The Pentagon starts releasing files and videos of unidentified objects

The United States Department of Defense began releasing classified files, images, and videos of unidentified flying objects. The release is the government's publication of material that had been secret. It started on May 8. The subject is reports of objects in the sky that were not identified at the time.

Unidentified flying objects are sightings that observers could not match to a known aircraft or natural event. Classified files are records restricted for security reasons. Releasing them moves those records into the public domain, often with some passages still withheld. Images and videos are part of what the department said it was putting out, not only paper memos.

President Donald Trump had said days earlier that his administration would soon release more classified files and videos related to these objects and to related material. He said he had spoken to Air Force pilots who had seen things people would not believe. The department's release is the step that follows that statement. The report does not inventory how many files or which years they cover.

The Department of Defense is the United States military department. An official release is different from a leak because the department itself is the source. The account does not say that the videos prove any particular explanation. It says the files, images, and videos are being released.

Governments have collected pilot and radar reports of unidentified objects for decades. Making a batch of them public lets outside readers see material that had been restricted. The May 8 action is the start of that release, in the wording of the report. It does not declare the investigation finished.

The Pentagon has begun publishing classified UFO files, images, and videos. The move follows Trump's statement that more of the material would be released and that pilots had described extraordinary sightings. The department is the publisher. The release began on May 8.