Secure Archive // Public Release
UFO / UAP
Unidentified aerial phenomena documented in officially released government archives.
551 published articles
The UAPTF reviewed 144 reports from USG sources between 2004 and 2021. Only one was identified with high confidence — a large, deflating balloon. The rest remain unexplained, and in 18 incidents observers reported unusual movement patterns or flight characteristics.
ONI's final response to a FOIA request for UAP-related emails involving Captain Scott Chesbrough states that several responsive emails were found and that releasable records would be posted to the FOIA Reading Room. Embedded email fragments reference a 'Classification Guide on UAP' being prepared for promulgation across the Fleet.
NASA is commissioning an UAP Independent Study Team in order to examine UAP from a scientific perspective, focusing on how NASA can use data and the tools of science to move our understanding forward. The study, chaired by Dr. David Spergel with Dr. Dan Evans as Designated Federal Officer, is described as open, independent, and unclassified.
In April 2019, an Air Force press desk officer told CNN the service was 'not working any guidelines for reporting UFOs,' even as the Navy was updating its procedures. Newly released emails show OSD later instructed the Air Force to coordinate all UAP responses through OSD and to monitor FOIA requests for UAP videos.
A partially redacted Navy email chain titled 'USS Stout UAV Interaction' shows OPNAV N2N6 and ONI personnel coordinating a response to an RFI from the IKE N2, with a storyboard shared for situational awareness and a response requested via JWICS.
The Department of Defense has responded to a FOIA request, revealing the existence of 263 pages of documents while applying multiple exemptions for withholding information.
A declassified DIA intelligence report describes a Ghana Air Force pilot's 1987 sighting of a silent, metallic UFO 'two or three times the size of a Boeing 747' that stopped falling and climbed, displaying eight blue lights. The DIA later attributed the event to 'space debris from atmospheric gridlock,' while a JCS message noted 'UFOS REMAIN A CONCERN HERE.'
A May 3, 2021 memorandum from the DoD Office of Inspector General announced an evaluation to determine the extent to which the DoD has taken actions regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, distributed to agencies including DARPA, DIA, NSA, and NRO.
The FAA released a redacted Mandatory Occurrence Report about a possible downed aircraft near Honolulu on December 29, 2020, but withheld radar and audio data because the request came after the 45-day retention period.
A declassified October 1970 Joint State-DIA message reports that a U.S. Defense Attaché was called by Chad's Minister of Interior to inspect a metal sphere that reportedly fell near Lai with three loud explosions and burned for five days — an object filed under the codename 'MOON DUST.'
The final report of Project Twinkle concluded that most unusual aerial phenomena were man-made or natural—yet noted that fireballs 'ceased abruptly as soon as a systematic watch was set up,' and a separate memo revealed some scientists still believed the phenomena were man-made.
The CIA has confirmed the receipt of a payment for documents related to the MKULTRA program, as part of a FOIA request.