hundreds of little particles.”
Astronaut Jim Lovell said it was a “brilliant body in the sun against a black background” and was slowly tumbling ahead of the spacecraft.
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“Roger,” ground control replied, according to the transcript.
Another file contains an August 1966 letter from Mrs. Florence C. Dow of Goffstown, N.H., who wanted to make the FBI aware of possible Communist infiltration of the Amalgamated Flying Saucer Club of North America. After reading one of their publications, Mrs. Dow told federal agents that the organization seemed suspicious.
“I can’t say just why, but with my limited idea of how Communists operate, it strikes me that [the AFSCA] is backed by them,” she wrote.
The file also contains the response from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who said he was sorry that he couldn’t help her. He said they “neither make evaluations nor draw conclusions as to the character or integrity of any organization, publication, or individual.”
Hoover’s memo came out before the FBI was accused of infiltrating several organizations deemed “subversive” in the 1960s.
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The release of information follows President Trump’s order to begin identifying and declassifying government files related to UAPs.
“No other president or administration in history has followed through on this level of UAP transparency,” Pentagon officials said.
Several agencies were involved in the process, including the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, NASA and the FBI. The collection will be available for public examination at War.GOV/UFO. Additional files will be released by the Defense Department on a rolling basis, officials said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the release will bring “unprecedented transparency” regarding the government’s understanding of unidentified flying objects.
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“These files hidden behind classifications have long fueled justified speculation, and it’s time the American people see it for themselves,” Mr. Hegseth said Friday in a statement.
Mr. Trump made the release announcement during last week’s visit to the White House by the Artemis II astronauts.
“We’re going to be releasing a lot of things that we haven’t. I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people,” he said.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said he fully supports the effort to bring transparency to the American public about UAPs.
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“At NASA, our job is to bring the brightest minds and most scientific instruments to bear, follow the data and share what we learn,” Mr. Isaacman said. “We will remain candid about what we know to be true, what we have yet to understand and all that remains to be discovered.”
This won’t be the first time that Mr. Trump has opened government files for scrutiny. Early in his presidency, he ordered the release of documents related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Those disclosures revealed scant details beyond what was already known.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.