The Department of Defense (DOD) on July 10 released the fourth batch of declassified unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) files as part of the administration’s broader effort to increase transparency around government investigations of UAPs.
While commonly known as unidentified flying objects (UFOs), more broadly, UAPs are observed objects or events in the air, sea, or space that cannot be immediately identified or explained.
The latest disclosure brings the total number of released files to 334. The current release includes 40 files consisting of 14 documents, 19 videos, four audio files, and three images. The files come from a variety of agencies: the Pentagon, NASA, CIA, FBI and Energy Department (DOE).
The disclosure follows three earlier releases of previously secret or rarely seen UAP-related files. According to the DOD, the government website established to house the materials, WAR.GOV/UFO, has received more than 1.7 billion hits worldwide since launching on May 8.
Under the Trump administration, the DOD was rebranded as the Department of War.
The DOD said it will release additional files on a rolling basis.
What’s in the files?
Like the previous disclosures, this fourth release includes a mix of mostly unredacted historical documents and videos, as well as files detailing more recent events, including firsthand testimony from civilians and military personnel.
MeriTalk reviewed the newly released files and found several that stand out for their unusual imagery and detailed eyewitness testimony.
While the materials provide dramatic visuals and detailed accounts, they do not offer confirmation of extraterrestrial life.
Among the historical files is a transcript of a 1949 conference of top physicists and scientists, including those who worked on the Manhattan Project. The conference attendees tried to explain “green fireballs” that had been spotted over the Los Alamos, N.M., nuclear lab. One theory held that they were meteors entering the atmosphere, but a prominent astronomer noted that “nothing like this … has ever been observed in the case of meteorite drops.”
Another 1948 file is a report from the Air Materiel Command’s initial file on Project Sign, the U.S. Air Force’s first official investigation into unidentified flying objects. The document is part of a larger report cataloging 100 UFO sightings from 1947 to1948.
Another file comes from DOE and details an intrusion by an unidentified object into the airspace over a nuclear weapons facility known as Pantex near Amarillo, Texas, in September 2015. The document includes the account of two officers who chased the object as the nuclear facility was placed on lockdown.
In another encounter, dated 1955, a memorandum analyzes reports of “flying saucers” or “unconventional aircraft,” referencing an incident documented in debriefings from the CIA. The report describes two lights rising vertically before passing above the observers but concludes that the available evidence did not indicate the presence of an unconventional aircraft. The memorandum also cites Dr. Howard Robertson’s 1953 finding that all UFO sightings posed no threat to the United States and discusses ongoing research into saucer-like aircraft under Project “Y,” a joint U.S.-Canadian aerospace development program.