Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), more widely known as UFOs, are once again at the center of international attention following the release of a new series of declassified documents by U.S. authorities.
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The fourth batch of declassified releases was posted on Friday to the U.S. Department of Defense website, and includes reports of incidents recorded near high-security military installations and sites linked to the United States’ nuclear arsenal. The publication was accompanied by the statement that “the time has come for the American people to see this for themselves,” further expanding the public record on UAP.
Among the newly released materials, military videos captured by infrared sensors aboard U.S. military craft stand out. One 18-second clip, reportedly recorded in 2025 over the Yellow Sea, shows an unidentified object with a shape described as eight-pointed or star-like, hovering intermittently over the East Asian region.
U.S. authorities are not presenting the released materials as proof of extraterrestrial origin. Instead, they are treating them as unexplained aerial phenomena that warrant further investigation on national security grounds.
In separate footage recorded in 2020, a dark, jellyfish-like object is seen drifting through the sky over the Atlantic Ocean. According to a report filed by U.S. Northern Command with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the object measured approximately 12 to 15 feet in height and was moving with the wind, with analysts noting it could potentially be a large, deformed balloon. The Department of Defense itself emphasizes that the release of the video does not constitute an official conclusion regarding the object’s identity.
Also of particular interest is a 1996 video from the former Navy UAP Task Force, which captures a circular object with wing-like protrusions moving over a mountainous area in the western United States, tracked by a military aircraft.
The incident at the Pantex nuclear facility
Among the most significant documents is a Department of Energy report detailing an incident that occurred in September 2015 at the Pantex nuclear weapons plant in Texas — the United States’ primary facility for the assembly and disassembly of nuclear weapons.
According to the report, radar detected an unidentified object flying at an altitude of just 100 to 200 feet above the heavily guarded facility. Security personnel who were scrambled described it as silent, diamond-shaped, and with no visible propulsion system.
The object was tracked for several miles before disappearing. The footage was subsequently analyzed by Sandia National Laboratories, and all evidence was forwarded to the FBI. The declassified release includes radar tracks, surveillance imagery, and processed still frames from the investigation.
Also included in the new batch is nearly two minutes of infrared footage recorded in 2024, in which an elongated object appears — after sensor zoom — to separate into multiple bright points moving diagonally.
Additionally, a 10-second clip from 2023 captures two unidentified objects moving simultaneously in opposite directions, with no official explanation yet provided for their origin.
Declassified U.S. files reveal new witness accounts of unexplained aerial phenomena
The release is not limited to recent incidents. Among the historical records is the transcript of a classified meeting held in 1949 at Los Alamos, where military officers and leading scientists discussed the wave of so-called “green fireball” sightings over New Mexico — many of which had been observed near nuclear facilities.
At that meeting, astronomer Lincoln LaPaz argued that the objects did not exhibit the characteristics of conventional meteors, while it was also revealed that the Air Force itself was unable to explain the phenomenon.
Also made public are documents from the classified 1948 “Project Sign” — the U.S. Air Force’s first major secret investigation into reports of “flying discs.”
Examining approximately 100 incidents, researchers noted significant consistencies across witness accounts, with objects described as disc-shaped or oval, capable of hovering, accelerating suddenly, and — according to some reports — exceeding the speed of sound. While no definitive identification was reached, investigators noted that the available evidence was serious enough to justify continued research.
Pentagon releases new declassified UFO files with no confirmation of extraterrestrial origin
The archive also includes the well-known COMETA Report — a study produced by retired French generals and defense experts. The report argues that, for some of the most inexplicable incidents on record internationally, the hypothesis of extraterrestrial origin represents one of the plausible explanations, and urges governments to treat the issue as a matter of national security.
For his part, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that the department is working in full cooperation with President Donald Trump to achieve “unprecedented transparency” surrounding UAP.
“These files, which remained classified for years, fueled speculation. The time has come for American citizens to see them with their own eyes,” he said.
Despite the breadth of material released, the Pentagon clarifies that most incidents remain under evaluation, and that the publication of the videos and documents does not constitute confirmation of extraterrestrial origin or any specific explanation for the recorded phenomena.
According to the Department of Defense, the website hosting the declassified files has already attracted more than 1.7 billion visits worldwide — a figure the department says reflects the unprecedented global interest in research surrounding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.
