The U.S. Department of War has released a new trove of declassified material on unidentified anomalous phenomena, adding fresh imagery and accounts to the public record of military encounters with unexplained aerial objects.
On Friday, the department posted a 41-file dump to its website containing documents, images, and videos dating as far back as 1953. The release marks the fifth such disclosure since January and follows an executive order from President Trump directing the military and other agencies to produce additional records related to UFOs.
Among the most striking items is infrared footage captured by a government agent in the western United States last year. The video shows two slow-moving “black-hot” areas of contrast. An accompanying FBI report recounts the agent’s observation: he saw a black object in the sky that was not moving fast, photographed it with an optical device, then noticed a second object to its right. The two objects traveled together at the same speed, both appearing black-hot, before disappearing from view after approximately five to ten minutes of observation.
In military thermal imaging terminology, “black hot” is a display mode in which warmer objects—such as engines or human bodies—register as dark or black against the background.
Other clips in the release include footage filmed over the Gulf of Oman in 2021 that appears to show a dark orb moving irregularly through the sky. Described as a “cold orb,” the object was reported to be about four feet wide. An intelligence report linked to the material states that forces aboard a gunship observed approximately 25 instances of UAPs while conducting a live-fire exercise in the Gulf of Oman. The objects appeared as cold orbs flying at lower altitudes at speeds between 250 and 1,300 mph, traveling in different formations and maneuvering aggressively. The report notes that the UAPs also seemed to react when the aircraft fired its main cannon.
A separate video, recorded by a U.S. military sensor at an undisclosed location in the Middle East in 2025, shows a round sphere traveling in a straight line over a built-up residential area.
Much of the released video is grainy and consistent in quality with earlier public disclosures. The images included in the package are artistic recreations based on witnesses’ first-hand descriptions rather than direct photographic evidence. One recreation from a 2011 sighting depicts a large triangular object in the sky with lights at each point.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addressed the release, stating: “The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation, and it’s time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.”
The latest files arrive months after a June disclosure that included multiple accounts of orbs observed in the sky. In those earlier reports, witnesses separately described a bright orange “mother orb” that appeared to generate smaller red orbs over several hours. The sightings, which began in 2021, have occurred at irregular intervals.
Taken together, the material continues a pattern of official acknowledgment that military personnel have repeatedly encountered objects displaying flight characteristics and thermal signatures that remain unexplained by conventional aircraft or known natural phenomena. The documents and videos do not offer definitive conclusions about the origin or nature of the objects. Instead, they add to a growing public archive of sensor data and eyewitness accounts that successive administrations have chosen to declassify in the interest of greater transparency.