Pentagon releases first batch of 162 UFO files

The Pentagon has released an initial batch of 162 previously secret files on unidentified flying objects, in a fresh public step on a long-running transparency issue.

The documents were published on Friday on a new defence department website and include old State Department cables, FBI material and transcripts from Nasa crewed flights into space.

Officials said the release is part of a wider effort to declassify records on unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the files had long fuelled justified speculation and that it was time for the public to see them.

The release follows a February directive from Donald Trump for federal agencies to identify, declassify and publish UFO-related records.

The first batch appears to offer little new or conclusive evidence, according to the material made public so far.

The Pentagon said the public could make up its own mind about the information contained in the files.

The disclosure matters because it adds an official record to a subject that has drawn sustained public and political interest for decades.

It also signals that more material may be released as the declassification process continues.

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