The Pentagon in the U.S. has unveiled its fifth collection of documents concerning unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). This release features video footage captured from a military aircraft, showing erratic flashes of light in the sky.
The footage, shot on a cell phone in September 2021, displays the infrared view from a U.S. Special Operations Forces AC-130J gunship during a training mission over the Gulf of Oman.
An incident report accompanying the footage describes these lights as “Multiple Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Observed Maneuvering Erratically and In Formation.” According to the report, the objects seemed to fly at lower altitudes and varied in speeds from 250 to 1,300 miles per hour without any visible means of propulsion.
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The orbs were initially detected after the AC-130J deployed a water-activated flare intended as a mock target for the exercise. A crew member attempted to view the flare using the gunship’s infrared cameras, spotting two “approximately four-foot diameter cold orbs” hovering roughly 20 feet above the flare. After the plane’s cannon fired, the UAP swiftly moved out of the sensor’s range without altering altitude.
The report likened the orbs’ flight pattern to the playful swimming of dolphins in a pod.
This latest release includes several other accounts of UAP encounters. It marks the fifth set of materials released by the Pentagon since May. The initiative began after President Donald Trump declared in February that he would instruct federal agencies to “begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.”
The earliest document in the collection dates back to 1953 and discusses video footage taken the previous year, showing blue-white objects constructed from materials not commonly known.
Another heavily redacted report from the FBI included in this release details several incidents during 2023 and 2024 where pilots observed mysterious lights over an undisclosed location. One pilot reported seeing the lights on approximately 11 different occasions. Although the FBI report indicates that the pilot used his cell phone to record one sighting near Minneapolis, this footage is not part of the latest release.
The current release does not feature any new direct photographs of UAPs. The only new visuals are artists’ interpretations of incidents described in the reports.
Additional UAP materials remain with the Pentagon. In a statement, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced that the Department of Defense is “actively working on the next release of UAP files.”
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