Check Out These Fascinating Government Classified Photos

Due to the statute of limitations, some photos of notorious and iconic events were not released by the government until now. These classified photos are now available to the public. Some of these may leave you with more questions than answers.

Could It Be A Real UFO?

Once these photos became declassified by the CIA, the UFO ones were the first to be viewed by the public. None of the photos came with an explanation so no one really knows if this is, in fact, a UFO.

Giant Telescope In China

This peculiar looking structure is in fact, the world’s biggest telescope, and it was built in China. It’s so powerful that it can detect all kinds of radio signals. It can allegedly detect signals that are thousands of light-years away.

Top Secret Facility

This photo may not be top-secret anymore, but this facility surely is. The Cheyenne Mountain Complex is the biggest secret facility on American soil. Due to its highly-classified nature, only officials with the highest security clearance can enter it.

9/11 Destruction

This image clearly depicts the damage caused to the Pentagon building on 9/11. Before the attack, the Pentagon looked nothing like this. This photo was never released before so the American public have never seen the actual damage caused.

An Official Account

According to this redacted letter, in 1963, the government of America encountered a UFO in Nevada. Although you can’t read everything that was written, the message is very clear that aliens do exist. And this letter makes it official.

Osama Bin Laden’s Family

By looking at this photo you can see that Bin Laden was an ordinary family man. Other than his extreme and rather radical views, he was pretty normal. Here he was snapped on vacation with his huge family in Germany.

Family On The Moon

Charlie Duke was one of the men that landed on the moon. To prove that he did indeed walk on the moon, he left a photograph of him and his family there. However, no one knows if that photo is still there.

Relaxing Day By The Pool

This photo needs some explanation as you wouldn’t expect to see fully clothed people in a pool ordinarily. Apparently, this is part of the astronauts’ training because they need to know how to land in the water. Putting a hard day’s work.

Bunker In North Dakota

This bunker in North Dakota is used to measure seismic waves as well as the weather. Although it looks pretty freaky, it’s nothing but a weather station of sorts. It’s been said, that it was once used as a national missile defense system.

Could It Be?

Seems like there may be a conspiracy theory here! Everyone knows that WWII ended because Hitler took his own life, but why was an older looking Hitler photographed in Argentina? Could that really be him? Guess we might never know for sure.

Mount Rushmore

This photo depicts the first draft of Mount Rushmore. It included the presidents’ torsos and not just their heads and shoulders. It seems they thought that it would be too much to include their half-bodies and decided on just the shoulders.

Sneaky Bunker Or Not?

Somewhere in a forest in Virginia, you can see this structure that looks very much like a bunker. It looks like someone wants whoever, or whatever is inside to remain hidden and secret. There’s no denying that it’s pretty sneaky looking.

Taking A Leisurely Stroll

Here you see Pablo Escobar posing with his son in Washington DC. When this photo was taken, he was on America’s “Most Wanted Criminals” list. It seems bizarre that he was able to get so close to the White House and not be apprehended.

Bonnie And Clyde

In this photo, you can see what Bonnie and Clyde’s car looked like after their encounter with the police. In May 1934, they were gunned by police. It is evident that their encounter was not an amicable one and many shots were fired.

The Queen Of England In The Military

When you see Queen Elizabeth now she looks like a little old lady, that’s meek and mild. In this photo, we see that she was, in fact, quite a tough woman. She served in the military for the English government.

Top Secret Nuclear Bomb

This was the first nuclear bomb in America. This was known as The Trinity Project, and it took place in a New Mexico desert, in 1945. At the time, the American public had no idea that this is what was being built.

Operation Ivy Mike

Operation Ivy was a series of tests done by the United States in order to test nuclear explosions. THese took place in 1952 at Eniwetok Atoll, which are located in the Pacific Proving Ground on the Marshall Islands. The first shot was called ‘Mike’ and it became the first successful test of a thermonuclear weapon, more commonly known as the hydrogen bomb, while utilizing the Teller-Ulam design.

Secret Tunnels Underground

During the Cold War, there were many bases built all over the US. They were known as strategic strike locations and were built in underground tunnels. According to the government, they are no longer in operation today. But who knows?

The Roswell Wreckage

This image shows the actual UFO crash site that occurred in Roswell. It’s not very clear what is not the photo, but for some reason, this case was seen as very iconic. Maybe there’s more information the government isn’t sharing?

Nuclear Waste

This strange-looking door is where the US holds its nuclear waste. Because of its high toxicity levels, it has to be kept in an isolated area that’s not inhabited. This door seems to be strong enough to hold it all in there.

Hauling A Questionable Load

There are many large trucks on the road that transport big, oddly shaped structures, but none as strange as this. The government was transporting this oversized load and it looks eerily like some kind of alien spaceship. What is it exactly?

First Bomb Dropped

This was the first bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 and it was known as the “Fat Man.” The men who built it autographed its tail for some reason and it caused a lot of turmoil. Understandably so…

Area 51 Plane

The design of the SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance airplane that was based at Area 51 was said to be the reason why UFO rumors surfaced. The plane was so futuristic looking that the people thought that the government was covering up was a UFO.

Prisoner Of War

John McCain’s airplane was shot down by Vietnamese soldiers. It crash-landed in a body of water in Hanoi, Vietnam and this is when he became a prisoner of war. As he landed the soldiers rushed to apprehend him and take him hostage.

Experimental Aircraft

The US Air Force built an experimental aircraft in Area 51. Once again, the shape of this aircraft raised suspicions of an alien spacecraft cover-up by the government. But it seems that wasn’t
the case.

Training For Pilots

Many, many years ago, pilots had to undergo vigorous training to get their flying licenses. This was part of their training. It was meant to help them battle fatigue, but it wasn’t effective at all. And it was scrapped in no time.

Secret Air Base

This secret airbase sits in the middle of the pacific ocean. Back in those days, people had no idea about secret bases and how big they were, here we can see that it was a massive base.

Crash Site

Could this be another UFO crash site? Yet another unidentified object crashed near Roswell and all that was left was unidentifiable debris. The fact that all documents regarding this photo were heavily redacted also points to it being a UFO crash site.

Lunch Time In Character

Back in the day, the actors that played the part of a Disney character would interact with the public in their costumes. This snapshot is one where you see Snow White, Goofy, and other characters getting their lunch in a cafeteria.

Hanging Out With Your Baby

This insane 1920s invention was called the Portable Baby Cage. People felt it was difficult raising kids if you lived in a tall apartment building. So this was a way to keep them entertained and getting fresh air. Thank goodness it was scrapped.

Another Spaceship?

An anonymous person was able to capture this shot of the military loading this unusually shaped structure onto a military truck. They claim that it was part of a weather balloon, but was it? No one will ever know…

First Slide Design

As you can see in this image, the first slide was made of wood. It was also extremely long and had no side rails. Luckily, they didn’t stop there and finally came up with a design that works much better.

New Meaning To ‘Heavy Duty’

The first deep-dive suit was originally made out of metal. The suit was made top-secret so that other countries wouldn’t be able to steal the design and make their own. Thankfully, scuba gear these days is much lighter and more comfortable.

Travel By Ship

This US military ship was snapped transporting officials with the highest security clearance to their top-secret facility in the Arctic. This location was really in the middle of nowhere. It’s been said that this place was a popular base for spying on Russia.

Chemical Weapons Galore

If the American public had seen this photo back then, they would have panicked. That’s why the CIA decided to keep it classified. This was taken in a warehouse that stored chemical weapons left behind from the Cold War.

The Beginnings Of The Berlin Wall

On August 13th, 1961 the German Democratic Republic began building the Berlin Wall using only basic materials. It was a concrete barrier that was guarded as well in order to divide Berlin. It was then taken down in 1989.

Questionable Moon Landing Imagery

In 1969 Neil Armstrong supposedly landed on the moon. This photo, however, makes it look a little fake. Looking at the lighting, it looks staged. This doesn’t necessarily help the moon landing conspiracy theory. Maybe they’re hiding something from the public?

The “Fat Man” Strikes Again

Just days before this missile named “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki this picture was taken. The technicians had to do final checks on it to make sure that everything was in order. Everything little thing needed to be inspected before being launched.

A Top-Secret Project From 1794

The Air Force most certainly has the best-kept secrets in the entire military branch of the US. now this one is no longer a secret. This is the blueprint for a mysterious supersonic flying saucer. But it never came to fruition.

German High-Speed Train

This is the Schienenzeppelin, Germany’s first high-speed train. It was quite an invention at the time. According to the Germans, it could travel up to 143 miles per hour. It’s not certain if it was used for the public or for secret missions.

Dictator Captured

This photo was taken the night that the horrific and infamous dictator Saddam Hussein was finally captured. This marked the end of his reign of terror. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of the problems in the Middle East.

What Were They Up To?

With so many images that have come to light coming from Area 51, one has to wonder, what were they up to? This is not the first futuristic secret plane that was seen in area 51. What were these planes used for?

Innocent Casualties After Hiroshima

Many innocent people suffered greatly when the US attacked Hiroshima. Some have scars that will forever be a reminder of the horror they experienced. Photos like this were classified so the public doesn’t see the aftermath of the attack on innocent Japanese people.

Weapon Of Mass Destruction

We know that Fat Man was the nickname given to the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. This one was known as Little Boy, and it was the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. This picture was taken just before it was sent off.

Humble Beginnings For Google

This photo was taken when Google had just started up. It consisted of a small group of employees working from a small office. Little did they know that it would soon become one of the world’s biggest and most successful companies.

Top Secret Research

Much research was done regarding UFO’s by the CIA to try and make sense of it. This diagram shows that they had either sighted a UFO up close and were recalling how it looked or they were imagining how it would look.

The First Prototype

If a plane was shot down during combat, how would the pilot escape? The government decided to include a feature in the plane where the seat can be ejected to save the pilot. This is a prototype of it.

World’s Biggest Detonated Bomb

This is a picture when the Tsar Bomba was detonated in 1961. It is the world’s biggest detonated bomb recorded in history. Many bombs were detonated thereafter but none came close. But that’s one record that should never be broken for humanity’s sake.

Innocent Wildlife

War not only affected innocent people, but it affected innocent animals as well. Humans at least understand the threat that war brings but animals have no idea. Many lives were lost and many were permanently and horribly impacted by these wars.

Test Of Impact

The US government wanted to see the impact of a bomb on the population and created test dummies for this purpose. They would create a scene with these dummies and cars and then they’d test how a bomb would affect its surroundings.

The Few Who Survived

This photo was taken aboard the Titanic as people were evacuating the ship. These people getting into the life-boat were escaping the fate that many others succumbed to. It’s a very haunting image knowing the tragedy that unfolded that day.

Trying To Leave Saigon

The war in Vietnam was awful and many civilians tried to escape. People were constantly trying to escape and this photo shows just that. In order to save themselves, people knew that they had to get away to find refuge somewhere else.

Living A Carefree Life

Jimi Hendrix was a famous singer and guitarist who people adored. He had more fans than he could’ve possibly dreamed of. Yet in 1970 he overdosed to death. This is one of the last pictures of him, which shows a carefree Jimi.

Constructing A Monumental Statue

This image is of the beginning stages of the construction of the Statue of Liberty. Construction began on October 28th in 1886 and took two years to complete. It was a gift from the French to the Americans commemorating their alliance.

A Relatively Regular Guy

It’s hard to imagine someone who brought so much terror to the world being a regular guy. Here we see Osama Bin Laden before his reign of terror. He always had radical views but no one thought he’d rise to be so powerful.

All Terrain

This is a photo of the first all-terrain vehicle ever invented. It was built by Henry Ford who was already a pioneer in the automobile industry. This model was simply called Model T. It never really caught on though…

A German Carrier

Here’s a snapshot of the German passenger airship, Hindenburg. This was taken a year before it crashed in 1937, killing 36 out of the 97 passengers on board. It’s been said that the Hindenburg was a Nazi carrier, at one point.

The Corsair Crash

The Vought F4U Corsair was touted as one the fastest planes in existence at the time. It was intended to have much glory due to its speed, and it took off from a Navy ship. Unfortunately, it would never live up to its potential, as it crash immediately upon takeoff.

A Queen With A Mission

Queen Elizabeth is the only female member of the royal family to ever enter the armed forces. She may have been a mechanic and military truck driver in the army but she sure knows how to handle a weapon.

A Race To Win

After Nixon’s speech in 1972 where he approved the Space Shuttle Program, the Soviets decided the race was on to build the first spacecraft and send it to space. They build one in 1982 but when they tried to launch it in 1988 it failed.

Area 51 Spaceship

Here we can see the unloading of a UFO object into a truck, which could potentially confirm strange events going on in Area 51. This UFO crashed but the reason was not determined, but some speculate that the device may have been used by the U.S. Air Force in order to test out weather equipment.

Operation Highjump

The U.S. government has long been involved in numerous operations that aim to continue its stronghold. One of these was called “Operation Highjump” and it was meant to create a classified military research center located in the Arctic area. Here we see a U.S. Navy ship wedged between two icebergs.

Area 51 Highway

The highway along Area 51 is usually quite deserted, so this picture is quite the rarity. Here we see a government car transporting an object, though it is quite unclear what it is. Many believe it could be a UFO underneath the tarp.

The Graf Zeppelin

In 1928, a German commercial plane called the Graf Zeppelin flew directly over Washington DC. Such as aircraft had not ever been seen in the United States before, causing many people to become frightened.

Lunch On Set

Here we have a little seen snapshot from behind the scenes of filming from the early Star Wars film. The cast and crew were on lunch break, and we get a glimpse of the man behind the R2D2 costume just hanging out and enjoying a sandwich.

Freeing Germany

This photo was snapped in 1945 and depicts an American soldier who is taking down the Adolf Hitler Street sign and replacing it with one that says Roosevelt Boulevard in honor of America’s help in freeing the world of Hitler’s reign of terror.

Johnny Cash In Jail

Johnny Cash was not imprisoned himself but he did perform for those who were at the Folsom Prison. The performance was famously recorded and then sold as a very successful album.

Family Portrait On The Moon

This is a photo of a photo that astronaut Charlie Duke left behind on the moon. The picture is of his family, and he left it there when he was on the Apollo 16 mission.

Last Photo Of Titanic

This was the last photo of the Titanic before it tragically sank after hitting an iceberg in 1912. The ship’s remains were found in relatively good condition considering they were found in the depths of the ocean.

Millenium Falcon

Apparently, while filming Star Wars, actor Harrison Ford asked George Lucas how to drive the Millenium Falcon. Lucas gave him a lackluster response, but things worked out anyway and the movie went on to be one of the most successful of all time.

Che And Castro

Here we see Che Guevara and Fidel Castro hanging out together and fishing on a boat in 1960. Guevara tried to gain control of Cuba after feeling that America was a colonialist force.

Hiroshima 1945

Here we see a snapshot of Ground Zero of Hiroshima in 1945. You can see the total destruction that was caused, which is why the U.S. government tried to keep these images under control after the end of WWII.

Operation Paperclip

Something many people don’t know is that both Russia and the United States recruited former Nazi scientists in order to learn about Nazi Germany’s technology and weapons. This mission was named “Operation Paperclip.”

Bigfoot Spotted?

Sasquatch, also known as Bigfoot, is a rumored to be bipedal mammal that lives in the Pacific Northwest wilderness. In 1976, the FBI examined hairs found in Oregon in order to figure out if they belonged to the legendary creature. However, in 2019 the investigation was declassified and the research was inconclusive.

Julia Child, The Secret Spy

We all know and love Julia Child for her famous French cooking and television show teaching us all about the culinary arts. However, after her death, it was revealed that she once worked in espionage at the Office of Strategic Services in 1942.

Project Iceworm

Obsessed with the idea of overtaking the Soviets, the US Government developed an underground state of the art nuclear-powered research plant in a tundra in Greenland.”Porject Iceworm” was the secret project that involved 2500 miles of underground tunnels used to cart around missiles.

“Borrowing” The Lunik

In 1967, the Soviets gave tours of their Sputnik and Lunik satellite models. However, they didn’t realize that US operatives stole the Lunik to harvest information on how it works and then put it back before the Soviets could notice. One of the operatives later wrote about it in a CIA journal.

Not Really Searching For The Titanic

When the U.S. Navy set out on a search that most believed was to look for the remains of the RMS Titanic, what the public didn’t realize was that the expedition was actually intended for looking for sunken ships USS Thresher and USS Scorpion. The fact that they found the Titanic was a happy accident and perfect cover story.

Sputnik Knowledge

In 1957, United States citizens were shocked to discover that the Soviet Union launched a satellite, called Sputnik, into space, marking the first major event in the Space Race. However, the United States government knew about the Sputnik plan, potentially even all the way back in 1955.

An Underrated War Hero

Stanislav Petrov was a Soviet Union solder who chose not to fire a nuclear missile when it looked like the U.S. had launched five missiles at his country. He thought it may be a false alarm and he turned out to be correct, narrowly avoiding a third world war. The records became declassified in 1998 and the world found out about his actions.