The suspense on the possibility of extraterrestrial life could finally come to an end as the United States' Pentagon on Friday released the first batch of previously classified files documenting reported sightings of unidentified flying objects, including those from the 1940s.
These files were sought by several Americans from the past few decades.
"These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation, and it's time the American people see it for themselves," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement.
Over 160 files were released on the Defense Department's website, which officially refers to UFOs as "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena," or UAPs.
In one of the files, from December 1947, a series of reports on "flying discs" can be found.
'Things you wouldn't believe...': Donald Trump says will release classified UFO files very soonFurther US Air Force intelligence report, marked "top secret", dated November 1948 reveals information on reported sightings of "unidentified aircraft" and "flying saucers."
In one of the recent files from 2023, three teams of federal law enforcement special agents independently described "seeing orange 'orbs' in the sky emit/launch smaller red 'orbs.'"
It was in February that President Donald Trump ordered US federal agencies to identify and release government files related to UFOs and aliens, saying the move was "based on the tremendous interest shown."
Trump had also claimed that former President Barack Obama had revealed "classified" information about the existence of extraterrestrial life in a viral podcast.
"They're real, but I haven't seen them and they're not being kept in... Area 51," Obama had told host Brian Tyler Cohen, referring to the top-secret US military facility in Nevada, which is claimed to be the centre of several UFO conspiracy theories. many UFO conspiracy theories.
Trump told reporters at the time that Obama "gave classified information, he is not supposed to be doing that," while maintaining that he did not know if aliens are real.
Fresh interest in UFOs has brewed recently as the US government probed numerous reports of seemingly supernatural aircraft, amid worries that adversaries could be testing highly advanced technologies.
The Pentagon, in March 2024, had released a report claiming that it had no proof that UAP were alien technology, with many suspicious sightings turning out to be weather balloons, spy planes, satellites and other normal activity.