Nasa has released photographs of what it calls unidentified anomalous phenomena photographed by astronauts on the moon. Photo / Nasa
Apollo astronauts landing on the moon saw unidentified flying objects floating nearby on two separate missions, newly released files reveal.
A photograph from the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the last time humans set foot on the lunar surface, shows three mysterious dots in a triangular formation floating in the sky.
Another photograph taken from the surface of the moon during the Apollo 12 mission, in 1969, appeared to show a vertical blue hazy phenomenon passing by.
The documents are part of a “never-before-seen” trove of files that the Pentagon declassified on Friday, inviting the public to draw their own conclusions about decades of possible evidence regarding what it now refers to as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).
“No other President or administration in history has followed through on this level of UAP transparency,” the Pentagon said.
It added that Donald Trump, whose Department of Justice was heavily criticised over its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, “is focused on providing maximum transparency to the public, who can ultimately make up their own minds about the information contained in these files”.
The initial files are largely murky archival images, including flashes of light, clusters of dots and oddly shaped objects taken in the skies across the United States, Greece, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere across decades.
The files also include witness testimony and public reports to the FBI about possible sightings. The Pentagon admitted some of this information had already “partially” been made public.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called it a moment of “unprecedented transparency”.
“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fuelled justified speculation – and it’s time the American people see it for themselves,” he said.
But John Alexander, a retired US Army colonel who has carried out extensive research into unidentified flying object (UFO) phenomena, said he was sceptical about the significance of the release.
“I suspect they’re going to have thousands and thousands of documents, many of which will be simply news clippings and things of that nature … I seriously doubt that we will get anything [near to an] answer,” he told The Telegraph.
He is suspicious of the administration’s decision to release the files now, arguing it is likely intended to create a distraction from issues such as the war in Iran.
“What they have done is flood the zone with nothing the public will be interested in,” he said, adding Americans will be much more concerned with petrol prices.
The files revealed that during Apollo 17, the final crewed mission of Nasa’s Apollo programme, astronaut Ronald Evans told the command centre: “Now we’ve got a few very bright particles or fragments or something that go drifting by as we manoeuvre.”
“Roger. Understand,” the centre replied.
Another astronaut, Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, said: “It looks like the Fourth of July out of Ron’s window.” Evans then added: “They’re very jagged, angular fragments that are tumbling.”
The Pentagon said in an accompanying description that “there is no consensus about the nature of the anomaly” but that a new, preliminary analysis indicated that it could be a “physical object”.
The documents also included a transcript of the 1969 Apollo 11 lunar mission crew debriefing, in which Buzz Aldrin described three “unusual” phenomena he witnessed.
“The first unusual thing that we saw, I guess, was one day out or something pretty close to the moon. It had a sizeable dimension to it, so we put the monocular on it,” he said.
Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, also saw “little flashes inside the cabin, spaced a couple of minutes apart,” along with a “fairly bright light source which we tentatively ascribed to a possible laser”.
Another pair of photos, handled by the FBI, showed unknown objects close to a US aircraft on December 31, 1999.
More recently, a military operator reported a UAP above the Strait of Hormuz. The report stated it was flying 550m above the critical shipping route in September 2020.
According to the transcript of a 2025 FBI interview, a senior US intelligence official said he had encountered a UFO at a US military facility.
He claimed that after searching the site with a helicopter, he and other officials found a “super-hot” orb hovering over the ground that travelled for about 30km at a speed too fast for them to pursue.
“A total of four or five additional orbs were seen shortly thereafter for a short time, flaring up and then down,” the report added.
Experts and whistleblowers have long suggested some sightings could be highly advanced military technology not yet known to the public.
A 2024 Pentagon report confirmed that US military intelligence historically used fake UFO sightings to disguise advanced aerospace technology and weapons testing.
The Pentagon said additional documents will be released on a rolling basis.
Michael Gold, Nasa’s former associate administrator for space policy and partnerships, said this release was only the start.
Now chief growth officer of Redwing, the US aerospace manufacturer, Gold said it was an “unprecedented step”.
“I think we’ve never seen anything like this in our lives from this level of government officials, from this level of transparency,” he said.
“We need to recognise that this is the beginning of a discussion, not an ending. And I’m very eager to see future releases. But this is an excellent start.”
The initiative is also being led by the White House, the director of national intelligence, the Energy Department, Nasa and the FBI.
Trump called it an effort for “complete and maximum transparency” over UFO-related sightings.
He wrote on Truth Social: “It was my Honor to direct my Administration to identify and provide Government files related to Alien and Extraterrestrial Life, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, and Unidentified Flying Objects. Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!”
FBI director Kash Patel said: “For the first time in history, the American people have unfettered access to declassified Government files on unidentified anomalous phenomenon, a level of transparency that no prior administration has delivered.”
Trump has been teasing the announcement since February. He has previously released records related to the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy and activist Martin Luther King jnr.
Despite the anticipation, none of the releases contained any significant revelations.
The Pentagon has been working on declassifying documents related to UFOs for years, and Congress created an office in 2022 to declassify material.
Its 2024 debut report revealed hundreds of new UAP incidents but found no evidence that the US Government had ever confirmed a sighting of alien technology.
Congress ordered the Pentagon to begin releasing decades of files on UFO sightings in 2022 as some members of the military shared encounters with unexplained aircraft.
A small group of Republicans in Congress had pressed for further transparency, accusing the Pentagon of holding documents back.
A March letter from Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican representative from Florida, demanded 46 UAP videos identified by whistleblowers.
On Friday, Luna said those videos are expected to be released in a later Pentagon disclosure.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Republican representative who broke with Trump last year, accused the administration of releasing the files to distract from its costly, protracted conflict with Iran.
“The most transparent administration in history still hasn’t released all the Epstein files or arrested anyone, but rolled out some UFO files today so you would get so excited that you forgot you are paying over US$4.50 ($7.50)/gallon because they are fighting another foreign war they said they would no longer fight,” she wrote on X.
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