meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Headlines From The Times

Pentagon Releases 162 Never-Before-Seen UFO Files — One Expert Says There's Nothing New There

Headlines From The Times

L.A. Times Studios

News, Daily News, Society & Culture, The Times, California

4.1544 Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2026

⏱️ 3 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On Friday, the Pentagon released a batch of never-before-seen files. All 162 documents, photos, and videos are related to what the government calls "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena," or what most people call UFOs. The latest files are posted to a new website from the Department of Defense, and officials say there's more to come, with files to be released to the public on a rolling basis. But one expert and former Department of Defense official that spoke with L.A. Times Studios says there's really nothing new in the files, and that the release without analysis or context could create more conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. Read more at https://www.latimes.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is an L.A. Times Studios podcast.

0:09.6

On Friday, the Pentagon released a batch of never before seeing files.

0:15.0

All 162 documents, photos, and videos are related to what the government calls

0:20.6

unidentified anomalous

0:22.4

phenomenon, UAPs, or what most people call UFOs.

0:27.8

Here's a five-second long video from 2024 submitted by the U.S. Central Command with an accompanying

0:34.1

report describing a UAP as a misshapen and uneven ball of white light.

0:40.4

Though the Department of Defense warns that the video description is, quote, provided for informational purposes only,

0:46.9

and that readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment or investigative conclusion. Just two years ago,

0:56.3

a Pentagon report found no cases of UAPs representing off-world technology or the existence

1:02.7

of any classified programs not properly reported to Congress. The latest files are posted to a new

1:09.1

website from the Department of Defense, war.gov slash UFO.

1:13.8

And officials say there's more to come, and that files will be released to the public on a rolling basis.

1:19.7

The first drop already contains a trove of photos, incident reports, and detailed accounts of alleged UFO or alien sightings, dating back at least to the 1940s.

1:30.7

In one memo from 1966, a man named Paul L. Wright wrote to former FBI director Jay Edgar Hoover,

1:38.1

wondering if his FBI agents had seen any UFOs.

1:41.6

The federal government has been tracking UFO reports for decades, including

1:46.2

through the Pentagon's secretive advanced aviation threat identification program study, which was

1:51.8

created nearly 20 years ago. Despite pushing for the declassification, the Trump administration

1:57.6

isn't taking a position on what, if anything, the files prove.

2:02.4

Defense Secretary Pete Heggzatz said in a statement that the UAP release is in line with President

2:07.7

Trump's push for, quote, unprecedented transparency, adding that the classified files have long-fueled

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 2 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from L.A. Times Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of L.A. Times Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.