The Pentagon released 161 never-before-seen documents on UFOs, covering decades of sightings by civilians and astronauts, as directed by former President Donald Trump; the files, accessible on the Department of Defense’s website, include Apollo mission transcripts and military reports.

Flashing Lights Observed by Apollo Astronauts

Apollo astronauts described unusual phenomena, including flashes of light — Buzz Aldrin from the Apollo 11 mission mentioned seeing a “fairly bright light source” in 1969. Alan Bean. An Apollo 12 astronaut. Reported particles and lights “sailing off in space” during his 1969 mission.

Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972 also described seeing flashes, with one likening the sight to “the Fourth of July out there.” The astronauts speculated the lights might be reflections off ice particles.

Hovering Objects and Civilian Sightings

Among the released files are civilian reports of unidentified objects emerging from bright light. One 1957 FBI interview detailed a sighting of a large, circular vehicle. In 2023, U.S. citizens reported hovering metal objects appearing from light.

Audio from the 1965 Gemini 7 mission shows astronaut Frank Boman reporting an unidentified object to NASA mission control, describing a “bogey” and “trillions of little particles.”

Lawmakers React to Pentagon’s Release

Republican Congressman Tim Burchett praised the release as a “great start” to increased transparency on UFO sightings. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida congresswoman, called it a “massive first step” in the right direction.

However, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the release as a distraction from pressing issues like price affordability and the war in Iran. “I’m so sick of the ‘look at the shiny object’ propaganda,” she said in a post.

Trump directed the Pentagon to release files related to alien and extraterrestrial life in the same month he made the initial announcement. The files include military memos, Apollo mission reports, and civilian sightings. More documents are expected to be released in the future.