The Take: Is the Pentagon’s UFO dump a political distraction?
After the US Department of Defense releases files relating to UFOs, the internet combs through what is real – and what isn’t.
![A football-shaped body reported by the US Indo-Pacific Command in 2024 is seen as part of a series of documents of unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) released by the US Defense Department on May 8, 2026.[Department of Defense/Handout/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-05-08T144245Z_855047173_RC2X4LA5FNF8_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP-UFOS-1778601456.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
The United States Department of Defense has released 162 files on unidentified flying objects (UFOs), following an order from US President Donald Trump. The files included documents from the FBI, NASA, and the US Department of State. As conspiracy theories soar all over the internet, what’s really in the files, and how significant is the release?
In this episode:
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- Anthony Lappe (@anthonylappe), Television producer and investigative reporter
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by David Enders and Chloe K. Li with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Tuleen Barakat, Catherine Nouhan and our guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Tamara Khandaker.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer.
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