UFO files spanning decades are released by Defense Department

An image recorded on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 shows the shadows of astronauts, along with a highlighted area above the horizon showing "unidentified phenomena," according to the Defense Department. NASA/via Defense Department hide caption toggle caption NASA/via Defense Department Cold War reports of mysterious rotating saucers; recent sightings of metallic elliptical objects floating in mid-air. Those and other reports of unidentifiable anomalous phenomena or UAPs — the military's term for UFOs — are described in a trove of documents released by the Department of Defense on Friday. In all, the Pentagon released more than 160 records, citing President Trump's call for unprecedented transparency in giving the public access to federal and military records related to unexplained encounters with strange phenomena. President Trump said via Truth Social that with the documents and other records available to the public, "the people can decide for themselves, 'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?' Have Fun and Enjoy!" The records are posted to a specialized web portal, war.gov/info , which will house additional files as they're released on a rolling basis. "These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it's time the American people see it for themselves," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a Defense Department posting on Facebook as it made the files public. …