The Pentagon on Friday released a fourth tranche of files related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), the term now used by the government for what were previously known as UFOs. The latest release adds 40 new files to the growing public archive, including 19 videos documenting reported encounters and investigations spanning decades.
The newest batch is part of an ongoing declassification effort that began on May 8 after President Donald Trump pledged to make certain government records public. Additional rounds of documents were released on May 22 and June 12, with each installment providing more insight into military reports, historical records, and government investigations involving unexplained aerial sightings.
Earlier releases included accounts of unidentified objects observed near foreign submarines, reports of silent hovering orbs, and descriptions of craft appearing to travel at extraordinary speeds. The initial batch also contained archival photographs, military videos, decades-old reports, and documents connected to NASA’s Apollo 12, Apollo 17, and Gemini 7 missions, during which astronauts documented unusual sightings.
Among the newly released files is a report describing an incident near the Pantex nuclear plant in Texas on Sept. 1, 2015. According to witness statements, the unidentified object traveled at an estimated speed of 10 to 15 miles per hour.
Observers described the object as diamond-shaped with a rounded top, standing roughly four feet tall and measuring about two feet wide at its base. Witnesses disagreed on its appearance, with some describing it as black while others reported seeing silver, red, and blue coloring.
The official analysis concluded that the object posed no apparent threat and did not approach sensitive assets located at the facility.
Another report from 2019 details a so-called range-fouler incident, a term used when unauthorized objects enter restricted airspace during military training or operational activities. In that case, a surveillance aircraft captured footage of a small rectangular object.
Military personnel reported that the object displayed flight characteristics they had not previously observed. According to the report, it accelerated quickly enough to outrun the aircraft’s tracking system.
The latest release also includes additional NASA documents and imagery depicting unidentified objects. Debriefings from both the Apollo 14 and Apollo 17 missions were included among the newly released records.
One video from 2023 documents a UAP observed over the Yellow Sea. According to the accompanying materials, the object appeared to interfere with electro-optical and infrared sensors aboard a U.S. military platform. The footage, which lasts four minutes and 57 seconds, gradually deteriorates as the recording continues.
Another video from a 2020 encounter over the Atlantic Ocean appears to resemble the long-rumored “floating brain” or “jellyfish” UAP. The footage zooms in on a blob-shaped object with narrower appendages extending beneath it.
The latest document release also reaches back into the early years of government investigations into unexplained aerial sightings.
One report from 1949 summarizes a conference discussing mysterious green fireballs observed near Los Alamos National Laboratory. The meeting included prominent scientists, among them individuals who had worked on the Manhattan Project.
Also included is a 1948 Project Sign document, produced during one of the federal government’s earliest organized efforts to examine unexplained sightings. The report compiled 100 cases recorded between 1947 and 1948. It notes an increase in reports beginning with World War II pilots who described encountering so-called “foo fighters.” Following the war, civilian sightings also increased, including reports connected to the widely known 1947 Roswell incident.
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