Pentagon declassifies UFO reports spanning decades of sightings

The tranche of never-before-seen documents released by the Pentagon on UFOs includes descriptions of reported sightings - by civilians on Earth and by astronauts on the Moon, according to the BBC.

The documents, spanning decades, were declassified and posted online on Friday at the direction of President Donald Trump, who said earlier this year he would release them "based on the tremendous interest shown".

The US has seen renewed public interest in extraterrestrial life in recent years. In 2022, Congress held the first hearings on UFOs in 50 years and the military has promised more transparency on the matter.

The 161 files are accessible on the Department of Defense's website, with more set to be released.

Friday's release of files comes after former President Obama sparked further interest when he said in a February interview that aliens are "real, but I haven't seen them".

Obama has since clarified his comments, saying that statistically the chances are that life is out there but he saw "no evidence" while president.

Trump later that month directed to Pentagon to release files "related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)".

The files that came out Friday include decades of declassified military memos, reports from the Apollo Moon missions, and reports from individuals who claim to have witnessed a UFO - or an unidentified flying object - that they suspect has extraterrestrial origins.

The files contain previously classified transcripts from the astronauts aboard the Apollo 11, Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 Moon landing missions in the 1960s and 1970s.

Buzz Aldrin, famed astronaut from the Apollo 11 mission, said in a 1969 interview published on Friday that he saw several inexplicable phenomena on his trip to the Moon. "I observed what appeared to be a fairly bright light source which we tentatively ascribed to a possible laser," he said.

The transcripts show that Apollo 12 Astronaut Alan Bean, who walked on the Moon in 1969, said he saw particles and flashes of lights "sailing off in space" during the mission. The particles looked like they were "escaping the Moon", he said.

Two astronauts aboard the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 also reported seeing flashing light while on board. "It's like the Fourth of July out there!" astronaut Jack Schmitt said. They added that the light could have been reflections off pieces of ice.

Read the full BBC story here.