Pentagon releases fifth batch of declassified UFO files, including new videos and images
The Pentagon has released a fresh batch of declassified UFO files, adding new videos, images and documents to a growing public archive of unexplained sightings.
The Pentagon has released a fresh batch of declassified UFO files, adding new videos, images and documents to a growing public archive of unexplained sightings. The latest dump, posted on Friday, comes after President Donald Trump’s January executive order pushing for wider disclosure.
The 41-file release includes more than a dozen videos, three images and a stack of PDF documents dating from 1950 or 1953, depending on the record set cited, through this year. Pentagon disclosures have now been published in five rounds, following the first tranche of 161 files uploaded to the department’s website on 8 May.
Orb over the Gulf of Oman
Among the most striking clips is footage from 2021 over the Gulf of Oman, where a dark “cold orb” moves in irregular patterns across a screen viewed by Special Operations forces aboard an AC-130J gunship. In one description, the object measures about 4 feet, or 1.2 metres, in diameter.
Another set of videos shows the same 2021 encounter from different angles and devices. The clips are cellphone recordings of screens on the gunship, with the object appearing on infrared and other sensors.
Footage from the Middle East and Pacific
The release also includes a mysterious orb seen whizzing over a residential area in the Middle East and footage of a black sphere hovering over the Pacific Ocean, briefly seeming to vanish before reappearing. The Pentagon said the batch contains never-before-seen footage, renderings and documents chronicling the objects.
One military pilot’s account stands out. CBS News reported that the files include his recollection of a huge triangle over Afghanistan in 2002, an object he said blocked out the stars.
Records from several agencies
The documents come not only from the Pentagon, but also from the FBI, CIA, State Department and the Executive Office of the President. The latest release follows a pattern of disclosures that has pushed hundreds of files into the public domain since Trump called for their release earlier this year.
The Pentagon’s UFO website now carries the new material alongside earlier batches. For researchers and sceptics alike, the value is as much in the raw sensor footage and agency paperwork as in the unanswered questions they leave behind.
The Pentagon has not tried to settle the mystery. It has just opened the file drawer a little wider.
