The Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos is an official press statement issued on 2020-04-27 by the Department of Defense (DoD), authorising the public release of three unclassified US Navy UAP videos (2004, 2015).1 The statement accompanies the DoD authorised release of three Navy UAP videos (2020) and constitutes the formal government record of that decision.
The three videos were recorded by United States Navy personnel on two separate occasions: one video was captured in November 20042 and the remaining two in January 2015.3 Prior to the authorised release, the footage had already entered the public domain through unauthorised disclosures in 2007 and 2017, and the Navy had previously acknowledged that the circulating copies were genuine Navy recordings.45
The statement sets out the DoD’s reasoning for proceeding with an official release. Following a thorough review, the DoD determined that publishing the footage would not disclose any sensitive capabilities or systems.6 It also confirmed that the release would not interfere with any ongoing or subsequent investigations into Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) incursions into military airspace.7 The stated purpose was to address public misconceptions regarding whether the circulating footage was authentic and whether additional material had been withheld.8
The statement notes that the aerial phenomena visible in the videos have not been identified.9 No attribution, explanation, or classification of the objects is offered. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is associated with the videos’ provenance. The statement does not characterise the nature of the phenomena beyond confirming their status as unidentified, and makes no claims about their origin or behaviour.