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Declassified Files: UFO Records and Strange Government Documents

Strange records governments have released: FBI Vault files, CIA reading room documents, Air Force and Navy reports. Every page links to the original document.

Every page here starts from a document a government has released, links to the original, and sets the official explanation beside the claims people make about it.

Records 11

US Department of Defense (AARO)AARO Historical Record Report, Volume IThe Pentagon's UAP office reviewed US government UFO history back to 1945 and found no evidence of alien technology, or of a program hiding it.CIA / US SenateMKUltra: The 1977 Senate HearingSeven forgotten boxes of financial records forced the CIA to explain its secret behavior-modification program to the Senate in 1977.Office of the Director of National IntelligenceODNI Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (2021)A 2021 US intelligence report reviewed 144 military UAP reports and could explain just one: a large, deflating balloon.US Air ForceProject Blue BookThe Air Force logged 12,618 UFO reports between 1947 and 1969. When it closed the files, 701 were still labeled "unidentified."CIA / US Army / Defense Intelligence AgencyStargate: The Government's Remote Viewing ProgramFor more than two decades, US intelligence agencies paid for research into "remote viewing," the claimed ability to see distant places with the mind.US Air Force / University of ColoradoThe Condon ReportAn Air Force-funded study at the University of Colorado concluded in 1968 that 21 years of UFO study had added nothing to scientific knowledge.FBI VaultThe FBI's Extra-Sensory Perception FileA small FBI Vault file shows the Bureau weighing a 1957 claim that blind people could be taught to see without their eyes.FBI VaultThe Guy Hottel Memo (FBI Vault UFO File)A one-page 1950 FBI memo about three "flying saucers" in New Mexico became the most viewed document in the FBI's online Vault.FBI Vault / US National ArchivesThe Majestic 12 DocumentsA supposed top secret briefing for President-elect Eisenhower about a recovered alien craft. The FBI and the National Archives explain why they doubt it.CIAThe Robertson PanelIn 1953 a CIA-sponsored panel of scientists reviewed UFO reports and proposed a public campaign to debunk them, possibly with help from Disney.CIA / Stanford Research InstituteThe SRI Psychic Experiments (Puthoff, Targ and Uri Geller)In 1972 two laser physicists at SRI got the CIA to fund psychic experiments. In 1973 they tested Uri Geller in a shielded room.

Events 5

UK Ministry of Defence / US Air ForceRendlesham Forest and the Halt MemoA US Air Force deputy base commander in Suffolk sent Britain's Ministry of Defence a memo headed "Unexplained Lights." It is now in the UK National Archives.US Air Force / CIAThe 1952 Washington, D.C. UFO SightingsOn two July weekends in 1952, radar at Washington's airports tracked unexplained targets, and fighter jets were sent over the capital.Imperial Iranian Air Force / US Air Force / NSAThe 1976 Tehran UFO IncidentTwo Iranian F-4 jets chased a bright light over Tehran in 1976. A US military account says one lost its instruments and the other its weapons panel.US House of Representatives, Committee on OversightThe 2023 House UAP HearingIn July 2023 three witnesses testified to Congress about UAP. One described a secret crash-retrieval program he said he had learned about secondhand.US Navy / Department of DefenseThe USS Nimitz "Tic Tac" and the Navy UAP VideosA 2004 Navy encounter off California produced the "Tic Tac" video, one of three clips the Pentagon officially released in April 2020.

Questions people ask about Declassified Files

What is the FBI Vault?

The FBI Vault, at vault.fbi.gov, is the FBI's online reading room. It posts records the Bureau has released under the Freedom of Information Act, from files on famous people and cases to its UFO-related papers, so anyone can read the scanned originals.

What is the CIA reading room?

The CIA's FOIA Electronic Reading Room, at cia.gov/readingroom, is the agency's online archive of released records. It holds millions of pages of declassified documents, including papers on UFOs and on the government's psychic research, and it can be searched for free.

Does declassified mean the claims in a file are true?

No. Declassified means a government has removed a document's secret status and released it, often with parts blacked out. That proves the document is real, not that every report or opinion inside it is correct. That is why each page gives what the file says and the official explanation.