Washington, May 23: The United States Department of Defense has released a fresh batch of declassified UFO files, including videos, documents and audio recordings detailing mysterious sightings of glowing orbs, discs and fireballs reported over the last eight decades.
The newly released material includes more than 50 videos, several documents and audio files related to what the US government now officially refers to as “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena” (UAPs).
According to the documents, witnesses reported sightings of strange aerial objects dating back to 1948, including glowing green orbs, flying discs and unexplained fireballs.
One of the most striking accounts comes from an unnamed senior US intelligence officer who described seeing “countless orange orbs swarming in all directions” during a military helicopter mission in the western United States in 2025.
The officer said the glowing objects appeared during an investigation into loud unexplained sounds in a mountainous test range area where UFO sightings had reportedly occurred in previous days.
“They were oval-shaped, orange with a white or yellow centre, and emitted light in all directions,” the officer reportedly stated in the released documents.
According to the account, the objects moved rapidly, hovered close to the ground and eventually formed a triangular pattern before disappearing.
The Pentagon’s latest release follows an earlier disclosure of 161 UFO-related files made public earlier this month after an order by US President Donald Trump.
Among the newly released material is a 116-page report from the Armed Forces Special Weapons Program covering investigations conducted between 1948 and 1950. The report documents 209 sightings of unidentified objects in locations including Sandia, New Mexico.
Some reports describe objects manoeuvring at high speed before vanishing or exploding mid-air.
Several of the released videos contain infrared footage captured by US military cameras between 2018 and 2023.
One video reportedly shows an unidentified object being shot down over Lake Huron in February 2023 during heightened security concerns surrounding a Chinese surveillance balloon incident.
Another video allegedly captures a spherical unidentified object moving over the Yellow Sea in 2022.
Despite the disclosures, the Pentagon has not provided any definitive evidence linking the sightings to extraterrestrial life or alien technology.
US officials said the files are being released in the interest of transparency and that the public can interpret the material independently.
The Pentagon also cautioned that some videos lacked a fully verified chain of custody, meaning their authenticity could not be completely confirmed.
The latest disclosures have reignited interest among UFO researchers, lawmakers and the public, with several US politicians continuing to demand greater transparency regarding unexplained aerial sightings.
The Pentagon said additional UFO-related files would be released on a rolling basis in the coming months.
