UFO files live: Critics accuse Trump of ‘shiny object’ propaganda as new documents reveal Apollo mission details

Last year, MAGA influencer Rogan O’Handley participated in an infamous White House photo op, where he was photographed alongside likeminded activists holding a binder labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.”

Unfortunately, the much-anticipated release by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi turned out to contain nothing new about the crimes of the politically-connected pedophile Jeffrey Epstein – leaving MAGA figures who had spent years demanding new information feeling cheated.

Now, he says he regrets the experience and plans to play no role in the UFO files disclosure.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman celebrated the government’s release of the UFO files Friday.

“I applaud President Trump’s whole-of-government effort to bring greater transparency to the American people on unidentified anomalous phenomena. At NASA, our job is to bring the brightest minds and most advanced scientific instruments to bear, follow the data, and share what we learn,” he said in a statement.

“We will remain candid about what we know to be true, what we have yet to understand, and all that remains to be discovered. Exploration and the pursuit of knowledge are core to NASA’s mission as we endeavor to unlock the secrets of the universe,” he added.

Neil deGrasse Tyson published an op-ed in The New York Times Wednesday praising the anticipated release of the government’s UFO files.

In his essay, Tyson admitted the release could be seen as a “distraction,” but still described it as a “good thing.”

“The impending release of U.S. government files on aliens and U.F.O.s is a good thing, even if it feels like a distraction from other important files we’ve all been waiting to be disclosed,” he wrote.

A man identified as Paul Peyerl once provided a tip to the FBI about an apparent UFO constructed by the Nazis, which he said he photographed in 1944 “at the risk of his life,” according to one of the documents released Friday.

He described the alleged UFO as “saucer shaped, about twenty-one feet in diameter,” according to the agency’s report.

“He further described the exterior portion as revolving around the dome in the center which remained stationary,” the FBI’s report reads.

Before the Trump administration published its UFO documents Friday, podcaster Joe Rogan suggested the anticipated release could be a “distraction” tactic.

”The Iran war is not going very well. The American public is very upset. A lot of people don’t think we should have ever been involved in that in the first place, and we need some good news. I think we need something to distract us,” Rogan said on his podcast Thursday.

Rogan was joined by Representative Tim Burchett, who replied, “If I was gonna do it, now would be the time I’d do it.”

The FBI interviewed two witnesses in September 2023 who described unusual sightings.

One of these witnesses said they saw a “bright light” at a U.S. test site, according to an FBI report.

“The light was stationary in the air, then started moving to the right and then disappeared … The light was bright white and was visible for ten seconds before it disappeared,” the report says.

In a separate incident that same month, an individual told the FBI they saw a “cigar shaped object with an extremely bright light.”

“The object was almost hovering, slowly moving from east to west. The light was an intense diamond white light with what appeared to be a ring around the light and was located on the eastern end of the object,” the FBI report says.

“The object was ‘metallic bronze in color’ and was the length of two or three Blackhawk helicopters lined up nose to tail. The width of the object was approximately the width of one and a half Blackhawks but was hard to determine due the light on the object’s eastern end which may have been obscuring part of the body. The object was completely silent,” the report continues.

President Donald Trump called on Americans to “have fun and enjoy” the newly released UFO files.

“As for my promise to you, the Department of War has released the first tranche of the UFO/UAP files to the Public for their review and study,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He added: “In an effort for Complete and Maximum Transparency, it was my Honor to direct my Administration to identify and provide Government files related to Alien and Extraterrestrial Life, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, and Unidentified Flying Objects. Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!”

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Friday’s file release “is the first in what will be an ongoing joint declassification and release effort.”

“The American people have long sought transparency about the government’s knowledge of unidentified aerial phenomena,” she wrote on X.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is actively coordinating the Intelligence Community’s declassification efforts with the Department of War to ensure a careful, comprehensive, and unprecedented review of our holdings to provide the American people with maximum transparency.”

The Defense Department included several videos in its UFO files release.

The Defense Department released “never-before-seen” files related to UFOs on Friday — a move that has been anticipated for months.

The order came just days after former President Barack Obama told podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen that aliens are “real,” but that he hadn’t seen them. Obama later clarified his comments, claiming he saw “no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us.”

A group of Republican lawmakers has also been pushing for the files’ release. This includes Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who called Friday’s release a “massive first step in the right direction.”