Pentagon's third UFO file drop reveals potato-like craft, mysterious orbs, but no alien proof

What the third release covers

The 72 records include FBI interviews, CIA analyses, and videos. Many reports come from the northeastern US, where witnesses described brilliant red orbs, some with a "white plasma sun" inside. Two people in February 2026 told the FBI they saw an intense bright light in their backyard, then two orbs tethered together moving away. A 2025 iPhone video captured two red spheres merging before disappearing. In October 2023, six federal law enforcement agents reported seeing "orbs releasing other orbs" over two days near a sensitive site in the western United States; the Pentagon noted in June 2026 that the case remains unsolved.

Historic and global sightings

One released document recounts a summer 2008 incident at Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe, where a disc-shaped object with rotating lights and beams was spotted hovering at high altitude. The FBI report said it could be a foreign reconnaissance device or an extraterrestrial craft, but made no determination. The collection also includes decades‑old material, such as a 1949 letter from then‑FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover responding to a citizen who believed they saw a non‑human‑made object, highlighting the government’s long‑standing involvement in monitoring UAPs.

The Colorado potato

Among the strangest accounts is a 2022 incident at Fort Carson, Colorado: five Army personnel saw a "potato-shaped" object hovering over Cheyenne Mountain. The object appeared opalescent, with "articulating fish scales or panels" that were non-symmetrical. It remained still for about two minutes, then vanished. Investigators suggested it could be sunlight reflecting off snow and low clouds — a theory they assigned only "low confidence". No photos were taken because the soldiers had no phones.

No smoking gun

None of the files proves the existence of alien life. The Pentagon repeats that all cases remain unresolved and that it cannot make definitive determinations. As The Atlantic’s Adam Kirsch observed, the releases offer “plenty of black-and-white murk but nothing that looks even a little like an alien spacecraft.”

Transparency push

President Trump’s 19 February directive set the declassification effort in motion. Friday’s drop is the third, following 8 May and 22 May. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the administration is committed to letting the public see the files. The UAP website, launched on 8 May, has drawn 1.7 billion hits worldwide, according to spokesperson Sean Parnell.

“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled speculation — and it's time the American people see it for themselves.”