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By Mandy Taheri
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The Trump administration on Friday released a third batch of files related to unidentified flying objects (UFOs), just weeks after releasing hundreds of other documents.
The releases come as the Department of Defense is declassifying some Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files "as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE)," Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, said.
What To Know
The released files, available on the Department of Defense's website, include documents and sketches from nearly two decades ago, such as a July 2008 report on a UFO sighting at Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe, as well as more recent cases, such as the orb sightings in the Northeast.
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The latest release contains 53 documents and 10 digital renderings from several agencies, including the CIA, FBI, NASA and the Pentagon, along with six videos and three NASA audio recordings.
The Trump administration released the first and second tranches of records in May. The Pentagon's public Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) archive has already drawn more than 1.7 billion hits since launching last month, the administration says.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said previously: "The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government's understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)."
Hegseth added that the declassified material had "long fueled justified speculation" and said the administration wanted Americans to "see it for themselves."
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Northeast Orb Sightings
The release included an FBI form used to record an interview with an individual who described potentially seeing a UAP in February 2026. The form records that the individual, whose information is redacted, "noticed an intense bright light hovering below the tree line in the middle of their backyard.
The individual described the light as a "red sphere that was about one meter in diameter," adding that they had "never seen anything that color of red before." At the center of the red sphere, they described a "white plasma sun about the size of a basketball." The orb then reportedly rose, and a second identical orb hovered above it. The orbs then moved in tandem out of sight.
Another interviewee reported seeing a yellow "ball of light" the size of a basketball in the evening. After they got out of their car, they saw a "second ball of light which was larger and about the size of a beach ball." The record states that a couple of weeks after that event, the individual saw "several white orbs" at a higher altitude.
The onlookers' video was released as part of the tranche.
October 2023 UAP Sighting
The administration also released files related to an October 2023 UAP sighting out West, in which one of the witnesses is a federal law enforcement special agent who testified about the matter.
The official wrote, "As we headed through an alley area, we suddenly noticed a large glowing ball to our right 90 degrees from where we were," estimating it was about 500 to 600 meters away, later using a range finder to put it at about 1100 meters away.
They described it as "a circle of light that looked like a swirly pattern of bright lava."
The official then said they drove and saw another similar object.
"It appeared three red lights flew out of and away from it. They seemed evenly spaced apart and moved pretty fast, quickly disappearing from sight," they said. "At the same time the orange light lit up, there appeared to be a flash from over the horizon to the left. The flash lit up the sky pretty well, though very briefly."
"About twenty minutes later, the experience repeated, except this time the orange ball appeared to the front and slightly to the left this time. This time, however, the red lights appeared to leave in a different pattern as one flew straight out, one appeared to fly up horizontally, and another flew down horizontally, appearing to fly away in a vertical alignment of three lights," the testimony goes on.
The release included photo renderings of the account. Previous releases included U.S. intelligence officers' reports of orb sightings.
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Colorado Springs 2022 UAP Sighting
Included in the release was a 2022 UAP report from Colorado Springs, accompanied by a drawing. An FBI form for the forensic sketch of the UAP includes details about the sighting, which took place in February 2022.
The record states, "A former U.S. Army intelligence officer, along with four other members of his unit, observed a UAP over the Cheyenne Mountains as they exited their office building."
The object was reportedly "potato" shaped, had distinct edges, and was a "creamy/whitish opalescent color," adding that it was "somewhat translucent with a slight shimmer."
"The object was made up of what can best be described as articulating fish scales or panels that were non-symmetrical, non-overlapping, and irregular shaped." The report stated that after about two minutes, the object vanished, describing it as "the object 'cloaked' in the space of time it took to turn a head and there was no shadow."
The subsequent sketch was included in the release:
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2008 Harare International Airport Reporting
A July 3, 2008, report on a potential UAP sighting at the Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe, which at the time was listed as "Secret," has been included in the release.
The report states that a UAP was "hovering" at high altitude over the airport and observed, "possibly by both radar and optical means." It notes that at one point during observations, "'beams' were observed emanating from the object."
The object was described as "disc-like" with a hollow center, accompanied by a "series of rotating lights on the underside of the airframe."
The incident, which some debated whether it was a foreign government or something other than a UAP, led the airport to be put on high alert at the time.
1949 John Edgar Hoover Correspondence
Reports of UAPs in the U.S. date back decades. Correspondence with then-FBI Director John Edgar Hoover in the 1940s further notes this.
Reverend Charles Barnes wrote to Hoover on January 31, 1949, describing a peculiar sight to him, writing, "Last May, one afternoon I saw four beams in the sky passing from the northwest to the southeast and converging in the Cascade mountains. In those four narrow beams small clouds were forming. And where the beams met apparently against the mountains a great explosion effect was to be seen. I would say that they were visible for at least 10 minutes or longer." He later added that the "explosion effect seemed to rise to a height of about ten thousand feet."
The reverend noted that he felt compelled to pass along the information "in the interest of national security."
Hoover responded to Barnes, thanking him for passing along the information. In a separate letter, Hoover wrote to the Pentagon and the Atomic Energy Commission a month later, relaying the information.
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