Declassified UFO Files: New Government Reports on UAP Sightings

President Donald Trump ordered the release of more than 170 declassified files regarding unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) on May 8, 2026. The documents, which are hosted on a Department of War website, contain eyewitness accounts and evidence dating back to the 1940s, provided without government explanation or clarification.

The release follows a commitment made by the president on April 17, 2026, during a Turning Point USA event. At that gathering, President Trump stated that he had directed the Secretary of War to begin releasing government files related to UFOs and unexplained aerial phenomena, noting that the process had uncovered many interesting documents.

While some UAP accounts had previously been discussed in Congressional hearings in 2022 and 2023, the Department of War’s latest release includes previously unknown records. These files comprise reports from a wide array of witnesses, including civilian farmers, commercial airline pilots and Navy aviators. The Department of War has indicated that additional files will be released on a rolling basis.

Historical Civilian and Commercial Sightings

Among the earliest records is a report from February 18, 1947, filed by Leland Sammers, a farmer living west of Stockton, California. Sammers reported seeing an object hovering above his house that wobbled and belched fire and sparks before taking off in a northwesterly direction.

Other early aviation reports include an August 4, 1947, sighting by Pan American airliner pilots traveling between Gander, Newfoundland, and LaGuardia Field in New York City. The pilots reported seeing two gold-colored cylinders, each approximately 15 feet long and 3 feet in diameter, traveling at an estimated speed of 175 miles per hour. The sightings lasted roughly 90 seconds.

The declassified files also include reports of physical encounters. On September 27, 1950, two Philadelphia Police Department officers reported a 6-foot diameter object that descended into a field and emitted a purplish, mist-like glow. According to the report, the object disintegrated completely over a period of 25 minutes after the officers attempted to pick it up, leaving behind a slight odorless residue.

In another instance on August 9, 1952, two employees of the DuPont Chemical plant in Savannah River, South Carolina, reported a saucer-shaped blue light with an orange fringe traveling at a high rate of speed. The report was sent as an urgent teletype to then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who responded two days later by forwarding the matter to the Director of Special Investigations for the Department of the Air Force.

Space-Based Observations

The document dump includes sightings from the Gemini 7 mission on December 4, 1965. Commander Frank Borman and pilot Jim Lovell reported seeing an unidentified object, which Borman referred to as a bogey, along with hundreds of small particles after separating from their upper stage booster.

A NASA official’s scribbled note accompanying the release explicitly labels the event as a UFO sighting by Borman. The official statement read to the press at the time confirmed the presence of the unidentified object and particles on the master tape in the control room.

Not all space-based anomalies proved to be mysterious. On December 16, 1965, during the Gemini 6 mission, Commander Wally Schirra reported a satellite-like object in a polar orbit. This “bogey” was later revealed to be a prank. Schirra had smuggled a harmonica and bells aboard the ship and played “Jingle Bells” over the radio to Mission Control and the Gemini 7 crew.

Modern Military Encounters and Video Evidence

Recent naval encounters have provided the most technical evidence, including infrared video footage. A newly revealed report from January 1, 2024, describes a football-shaped body with three fin-like projections—one vertical and two at 45-degree angles. The object remained visible on infrared sensors for nine seconds before disappearing.

Another infrared sighting from January 1, 2020, captured a bright, dancing point moving erratically over the Middle East for one minute and three seconds. The files detail a 2013 encounter where an eight-pointed starlike body maneuvered in front of a Naval jet for one minute and 46 seconds, leaving a fine contrail of exhaust.

These follow previously reported 2013 encounters off the coast of Virginia Beach. In those instances, F/A-18 fighter jets encountered a cluster of objects described by former Navy Lieutenant Ryan Graves as dark gray or black cubes inside clear spheres. These objects, measuring five to 15 feet across, were observed moving at 350 knots or remaining stationary in 150-knot winds without any visible means of propulsion.

The declassified records also contain outliers, such as a March 19, 1950, report sent to a non-existent “Commission of Scientific Investigation of the United States of North America,” which claimed the U.S. Government was using atomic force to create flying saucers.