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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Katie Hawkinson

Pentagon releases latest batch of UFO files and videos including intelligence officer who saw ‘orbs’

The Pentagon has published its second batch of UFO files, which includes several declassified photos, videos and documents related to alleged sightings.

The documents are housed on the Pentagon’s website, which has garnered more than 1 billion hits since the government released its first trove of files related to “unidentified anomalous phenomena” two weeks ago, agency spokesperson Sean Parnell said Friday.

The Pentagon and other agencies are “actively working” on another release, which will be announced “in the near future,” he added.

Multiple videos were published in Friday’s release, including some that were taken in the last six years. One video, captured in October 2022 in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, shows a “cigar shaped or fast spherical UAP” flying over a street. Another clip from February 2023 appears to show a U.S. Air Force fighter jet shooting down a UAP over Lake Huron.

The release also contained a five-minute video titled “Syrian UAP instant acceleration,” which was recorded in 2021.

The new batch also includes a report from a U.S. intelligence officer who described spotting “two large orbs flare up" while flying in a helicopter in late 2025. The orbs were “oval-shaped, orange with a white or yellow center, and emitted light in all directions,” according to the officer’s account.

The officer and the pilots later saw the orbs appear over fighter jets that were nearby.

“I remarked to the pilots that it seemed the same orbs we had encountered were now ‘chasing’ the fighters,” the officer wrote. “We also observed orange orbs flaring up and down around us for several minutes, forming a distinct triangle before vanishing.”

“After landing, I briefly spoke with them – mostly to express thanks. We were virtually speechless after these observations,” the officer’s report concluded.

Another 116-page document details a series of strange sightings and investigations in Sandia, New Mexico, between 1948 and 1950. The file includes “209 sightings of ‘green orbs,’ ‘discs,’ and ‘fireballs’” reported near a military base, according to the Pentagon.

“Witnesses reported unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) maneuvering, flying out of sight, disappearing, or exploding. The documents also include the results of contemporary investigations into residual copper powder found in some areas where sightings were reported,” the Pentagon said.

This image, taken from a video that appears to show a U.S. Air Force fighter jet shooting down a UAP over Lake Huron, was among the dozens of new files released Friday by the Pentagon (Defense Department)
This image, taken from a video that appears to show a U.S. Air Force fighter jet shooting down a UAP over Lake Huron, was among the dozens of new files released Friday by the Pentagon (Defense Department)

Some of these investigations helped fuel Project Grudge, a brief U.S. Air Force investigation into UFO sightings launched in 1949.

The new batch also includes audio of the Apollo 12 astronauts, who landed on the moon in 1969, describing “streaks of lights” they saw in the dark while trying to sleep. NASA eventually determined the unexplained phenomena was “internal to the astronauts’ vision rather than external light sources,” according to the Pentagon’s website.

The initial batch of UFO files, published May 8, contained several photos of “unidentified phenomena” taken from the moon’s surface by the Apollo 12 crew. It also included a transcript of the Apollo 11 crew’s debriefing, during which astronaut Buzz Aldrin described a series of “unusual” observations he made during the mission.

The Pentagon released the files following a directive from President Donald Trump, and will continue to do so on a rolling basis.

“Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post following the initial release.

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