Pentagon Unveils UFO Documents Tied to Classified Military Program

WHO:

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The Pentagon, Defense Department, Defense Intelligence Agency, local law enforcement in Colorado, Air Force officer Edward Ruppelt.

WHAT:

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The Pentagon released its sixth batch of files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), including 71 files consisting of 67 from the Defense Department and 4 from local law enforcement in Colorado.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The release includes 55 PDF files, 15 video files, and one audio file, with 64 out of 71 files containing redactions.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The documents range from 1952 to 2025 and detail a military program that studied warp drives, wormholes, and injuries linked to encounters with unknown craft.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) was established in 2008 and ended in 2012 to study aerospace threats through 2050.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The release includes 37 "Defense Intelligence Reference Documents" (DIRDs) related to AAWSAP, covering topics like antigravity and invisibility cloaking.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - One document details a 38-page study from 2010 analyzing injuries to three antennae engineers after an anomalous aerospace-related event.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The study reported symptoms including heat, redness on skin, hair loss, and signs of radiation illness in one individual.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The Pentagon noted that the DIRDs should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - Videos include grainy footage of unexplained objects, with one incident from 2022 showing a UAP traveling at speeds between 80-180 miles per hour.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - An incident report described objects between 1 and 2 meters in size flying sporadically in the Middle East.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - Four videos were submitted by local law enforcement in Colorado, captured by cellphone cameras in October 2023, featuring silent objects with red, blue, and green flashing lights.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - An hour-long audio recording from 1952 features Edward Ruppelt discussing UFO investigations, stating that about 20% of 800 reports were still unexplained.

WHEN:

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program was established in 2008 and ended in 2012.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The documents released by the Pentagon range from 1952 to 2025.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The audio recording by Edward Ruppelt is from 1952.

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The cellphone videos from local law enforcement were captured in October 2023.

WHY:

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The Pentagon aims to understand advanced aerospace threats and technologies that may impact national security.

HOW:

[11:21 AM EDT] - CBS News - The Pentagon released the files as part of an ongoing effort to disclose information related to UAPs and to allow current and former employees to share UAP-related information with the government.

(UPDATED September 18, 2026 20:02 UTC)

The Pentagon has just released its sixth batch of files on unidentified anomalous phenomena, which includes 71 documents, with 67 from the Defense Department and 4 from local law enforcement in Colorado. This extensive collection features 55 PDF files, 15 video files, and one audio recording, detailing a military program that studied advanced aerospace threats and technologies from 1952 to 2025, including topics like warp drives and injuries linked to encounters with unknown craft. Among the notable items is an hour-long audio from 1952 featuring Air Force officer Edward Ruppelt discussing UFO investigations, alongside recent cellphone videos from October 2023 showing silent objects with flashing lights captured by local law enforcement.