Frightening Sightings and Glowing Orbs: The Pentagon Reveals Its Secrets on Unidentified Flying Objects
A third batch of files related to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) was released on Friday by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, only weeks after hundreds of other documents were made public.
The releases come as the U.S. Department of Defense continues to declassify certain records concerning Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) under the Presidential UAP Records and Reporting System (PURSUE), according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
What do the files contain?
The newly released records, available through the Department of Defense, include reports and sketches dating back nearly two decades. Among them is a July 2008 report concerning the sighting of an unidentified flying object at Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe, as well as more recent cases involving glowing spheres observed in the northeastern United States, according to the American magazine Newsweek.
The latest release contains 53 documents and 10 digital illustrations originating from several agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, NASA, and the Pentagon, along with six videos and three audio recordings provided by NASA.
The Trump administration had previously released the first two batches in May. According to officials, the Pentagon’s UAP archive has attracted more than 1.7 billion visits since its launch last month.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously stated: “The Department of Defense is fully aligned with President Trump in pursuing unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of unidentified anomalous phenomena.”
He added that the declassified materials had long fueled justified speculation and that the administration wanted Americans “to see the evidence for themselves.”
Mysterious Glowing Orbs
Among the released files is an FBI report documenting an interview with an individual who claimed to have observed an unidentified object in February 2026. According to the report, the witness, whose identity was redacted, “noticed an intensely bright light hovering beneath the tree line in the middle of the backyard.”
The witness described the object as “a red sphere approximately one meter in diameter,” adding that they had never seen anything with such a vivid red color. Inside the red sphere was what they described as “a white plasma ball about the size of a basketball.” The sphere then rose into the air, while a second similar sphere appeared above it before both objects moved away and disappeared.
Another witness reported seeing “a yellow ball of light the size of a basketball” during the evening. After exiting their vehicle, they observed a second, larger sphere comparable in size to a beach ball. Several weeks later, the same witness reportedly observed multiple white spheres at a higher altitude. A video submitted by the witnesses was included in the release.
October 2023 UAP Sighting
The administration also released files concerning an incident reported in the western United States in October 2023. One of the witnesses was a federal law-enforcement officer.
According to his statement: “As we were driving through an alley, we suddenly noticed a large illuminated sphere to our right at approximately a 90-degree angle.” He initially estimated the object to be between 500 and 600 meters away before later measuring the distance at roughly 1,100 meters.
He described it as “a circle of light resembling a rotating pattern of glowing lava.” While continuing to drive, the witnesses reportedly observed another similar object.
“Three red lights appeared to emerge from it and move away rapidly, evenly spaced before disappearing,” he stated. A flash on the left horizon reportedly appeared simultaneously with the illumination of the orange sphere.
Approximately twenty minutes later, the phenomenon reportedly occurred again, with the orange sphere appearing slightly ahead and to the left while the red lights followed different patterns. Photographic illustrations of the event were included in the release.
Colorado Springs Sighting in 2022
The disclosures also include a report from February 2022 concerning a sighting in Colorado Springs, accompanied by an illustrative sketch.
According to the report, “a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and four members of his unit observed an unidentified object above the Cheyenne Mountains while leaving their office building.”
The object was described as “potato-shaped,” with distinct edges and a “milky, pearl-white coloration.” It was reportedly “semi-transparent with a faint glow.”
The report further stated that the object appeared to consist of “moving scales or panels that were asymmetrical, non-overlapping, and irregularly shaped.”
After approximately two minutes, the object vanished instantly, “fading away in the blink of an eye without casting any shadow.”
Harare International Airport Report, 2008
The release also includes a report dated July 3, 2008, concerning a possible unidentified object sighting at Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe. The document had originally been classified as “secret.”
According to the report, the object was “hovering” at high altitude above the airport and was detected “possibly through both radar and visual observation.” The report also mentioned “beams” emanating from the object.
The object was described as disc-shaped with a hollow center and rotating lights beneath its structure.
The incident, which prompted debate over whether it might have involved a foreign government entity, led authorities at the time to raise the airport’s alert level.
1949 Correspondence with J. Edgar Hoover
Reports of unexplained aerial phenomena in the United States date back many decades. Correspondence addressed to J. Edgar Hoover illustrates this history.
On January 31, 1949, Reverend Charles Barnes wrote:
“Last May, one afternoon, I observed four beams in the sky moving from northwest to southeast and converging over the Cascade Mountains. Small clouds appeared to form between them.”
He added that “the explosion effect seemed to rise to an altitude of approximately ten thousand feet” and felt compelled to report the information “for reasons of national security.”
Hoover replied by thanking Barnes for the report and later forwarded the information to the Pentagon and the Atomic Energy Commission.
