Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the New York Democrat who leads her party's Senate campaign arm, applauded the Trump administration Friday after it declassified and published a batch of UFO and unidentified anomalous phenomena files, a rare instance of a senior Democrat openly crediting this White House for delivering on a transparency promise.
The file dump, posted to the newly created federal website war.gov/UFO, includes dozens of never-before-seen images and videos. Among the records are materials dating back decades, including footage of inexplicable lights and phenomena captured during the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 and the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The release marks the first concrete product of President Donald Trump's February directive ordering the Department of War and other agencies to identify and declassify government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, UAPs, and UFOs. And the fact that it drew open praise from Gillibrand, not a backbencher, but the Democrat tasked with winning Senate seats in 2028, tells you something about how far the disclosure issue has traveled from the political fringe.
Gillibrand, who has long advocated for the declassification and release of UAP files, wrote on social media that she was encouraged the administration had acted. As Fox News reported, the senator framed the move as overdue but incomplete.
"I am encouraged that the administration has finally heard my call and the call of millions of Americans to begin unsealing these files. This is another important step, but there is much more work to do. I will continue to fight to ensure the administration finally meets its legal obligation to the American people."
She also offered a broader principle: "Transparency is the only path to truth."
That language, crediting the administration while pressing for more, stands out in a Washington where most Democrats refuse to acknowledge any Trump initiative without a qualifier designed to undermine it. Gillibrand did not hedge on the core point. She said the files should have been unsealed, and the administration unsealed them.
The scope of the release is significant. The War Department published 162 previously undisclosed UAP files and videos, some dating back nearly 80 years, Breitbart reported. The batch includes videos of unexplained objects recorded over multiple countries, intelligence reports, FBI eyewitness files, and Apollo 17 material describing unusual particles and a lunar photograph labeled as a possible physical anomaly.
The effort involved coordination across multiple federal agencies. The Washington Examiner reported that the files were released through the war.gov/UFO portal in coordination with the White House, FBI, Department of Energy, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, NASA, and other agencies. The first batch also includes footage of objects recorded over the United Arab Emirates in 2024, Iraq in 2022, and Greek airspace.
Additional releases are expected on a rolling basis.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the initiative in direct terms: "The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government's understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena." The department itself stated that "no other President or administration in history has followed through on this level of UAP transparency."
The release traces back to Trump's February announcement on Truth Social, in which he said he would direct agencies to begin identifying and publishing the files. The president had previously ordered the Pentagon to release all UFO and alien files, making the issue a recurring feature of his transparency agenda.
Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time of the February announcement, as Newsmax reported:
"Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters."
On Friday, he returned to Truth Social to announce the release had arrived, contrasting his administration's approach with those of his predecessors: "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 H*** IS GOING ON?'" He added: "Have Fun and Enjoy!"
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Friday that the administration would continue its declassification work, though her exact statement was not quoted in full.
The UFO file release is not the administration's first declassification push. Last year, the Trump administration also declassified records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the 1937 disappearance of Amelia Earhart. A January 2025 photo caption from the White House shows Trump holding a signed executive order on declassification of records related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Republican lawmakers who have pushed for disclosure welcomed the move. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who has long pressed for the file release, called it "a massive first step in the right direction." Luna had previously set a deadline for the Pentagon to hand over classified UFO videos, underscoring the pressure Congress has applied.
Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri called the move "historic" and said he hoped it would be the first of many such releases. His full quote captured the appetite on Capitol Hill for continued action: "This is a historic first step in what I trust will be just one of many."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also weighed in, though his statement was notable for what it left out. Schumer omitted any mention of the Trump administration in his response.
"For decades, UFO disclosure has been a distant object, unidentified and unexplained. That's starting to change. I'll keep pushing until we land on the truth."
The contrast with Gillibrand is instructive. Both are New York Democrats. Both have expressed interest in UAP transparency. But only Gillibrand acknowledged the administration's role in delivering the files. Schumer managed to praise disclosure without naming the people who did the disclosing, a familiar Washington maneuver for politicians who want credit for an outcome without giving any to the other party.
The broader disclosure fight has generated intense public interest and, at times, controversy. The case of a retired Air Force general named as a key UFO program witness who vanished after Trump ordered Pentagon disclosure added an unsettling dimension to the story, raising questions about what the government knows and who has been involved in keeping it secret.
The 162-file release gives the public its first direct look at material that was, until Friday, locked inside government vaults. The Apollo-era footage alone spans more than half a century of secrecy. The inclusion of more recent recordings, objects over Iraq, the UAE, and Greece, suggests the government has continued to encounter phenomena it cannot readily explain.
The release falls under what the War Department described as the PURSUE program, with additional batches expected in the weeks ahead. That rolling timeline means the full picture is still forming.
During Trump's first term, the Pentagon formally acknowledged UAPs and in 2020 declassified Navy videos showing unidentified objects performing unusual maneuvers. The administration also established the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. A 2021 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reviewed more than 140 military sightings, finding no confirmed extraterrestrial evidence but leaving many cases unexplained.
Claims about what the government possesses have grown bolder in recent years. A former Pentagon official has claimed satellite photos show non-human craft, though such assertions remain unverified and outside the scope of what Friday's release has confirmed.
Open questions remain. How many total files will ultimately be released? What agencies beyond those already named hold relevant material? And will the rolling release schedule hold, or will bureaucratic resistance slow the process, as it has for decades?
Gillibrand's praise matters less for what it says about UFOs than for what it says about accountability. For years, lawmakers from both parties demanded transparency on UAPs. Committees held hearings. Witnesses testified. Bills were introduced. And the files stayed locked up.
Now 162 of them are public, posted on a government website anyone can visit. The administration that did it is led by Donald Trump. The senator who praised it is a Democrat running her party's campaign operation.
That alone tells you the disclosure push has reached a point where the political cost of ignoring it outweighs the cost of crossing party lines. Gillibrand chose to acknowledge reality. Schumer chose to talk around it.
The files are out. The question now is whether the rest of Washington has the nerve to follow through, or whether decades of secrecy will reassert themselves the moment the cameras move on.
