Pentagon releases 41 new UFO files with sightings from around the world; see images & videos here

The U.S Department of War has dropped a fresh batch of 41 UFO-related files on Friday, August 07, 2026. The files have now been made public via the Pentagon's official UFO archive and include a mix of documents, photographs, and even video from different agencies. This is the fifth release since President Trump signed an executive order in January that instructed agencies to share more documents about unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP (a term now used instead of UFO).

In this latest release, the 41 files are from the Pentagon, the FBI, the CIA, the State Department, and the Executive Office of the President. The oldest records are from 1950, and the newest data released is from 2026. These UAP sightings have been spotted all across the world, including Montana, Utah, Colorado, Brazil, Sweden, Afghanistan, the Pacific Ocean, and the Middle East. The official release shared that the department "will release additional files on a rolling basis" at war.gov/ufo. This means more documents are likely to be out as the disclosure process continues.

The mysterious UAP encounter in the Gulf of Oman

Six of the newly released videos show different angles of the same encounter over the Gulf of Oman in September 2021. These were captured on cellphone footage of sensor screens aboard an AC-130J gunship flown by Special Operations forces during a live-fire exercise. An intelligence report attached to the footage states that personnel "observed approximately 25 instances of UAPs while conducting a live fire exercise in the Gulf of Oman." 

The same report describes what the objects looked like and how they behaved, noting, "The UAPs were observed as cold orbs flying at lower altitudes between 250 to 1300 MPH in different formations as well as maneuvering aggressively. UAPs also appeared to react to the aircraft firing its main cannon." Despite the detail, the Pentagon's own investigative office looking into these events couldn't resolve what the objects were.

Another, recorded by a U.S. Government Special Agent in the western U.S. this year, "features two, slow-moving 'black-hot' areas of contrast, visible in infrared imaging." A partially redacted report tied to that video explains what happened. After receiving a report of an unusual radio frequency, the agent pointed a handheld infrared sensor toward it. He described that "he saw a black object in the sky. It was not moving fast. He took pictures using the optical device. While observing he saw a second object to the right of the first and took additional photos/videos. The objects were moving together at the same speed. Both were black hot. He lost view of the objects when they traveled a distance out of view. Total observation time was approximately 5 - 10 minutes."

The pilot who saw a triangle blot out the stars over Bagram

Among the eight FBI 302 witness-interview forms in this release, one from 2024 has drawn particular attention. A former military pilot told an FBI agent that he and other pilots began noticing strange lights in the sky starting in 2023. These were first spotted during a flight from Massachusetts to Ireland. According to the report, "[Redacted] was at an elevation of 37,000 feet and believed the lights were higher than him, probably at 50,000 feet or higher. The lights were white in color, would start out as dim, and get brighter before they eventually faded out. The full cycle of the lights would range from 10 seconds to one minute." He told the agent he saw similar lights roughly ten more times after that.

The same pilot also described something he witnessed in 2002, while serving in Afghanistan.  The FBI report noted, "At approximately 4:30 AM local time, [redacted] noticed that the stars were getting blacked out over Bagram. It appeared as if something huge went overhead, from west to east, and was an equilateral triangle shape. The object was moving silently, at a consistent speed and altitude, possibly 150 knots, with no lights visible." He shared that the object was around 500 feet across, but he was not able to make out its full shape. The pilot he was with also observed the triangle, and when it passed over, stated, "Did you see that?"

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