War Department Releases 161 UFO Files Today
- Cristina Gomez
- May 8
- 3 min read
The Department of War released the first batch of declassified UFO files this morning, posting 161 records at war.gov/UFO. The release follows President Donald Trump’s directive ordering the Department of War, with support from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to find, review, declassify, and publicly release unresolved UAP-related records held across the federal government. According to the official directive, the rollout will arrive in batches every few weeks rather than a single document dump, a markedly different approach from how the JFK files were handled.
Fox News broke the release live this morning, with national security correspondent Peter Doocy walking viewers through three of the new videos. The first, recorded over the United Arab Emirates in June 2024, shows what the War Department describes as an inverted teardrop with a vertical linear trailing mass suspended below. The second, captured over Iraq in December 2022 by United States Central Command, shows only an area of contrast crossing the field of view. The third, recorded over Greece in October 2023, shows a small circular object flying near the ocean’s surface toward land. All three remain officially listed as unresolved.
The release also includes archival footage from Apollo 17, in which astronauts described bright, jagged, angular fragments tumbling past the spacecraft. According to Fox News reporting on the release, the standard explanation for decades has been floating insulation, but the White House now states there is no consensus on what the anomaly actually is. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a statement that the Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring transparency to UAP records that have long been hidden behind classifications.
The release does not contain the 46 classified Pentagon UFO videos that Representative Anna Paulina Luna has been demanding. According to Luna’s post on X, those 46 videos will arrive in the second tranche. Representative Tim Burchett, who attended a West Wing meeting, predicted the staggered rollout in his recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, telling Rogan that the public would receive something but not even half of what they should receive. Asked directly on Fox News whether anything in today’s release addresses crash retrieval programs, Doocy confirmed that nothing in this batch does, even though crash retrieval and non-human biologics remain at the center of David Grusch’s sworn testimony to Congress.
The timing of the release has also drawn attention. The drop landed the day after the National Day of Prayer, the same week Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican and gifted the Pope a crystal football. As reference to the broader context, prominent American pastors including Perry Stone and Bishop Alan DiDio have publicly stated they were briefed earlier this year about an imminent UAP disclosure, though DiDio has clarified the briefing was organized by individuals connected to government rather than active officials. According to The New York Post, the rollout will continue in weekly tranches, giving the administration full control over the pace and framing of what reaches the public next.
Sources
Fox News. (2026, May 8). BREAKING: Trump releases UFO, alien life files [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ckCzwhk784
LiveNOW from FOX. (2026, May 7). Sec. Rubio arrives at the Vatican to meet with Pope Leo XIV after Trump’s criticism over Iran [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eGZDu6vxuM
PowerfulJRE. (2026, May 7). Joe Rogan Experience #2495 — Tim Burchett [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKwq7mpBTrY
Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters. (2026, May 8). U.S. Department of War. https://www.war.gov/UFO/#directive
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