The U.S. Department of Defense is once again drawing the world’s attention to the mystery of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Last Friday, the Pentagon released a new large batch of documents and videos related to UFOs. This is the third wave of declassified materials in the past month, initiated by the government to achieve an unprecedented level of transparency.
The latest archive contains more than 50 documents and a dozen images from key agencies: the CIA, the FBI, NASA, and the Department of Defense. In addition, audio recordings and videos have been released showing mysterious spherical objects, as well as artistic reconstructions of events based on eyewitness accounts.
Eyewitness accounts instead of radar readings
Unlike previous publications, which relied primarily on raw data from military instruments, the new materials focus on eyewitness accounts. Videos of strange encounters, collected and analyzed by the FBI, have appeared on a special Pentagon website.
One such incident occurred in July 2025. The video titled “Northeastern Orb Sighting” captures two bright lights. Eyewitnesses noted that the objects moved silently and smoothly across the sky in such perfect synchrony that it appeared as though they were flying in a tight formation or were physically connected to one another.
Another incident, recorded in October 2024 near the previous location, was dubbed “Orbs Over the Pond.” The footage shows a plasma-like sphere hovering low over the water. The object constantly changed its shape and the intensity of its glow, sometimes breaking up into smaller points of light. After hovering completely motionless for 45 minutes, it simply vanished.
Encounters with the unknown
Of particular note are the testimonies of five federal law enforcement agents who encountered anomalies in the western United States over a two-day period in October 2023. Their detailed reports were forwarded to the Pentagon’s “All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.”
One agent described a group of red lights that accelerated instantly and displayed perfect spatial coordination. Other witnesses described a massive, extremely bright orange sphere from which smaller spheres kept “hatching.” According to one of the agents, it looked as if “grapes were flying out of a basketball.” To better understand these events, the FBI created digital visualizations based on the agents’ accounts.
From “flying saucers” to “space potatoes”
Among the declassified papers are some interesting historical documents. For example, materials from the 1952–1953 CIA commission. At that time, government officials concluded that “flying saucers” did not pose a direct threat, but recommended a policy of officially “debunking” myths about UFOs. This was done to prevent potential adversaries from exploiting public panic and the hype surrounding this topic for their own purposes.
An intriguing 2008 report on a UFO sighting over an airport in Zimbabwe has also been published. The disc-shaped object, with a hollow center and rotating lights, hovered in the air for some time, emitting mysterious beams. This caused alarm in the region, but the origin of the craft remained unexplained.
And in 2022, eyewitnesses near Colorado Springs spotted an object resembling a semi-transparent, cream-colored “potato” that flickered slightly. Despite attempts by intelligence agencies to explain it as an optical illusion—sunlight reflecting off snow-capped mountains onto the clouds—there is no certainty regarding this explanation, and the case is still considered unsolved.
According to CBSNews
