The Pentagon has published 64 new UAP files — six PDFs, seven audio recordings and 51 videos — to its public archive following a presidential order. The materials, compiled by AARO and released at Congress' request, include grainy infrared footage and documents that often lack a verified chain-of-custody. Highlights include footage linked to the 2023 Lake Huron shoot-down, DOE files from Pantex, and a 2025 helicopter account in which a senior intelligence officer described prolonged encounters with orange orbs. Audio from Apollo and Mercury missions is also included; NASA has attributed some astronaut 'fireflies' to frozen condensation.
Pentagon Publishes 64 New UAP Files — 2025 Helicopter Encounter Left Officer 'Virtually Speechless'
Pentagon releases more UFO files: "Speechless after these observations"
The Pentagon on Friday released 64 new files related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), expanding the public archive with a second tranche of records. The package — released after a presidential directive earlier this year — contains six PDF documents, seven audio recordings and 51 video files, many of them grainy infrared clips captured by military sensors.
What the release includes
The videos were located by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and produced at the request of House lawmakers. The Pentagon cautions that many materials 'lack a substantiated chain-of-custody,' and each clip is paired with descriptive notes that indicate when and where the footage was likely captured.
One notable clip appears to show the moment a fighter jet shot down an unidentified object over Lake Huron in 2023 — an incident that drew intense public attention after a Chinese surveillance balloon crossed U.S. airspace earlier that year. Subsequent reporting suggested the Lake Huron object could have been a hobbyist-operated balloon.
A declassified video showing the moment a fighter jet took out a UAP over Lake Huron in 2023. / Credit: Pentagon
Many videos document encounters that occurred within U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility between 2018 and 2023, including incidents over the Persian Gulf. A 2022 clip with no listed location shows multiple spherical objects repeatedly entering and exiting the water near a submarine.
Documents, audio and historical files
The document set also includes historical sighting reports, a report on Soviet-era intelligence activity, and Department of Energy files — including material from Pantex, a major nuclear weapons facility. The seven audio files feature recordings from Apollo and Mercury astronauts describing phenomena nicknamed 'fireflies' and 'snowflakes.' The Pentagon notes that NASA later determined many of the 'fireflies' were frozen condensation separating from the spacecraft, illuminated by sunlight.
Most striking firsthand account
The release's most striking written account comes from a currently serving senior intelligence officer who described investigating UAP sightings in late 2025 while aboard a military helicopter. According to the officer, the crew experienced 'a series of close UAP encounters lasting over an hour' while following up on earlier reports.
The officer wrote that they observed 'countless orange orbs swarming in all directions' and that two large, oval-shaped orbs flared up side by side, stationary and just above the helicopter's rotor disk. He said the crew were 'virtually speechless after these observations.'
The full set of files is available on the Pentagon's public UAP website. This release follows an initial upload two weeks earlier that included declassified FBI pages, military pilot reports, diplomatic cables and NASA photos.
Help us improve.
