The Pentagon’s latest release of files relating to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) answers a few questions but raises many more.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) on Friday unsealed a tranche of more than 160 files, including 120 PDFs, 28 videos, and 14 images compiled by itself, NASA, the FBI, and State Department, spanning from the 1940s to this decade. The files describe UAP reported during the Apollo missions, Cold War era, and as recently as late 2025.
According to officials, the documents were unsealed to allow Americans to “make up their own minds” about the government’s handling of UAP.
But Ryan Graves, executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace (ASA)—and one of the first active military personnel to report UAP sightings in 2014, as an F-18 pilot for the U.S. Navy—believes pilots and other observers still face barriers to reporting what they see.
“For pilots and aircrew, this release helps illuminate the confusion that can occur when aviators encounter something unusual without clear guidance, reporting pathways, or training for how to respond,” Graves told FLYING. “Transparency is an important first step, but it must be paired with practical procedures that protect flight safety, reduce stigma, and ensure pilots know what to do when they observe anomalous activity in or near controlled airspace.”
ASA helped craft the Safe Airspace for Americans Act, which was introduced in the House in September and would do exactly that. The bill would establish an official, confidential FAA channel for commercial pilots, air traffic controllers, flight attendants, and other aviation professionals to report UAP without jeopardizing their medical or airman certificate.
A more robust, centralized reporting mechanism could allow pilots to better assist federal agencies with their investigations into the phenomena.
Graves during a 2023 Congressional hearing estimated that 95 percent of UAP sightings by pilots go unreported, giving them less clarity on activity in the national airspace system (NAS), even if mundane explanations are ultimately found.
What’s in the New Files?
President Donald Trump in February ordered federal agencies to compile records relating to UAP and prepare them for public release, which they did Friday by creating a new Pentagon database.
Under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) program, officials plan to unseal more files every few weeks, “on a rolling basis as they are discovered and declassified,” per a news release.
The release noted that the files have “not yet been analyzed for resolution of any anomalies” and do not provide proof of extraterrestrial activity. The Pentagon said it “welcomes the application of private-sector analysis, information, and expertise” as it opens investigations into some of the reports.
Among the most eye-catching files are some dating back to NASA’s Apollo missions. One document attributes three anomalous observations to Apollo 11 lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin—an “object on the way out to the moon,” “flashes of light inside the cabin,” and a “bright light tentatively assumed by the crew to be a laser.”
Five archival photographs from Apollo 12 in 1969 include highlighted areas containing what the files describe as “unidentified phenomena.” Per a transcript of that mission, one astronaut observed flashes of light that he described as “escaping the moon” and “sailing off in space.” Another described “little bits and pieces floating” outside the spacecraft.
Another file depicts an image taken during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 that appears to show “three ‘dots’ in a triangular formation.” Astronauts described them as “very bright particles or fragments” that looked “like the Fourth of July,” theorizing they could be fragments of ice or paint ejected from their spacecraft. The mission’s commander later described an intense light that he compared to the headlight of a train pointed between his eyes.
The Pentagon said its early analysis has concluded the “dots” could be physical objects. It plans to conduct and release a full investigation.
Also garnering attention is a large, previously released FBI file containing eyewitness testimony and public reports between 1947 and ’68, which now has fewer redactions. The FBI published more than 30 photos from government and military systems that are dated late 2025, as well as Cold War-era accounts of a “genuine flying saucer or flying disc” and more recent military reports from Iraq, Syria, Africa, and Japan.
Other documents are more opaque, such as September 2023 reports from a closed U.S. military test site.
In an interview, a woman with 15 years of experience working on U.S. military installations said that she saw a “cigar-shaped object” suddenly materialize and vanish above the test site. The woman said she had “never seen anything like the object she observed” and that she “felt it left when we saw them.” Another witness reported trouble sleeping after the sighting.
An FBI rendering of the object based on “corroborating eyewitness reports” shows an “apparent ellipsoid bronze metallic object” that is about the length of two or three Black Hawk helicopters, or about 130-195 feet. Witnesses said the object appeared with a bright flash of light.
The woman said she would not have reported the sighting if others were not present and was met with incredulous reactions from coworkers.
More Work to Be Done
Pilots face a similar dilemma—the risk of losing their medical certificate or job for reporting UAP.
Project Blue Book is perhaps the most well-known U.S. government investigation into UAP. The Air Force-led inquiry spanned 1952-69 and explored thousands of early sightings, such as the infamous Roswell incident in New Mexico. But research since has been fragmented and decentralized, leaving observers with few avenues to share what they see.
From 2007-12, the U.S. Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program led those efforts. It was succeeded by the Office of Naval Intelligence’s UAP Task Force, which in 2021 released a preliminary report analyzing reported sightings of aircraft that moved incredibly fast, lacked visible propulsion systems, or maneuvered in ways believed to be impossible.
Explanations ranged from natural phenomena to advanced craft secretly developed by U.S. adversaries.
“There’s footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don’t know exactly what they are,” former president Barack Obama said in 2021.
UAP investigations are now led by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), established in 2022 within the office of the secretary of defense. Before Graves’ 2023 testimony, the AARO was slow to move. But soon after he criticized the lack of a mechanism to report his 2014 and ’15 sightings aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the office launched a public website and secure reporting mechanism for government personnel.
The AARO has since opened hundreds of investigations and concluded that about half of the reported sightings were mundane objects such as balloons. But by giving pilots a dedicated UAP reporting mechanism, their sightings could help shed light on incidents that remain unexplained.
Graves describes ASA as the first pilot-led advocacy group dedicated to UAP. The FAA documents UAP sightings that pilots have reported to air traffic control facilities and shares them with the AARO.
However, Graves said most pilots are scared to report. Some turn to the FAA and NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), which was designed to field reports of conventional hazards such as bird strikes. But the “data often goes nowhere meaningful” when pilots use existing systems.
“The stigma hasn’t changed much since my 2023 testimony,” he said. “Pilots make a calculation. Is it worth the professional risk to report something I can’t explain? Usually, they decide it isn’t.”
The ASA-endorsed Safe Airspace for Americans Act would address that concern by creating a more robust UAP reporting system for the FAA. The group also supports state-level legislation, such as a recent New Jersey bill that funds the state’s inaugural UAP research center.
ASA offers consultations, professional testimony, state-specific UAP data, and other resources for states that are interested in creating their own research centers. Already, Graves said, many are looking to New Jersey’s bill as a “template” that could be replicated.
Federal officials have maintained that none of the unsealed UAP files provide evidence of alien technology. Still, at least one official heavily involved in UAP research—former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson—believes we are not alone.
“If you ask me, do I believe there’s life in a universe that is so vast that it’s hard for me to comprehend how big it is?” Nelson said in 2023. “My personal answer is yes.”