'This is unprecedented': Why the Pentagon's recent UFO file releases are so important

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As "The X Files" famously told us, "the truth is out there." But at the same time, inquiring minds are immersed today in finding out whether or not the proof is out there — specifically, proof that at least some unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) come from somewhere beyond Earth.

The UAP acronym originally stood for "unidentified aerial phenomena," a term that itself was a rebranding of "unidentified flying object" (UFO). And UFO was a replacement of sorts for the long-lasting and stylish "flying saucers."

Whatever the terminology, truth and proof in today's fractured and somewhat conspiratorial society could be construed as strange bedfellows.

UAP study team

Mike Gold is president at Redwire Space, an innovative aerospace and defense company. In 2022 and 2023, he served on the NASA Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team, a council of 16 experts across diverse areas on matters relevant to potential ways to investigate UAP.

Gold's past roles include NASA associate administrator for space policy and partnerships, acting associate administrator for the Office of International and Interagency Relations, and senior advisor to the administrator for international and legal affairs. While at NASA, he led the development and implementation of the Artemis Accords.

That past also includes 13 years at Bigelow Aerospace, during which he established the company's Washington office and oversaw the launches of Bigelow's Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 spacecraft, which showcased the use of expandable habitat technology.

Exposing the truth

Gold's ongoing UAP interests were highlighted in 2024 during a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Accountability titled "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth."

"We must be thorough in collecting information, fearless in making conclusions and open to following the data no matter how mundane or extraordinary the results may be," Gold told the lawmakers. "As the saying goes, the truth is out there. We just need to be bold enough and brave enough to face it."

Space.com caught up with Gold recently to discuss his current UAP views and his work with The Disclosure Foundation as an advisory board member.

Follow the data

"I would say that I came out the same way I came in," Gold said of his past work for the NASA UAP study team, "and that was objective and wanting to follow the data."

While the NASA group's final recommendations seem to be lost in the fabric of time and space, Gold said that, under the current presidential administration, NASA is taking the UAP issue quite seriously, as is the rest of the federal government.

"NASA is doing its best to contribute to the Department of War releases on UAP," said Gold. "I will note that what is being released by NASA is publicly available and has been. But I think it's beneficial for the White House to flag some of the most interesting aspects that we have from NASA archives."

Gold said, for instance, that the 1972 Apollo 17 moon landing report included imagery showing three lights in a triangular shape that was flagged in recent Department of War (DOW)/NASA-released documents.

"NASA is a proactive participant in all of this," he added, noting that having imagery identified as anomalous is "very powerful in fighting the stigma."

There are champions inside the space agency who want to pursue the UAP issue, according to Gold.

"They feel a lot more comfortable when you've got the White House putting out some of the NASA imagery and saying that this is indeed anomalous," he said.

Disclosure process

Gold brought up the fact that he is a "recovering lawyer." However, that status doesn't free him from pondering the implications of a UAP "full disclosure" — if that ever happens.

"As I think about disclosure, we are absolutely in the disclosure process. This is what the White House documents are. You have to applaud this Trump administration. This is unprecedented what's occurring. At the very least, I view this as evolutionary disclosure," Gold said.

"It's a process of looking at the information objectively," he added. "I think when others use the term 'disclosure,' it can be inherently attached to the revelation of the existence of non-human intelligence."

But that's not the way Gold views disclosure.

"It is a process where we are objectively evaluating information and then following the data and the conclusions wherever they take us," he said. "That may be something extraordinary; it may be something ordinary. The point is that we don't know."

The big reveal?

Still, if the outcome is literally out of this world, could the public handle it? Gold is optimistic on some fronts.

"I think the public could deal with the fact that extraterrestrials exist," he said. "Polls already indicate that they believe that. I also think the public can deal with the fact that we've had an extraterrestrial crash retrieval program."

Nevertheless, there are more challenging questions, Gold said, like "where we came from. Who are we? And what about the abduction phenomenon? Those secondary questions might be more difficult."

However, even if there were good reasons for keeping this issue secret, "what you can't do is keep it secret from Congress, because then we are no longer a democracy," Gold advised. "So at a minimum, our elected officials have to be briefed. They have to know. We have to have oversight."

Common sense action

Gold thinks that what's happening now is a huge shift and of great benefit to the country.

"I know that there's disappointment relative to perhaps the nature of what's being released," he said. "But you have to understand the bureaucratic process. It's what can be done immediately."

A year from now, Gold said that he anticipates even more releases from the government that will be even more interesting.

"I'd like to see NASA adopting a recommendation from the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team to include UAP and the aviation safety reporting system," he said. "That, to me, is a common-sense action that would dramatically increase the amount of UAP data that we have.

"It would not be just for science but for national security purposes. Because when I say UAP, that includes adversarial drones that are unidentified," Gold said. "Doing so could be done with little money and be so valuable," he added.

In the end, objectivity is Gold's north star when it comes to UAP.

"I am critical of people who say that this is definitely nothing extraordinary and those who say that this is definitely something extraordinary. We need to go right up the middle of this and take a look at the data. Let the data speak for itself," said Gold. "So, apologies. I am remaining violently neutral."