What's in the Alien Files? A Guide to What the Government's UAP Records Might Contain -

President Trump promised on February 20, 2026, to release government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena, and unidentified flying objects. Five weeks later, no files have been released, no timeline has been provided, and no agency has claimed ownership of the process. But the U.S. government has been investigating UFOs since 1947, and over that period it has accumulated a vast archive of reports, sensor data, analysis documents, and classified programs. Based on what has been documented, testified to in Congress, and revealed through decades of FOIA requests, it is possible to build a map of what the files likely contain. The picture ranges from mundane misidentifications to, according to some witnesses, recovered materials of non-human origin.

TL;DR: President Trump directed agencies on February 20, 2026, to release government files on aliens, UAP, and UFOs. No files have been released as of March 28. Based on decades of documented programs, whistleblower testimony, and expert analysis, the files likely contain: sensor data from unexplained military encounters, reports from 70+ years of government investigation programs, heavily redacted surveillance imagery, and analysis documents from programs like AATIP and UAPTF. Whether they contain evidence of non-human intelligence remains the central unanswered question. This article maps what we know exists, what might be released, what experts say to expect, and what skeptics say won’t be there.

Timeline

1947: The Roswell incident. The U.S. military announces recovery of a “flying disc,” then retracts the claim, saying it was a weather balloon. The incident launches 80 years of public fascination.
1947-1949: Project Sign, the first official U.S. government UFO investigation program, operates under the Air Technical Intelligence Center.
1949-1952: Project Grudge succeeds Project Sign, continuing investigation of UFO reports.
1952-1969: Project Blue Book investigates 12,618 UFO sightings. Of these, 701 remain unidentified when the program is shut down following the Condon Report.
1969: The Condon Report concludes that “nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to scientific knowledge.” Project Blue Book is officially disbanded.
1994: The U.S. Air Force publishes the Roswell Report, concluding that “alien bodies” witnesses described were actually anthropomorphic test dummies used in high-altitude parachute experiments.
2007-2012: The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) operates within the Pentagon, funded by $22 million allocated through the Defense Intelligence Agency. The program is not publicly known until 2017.
2008-2010: The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) produces 38 Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs) analyzing theoretical physics concepts like warp drives, invisibility cloaking, and extra dimensions.
2017: The New York Times reveals the existence of AATIP, publishes two Navy UAP videos, and reports that $22 million was spent on the program. The story transforms the public conversation about UFOs.
2020: The Pentagon officially releases three Navy UAP videos. The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) is established within the Office of Naval Intelligence to standardize collection and reporting of UAP sightings.
2021: The Director of National Intelligence releases the first official UAP assessment, covering 144 reports from military sources. 143 remain unexplained. AARO’s predecessor body AOIMSG is established as an interim step.
2022: The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is established within the Department of Defense, with Jon T. Kosloski appointed as director. The office takes over from AOIMSG with a broader mandate covering air, space, and maritime domains.
June 2023: Intelligence officer David Grusch’s whistleblower claims about a secret UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program are published by The Debrief. Our coverage of Grusch’s claims is here.
July 26, 2023: Grusch, Navy pilots Ryan Graves and David Fravor testify before the House Oversight Committee. Grusch alleges the U.S. has recovered “non-human biologics” from retrieved craft.
December 2023: President Biden signs the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes the UAP Disclosure Act proposed by Senator Chuck Schumer. The law establishes a process for reviewing and declassifying UAP-related records.
2024: AARO publishes its Historical Record Report Volume 1, documenting the full lineage of government UAP programs from 1945 to present. The report states: “AARO has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology.”
November 2024: A second congressional UAP hearing is held.
September 2025: A third congressional UAP hearing takes place with additional witnesses.
2025: The documentary The Age of Disclosure premieres, featuring 34 government insiders including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and former DNI James Clapper.
August 2025: AARO holds an invite-only workshop with approximately 40 researchers to standardize UAP data collection. The workshop is not publicly reported until March 2026.
February 14, 2026: Former President Obama makes a viral comment on a podcast: “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them.” He later clarifies he meant life likely exists somewhere in the universe.
February 20, 2026: President Trump posts on Truth Social directing 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).”
February 20, 2026: The Black Vault, the world’s largest independent UFO document archive with 3.8 million files, reports that its entire main document server was deleted hours after Trump’s announcement. The archive is restored from backups.
February 23, 2026: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirms the Pentagon is “working” on the file release process.
March 7, 2026: CNN reports that no files have been released and no timeline has been provided.
March 18, 2026: The White House registers alien.gov and aliens.gov through the Executive Office of the President. Our analysis of the domain registrations is here.
March 21, 2026: David Grusch files a new FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Defense demanding UFO-related documents.
March 27, 2026: Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna calls for defunding AARO and replacing it with a new entity.
March 28, 2026: No files have been released under Trump’s directive. Both alien.gov and aliens.gov remain dark.

What We Know Exists: The Documented Programs

The U.S. government’s investigation of UFOs spans nearly 80 years and involves dozens of documented programs, reports, and intelligence initiatives. These are the categories of files that almost definitely exist in government archives and could be part of any release.

Project Sign, Grudge, and Blue Book (1947-1969)

The earliest and most extensive government UFO investigations. Project Blue Book alone investigated 12,618 sightings between 1952 and 1969. Of these, 701 remained unidentified when the program was shut down. The Air Force has stated it found no evidence that any sighting represented a threat to national security or evidence of extraterrestrial technology. However, the raw case files, witness statements, and analysis reports from 22 years of investigation remain in government archives. Our coverage of Project Blue Book is here.

A 1979 New York Times report, based on approximately 900 documents obtained through FOIA from the CIA, FBI, and other agencies, suggested that “despite official pronouncements for decades that U.F.O.’s were nothing more than misidentified aerial objects,” the government’s internal posture was more complex.

The Condon Report (1968)

The University of Colorado’s scientific study of UFOs, led by physicist Edward Condon, concluded that further study was not justified. The report’s findings were controversial. J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer who served as a USAF UFO consultant from 1948 and later developed the close encounter classification system, sharply criticized the report and wrote two books arguing for continued investigation.

AATIP and AAWSAP (2007-2012)

The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program was a $22 million Pentagon program funded through the Defense Intelligence Agency and directed by Luis Elizondo. The program investigated military encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena and produced analysis reports on incidents that defied conventional explanation.

AAWSAP, the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program, was a related initiative that contracted the analysis of theoretical physics concepts relevant to advanced propulsion and technology. The program produced 38 Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs) covering topics such as warp drive, invisibility cloaking, stargates, extra dimensions, metallic glasses, and high-frequency gravitational wave detection. These documents are publicly available but represent only the theoretical research component, not the operational findings of AATIP.

In March 2026, FOIA records obtained by IBTimes revealed that the Navy held a classified briefing on AATIP and UAP investigations in 2022, years after the Pentagon claimed the program had ended.

UAPTF and the Intelligence Assessments (2020-2021)

The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, established within the Office of Naval Intelligence in 2020, standardized the collection and reporting of UAP sightings across the military. Its first public output, the June 2021 Preliminary Assessment, covered 144 reports from military sources. Of these, 143 could not be explained. The assessment identified five potential categories for UAP: airborne clutter, natural atmospheric phenomena, industry developmental programs, foreign adversary systems, and an “other” bin that was left unresolved.

The assessment stated that UAP “probably lack a single explanation” and represented a flight safety and national security concern. It did not conclude that any sighting was extraterrestrial.

One of the Pentagon’s officially released videos, “GIMBAL,” shows a U.S. Navy F/A-18 encounter with an unidentified object off the East Coast in January 2015. The object rotates in midair while the pilots react with visible confusion:

Official U.S. Navy footage of an unidentified aerial phenomenon known as “GIMBAL,” recorded January 21, 2015. The Pentagon officially released this video in April 2020.

AARO’s Historical Record Report (2024)

AARO, the successor to UAPTF, published its Historical Record Report Volume 1 in 2024. The report documented the full lineage of government UAP programs from 1945 to present. Its core finding: “AARO has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology.”

The report covered 757 cases from around the world reported between May 2023 and June 2024. AARO’s caseload has since exceeded 2,000 reports dating back to 1945. In August 2025, AARO held an invite-only workshop with approximately 40 researchers to standardize data collection processes, which was not publicly reported until March 2026.

Despite AARO’s consistent conclusion of no extraterrestrial evidence, former acting director Tim Phillips told researchers that AARO had 40 to 50 cases that remained unexplained, and that the office had documented UAP activity in space, something no AARO official had previously stated publicly.

The Pentagon’s third officially released video, “GOFAST,” was recorded in January 2015 and shows an object skimming across the ocean surface at high speed while the pilots attempt to lock onto it:

Official Pentagon-released “GOFAST” video, recorded by U.S. Navy pilots in January 2015. The object appears to skim across the water at high velocity. Released by the Department of Defense in April 2020.

What Might Be in the Files: The Classified Programs

Beyond the documented programs, congressional testimony and whistleblower claims suggest the existence of classified programs that have never been officially acknowledged. Whether these programs exist and whether their files will be included in any release is the central question.

The Grusch Claims

In June 2023, intelligence officer David Grusch alleged the existence of a secret U.S. government program to recover and study crashed craft of non-human origin. Grusch stated he had been told by people with direct knowledge that the program had recovered both craft and what he termed “non-human biologics.”

During his July 2023 congressional testimony, Grusch said he could not publicly discuss whether the government has made contact with extraterrestrial crafts. When asked if he had “personal knowledge of people who’ve been harmed or injured in efforts to cover up or conceal” the government’s possession of “extraterrestrial technology,” Grusch said yes, but declined to provide details outside a secure facility.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson publicly challenged Grusch’s claims in March 2026, asking “Where’s the evidence?” during a C-SPAN appearance.

In March 2026, Grusch filed a new FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Defense. Constitutional litigator Daniel Sheehan, speaking on SpectreVision Radio, disclosed that Grusch’s FOIA request seeks documents to support his 2023 congressional testimony.

Grusch’s opening statement at the July 26, 2023 hearing laid out the specifics of his claims under oath:

David Grusch’s opening statement at the July 26, 2023 congressional UAP hearing, where he alleged the U.S. government possesses recovered craft of non-human origin. Source: C-SPAN via YouTube.

Sensor Data and Military Footage

The Pentagon has officially released three Navy UAP videos: FLIR (filmed from the USS Nimitz in 2004), GIMBAL, and GOFAST. Additional footage has been shown in closed congressional sessions. In March 2026, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna revealed unclassified footage that “nobody had seen” during a media appearance.

The files likely contain additional sensor data: radar tracks, infrared footage, pilot communications, and electronic intelligence gathered during military encounters with unidentified objects. Much of this data is classified because it reveals the capabilities and limitations of military surveillance systems.

In September 2025, never-before-seen video shown during a House committee hearing appeared to show a U.S. Hellfire missile striking, and bouncing off, a glowing orb off the coast of Yemen. The footage, captured on October 30, 2024, was one of several videos congressman George Knapp said Congress had “not been allowed to see” until that hearing:

Footage shown at a September 2025 House committee hearing, purportedly showing a U.S. Hellfire missile bouncing off an unidentified glowing orb off the coast of Yemen on October 30, 2024. Source: ABC7 via YouTube.

As astrophysicist Dr. Shelley Wright told CBS News, she expects most of the documents to be heavily redacted due to the sensitivity of surveillance equipment. However, she noted that the administration could declassify surveillance documents from decades ago, allowing scientists to study material with new technologies without compromising national security.

The Age of Disclosure Claims

The 2025 documentary The Age of Disclosure, featuring 34 government insiders, claims an “80-year global cover-up of non-human intelligent life” and a “secret war among major nations to reverse-engineer advanced technology of non-human origin.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told filmmakers: “We’ve had repeated instances of something operating in the airspace over restricted nuclear facilities, and it’s not ours.” Former DNI James Clapper and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand also participated. The documentary claims that former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin received a briefing on extraterrestrials due to financial stability concerns.

If the files contain evidence supporting or refuting these claims, it would be the most significant disclosure in the 80-year history of government UFO investigation.

The Black Vault Deletion

On February 20, 2026, the same day Trump posted his disclosure directive, the world’s largest independent UFO document archive was wiped.

John Greenewald Jr., founder of The Black Vault, publicly revealed that his main document server containing hundreds of gigabytes of data across thousands of directories had been completely deleted. The hosting provider confirmed it was a deliberate deletion, not corruption or hardware failure, but offered no clear explanation.

Greenewald has spent nearly 30 years building the archive through FOIA requests. The collection spans 80 years and includes historical intelligence directives, declassified projects, and documents that have long fed speculation about government cover-ups. The timing of the deletion, hours after Trump’s announcement, has fueled speculation, though Greenewald himself cautiously leaned toward a mundane explanation while noting he “can’t rule out” foul play.

The archive has been restored from multiple secure offsite backups and remains accessible today.

What Scientists Say to Expect

The scientific community has been cautiously engaged with the disclosure push, though most experts temper expectations.

The Pentagon officially released three Navy UAP videos that scientists and analysts have studied. The “FLIR” video, recorded from the USS Nimitz in November 2004, shows an object that accelerated and changed direction in ways that defied conventional explanation:

“FLIR1” (also known as the “Tic Tac” video), recorded by an F/A-18 pilot from the USS Nimitz on November 14, 2004. Officially released by the Pentagon in April 2020. Source: U.S. Navy via To The Stars Academy.

Sean Kirkpatrick, the first director of AARO and a physicist who led the office from July 2022 to December 2023, told CBS News that his office found phenomena ranging from “hazing” in the Air Force to “deceptions” designed to hide secret defense programs. He said proof of extraterrestrial life was not there.

“Nothing would have made me happier in that job but to have discovered alien technology and rolled it out,” Kirkpatrick said. “I don’t expect to see anything new.”

Dr. Federica Bianco, an associate professor at the University of Delaware who served on NASA’s UAP Independent Study Team, said: “As a scientist and a member of the NASA UAP panel, I haven’t seen anything that indicates that we have observed phenomena that violate the laws of physics and require an alien society visiting us to be explained.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson told CBS News he will look for “an actual alien” in the files. He noted that “billions of photos and a million hours of video are uploaded daily to the internet, and none of them contain images of actual aliens.”

Dr. Janna Levin, a professor of physics and astronomy at Columbia University, said she would like to keep “an open mind” about the documents. “If there is anything in them, it would be really thrilling,” Levin said. “If there are claims of actual technologies from other civilizations, I don’t think any of us would be able to verify that easily.”

Anamaria Berea, an associate professor at George Mason University who served on NASA’s UAP study team, told WIRED: “This is a very fundamental existential question that we all have. Is it just us, or are there some others out there? If they are out there, are they friendly or not? This is existential to our humanity. It’s beyond science.”

The UAP Disclosure Act

The legal foundation for any file release is the UAP Disclosure Act, proposed by Senator Chuck Schumer and signed into law by President Biden in December 2023 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

The Act establishes a formal process for reviewing and declassifying government records related to UAP. It creates a presumption of disclosure, meaning agencies must justify why records should remain classified rather than why they should be released. Records older than 25 years face a higher bar for continued classification.

The Act also establishes a review board with the authority to compel agencies to turn over records. However, the Act includes exemptions for sources and methods, intelligence activities, and national security, which could result in significant portions of the most sensitive files remaining classified.

Trump’s February 20 directive can be seen as an acceleration of the process the UAP Disclosure Act already mandated. Whether it goes further than the Act requires, by declassifying material the Act would protect, remains unclear.

Known vs. Not Known

What we know exists:

Documentation from Project Sign (1947-1949), Project Grudge (1949-1952), and Project Blue Book (1952-1969), covering 12,618 sightings with 701 unexplained
The Condon Report (1968) and the Roswell Report (1994)
AATIP and AAWSAP program files (2007-2012), including 38 Defense Intelligence Reference Documents on theoretical physics
Three officially released Navy UAP videos: FLIR, GIMBAL, and GOFAST
The 2021 DNI assessment covering 144 reports, of which 143 remain unexplained
AARO’s Historical Record Report Volume 1 (2024) and 2,000+ case files
Congressional testimony transcripts from three hearings (2023, 2024, 2025)
The UAP Disclosure Act legal framework (2023)

What we do not know:

Whether classified programs beyond AATIP exist that recover and study crashed craft
Whether Grusch’s claims about “non-human biologics” are supported by documentation
Whether photos or videos of non-human craft exist in classified archives
Whether any files will be released under Trump’s directive
When the release will happen and what agency will lead it
What alien.gov and aliens.gov will host
How heavily material will be redacted
Whether the release will satisfy public curiosity or intensify it

The Opposing Perspective

Not everyone expects the files to contain revelations. In fact, the most informed skeptics argue that the files will likely be a disappointment to anyone hoping for proof of extraterrestrial contact.

WIRED published an analysis in March 2026 titled “Don’t Expect Big Surprises in the Government’s Alien Files.” The article noted that “if we are judging by past releases, there will probably be nothing new about aliens in these files.” Previous government disclosures have generally contained already-known incidents, inconclusive sensor data, and assessments that attributed most sightings to conventional causes.

Sean Kirkpatrick, the former AARO director who actually investigated these cases, views Trump’s order as a “distraction for the administration.” He said his office “had to stand up anything they could declassify,” and proof of extraterrestrial life was not there.

Adam Frank, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester, told WIRED: “Unless you are going to actually release real data, by real data I mean the spaceship or the alien body that these congressional testimonies so far have said existed, then it’s just going to be more smoke and mirrors.”

The Air Force, which conducted the most sustained government investigation of UFOs, has stated it has no records of recovered non-human technology. The Government Accountability Office and multiple Inspector General reviews have not corroborated the existence of secret UAP retrieval programs.

Historian Greg Eghigian of Penn State University noted that even extraordinary evidence would not satisfy everyone:

“Even some sort of really remarkable and extraordinary revelation would not satisfy the social-media-verse. ‘Hey, is this another hoax? Is this another game that the government is playing with us? What else are they keeping from us?'”

Some analysts suggest the domain registrations and disclosure rhetoric may be political gestures rather than precursors to substantive disclosure. The absence of released files more than five weeks after the directive lends weight to this interpretation.

What’s in the Alien Files? A Guide to What the Government’s UAP Records Might Contain