The Pentagon on Friday published another tranche of UAP-related material, releasing 40 fresh files that include 19 videos.
This is the fourth wave of records tied to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAPs, the term now more commonly used in place of UFOs.
Alongside the video footage, the latest release contains 14 documents, four audio recordings and three images. The files draw from multiple U.S. agencies, including the Pentagon, NASA, the CIA, the FBI and the Department of Energy, with records dating from 1948 through to 2025.
The update follows a rapid rollout in recent months. The first set appeared at the start of May, the second followed only weeks later, and the third arrived about a month ago.
The latest batch was posted through the Pentagon’s UAP portal, which sits under the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, the Defense Department office created in 2022 to collect, analyze and publicly release declassified UAP material. AARO says its broader mission is to improve reporting, reduce safety and security risks, and separate explainable incidents from genuinely unresolved cases.
Some of the files appear to reflect exactly that mix: ordinary events, historical records and a handful of cases that remain unidentified pending further analysis. The newly released material has already sparked heavy online attention, with some users calling it the “clearest footage yet”.
One clip that has drawn particular attention appears to show a “star shaped anomaly” over the Yellow Sea last year. The report was filed by the United States Indo-Pacific Command, though the object’s cause or identity has not been established.
Among the historical documents is a 1949 transcript from a conference of physicists and scientists in New Mexico. According to the record, attendees reviewed sightings of “green fireballs”, with one leading physicist concluding they did not “fit any known natural explanation.”
More recent material includes a 2019 “range fouler reporting form” — a standardized reporting form the U.S. Navy uses to record the circumstances surrounding an unauthorized intrusion into controlled airspace during active military operations or training, according to the Pentagon.
Those forms are part of a wider effort to standardize how UAP encounters are documented across the services, especially when pilots, sensor operators or other personnel witness objects that do not immediately match known aircraft, drones, balloons or other familiar causes.
In one of those forms, a military aviator detailed an object he encountered, writing: “In between mission sorties, I noticed an object with flight characteristics unlike anything I had seen in my 28 years of performing for the USAF and Navy.
“A small object was below us and appeared to be traveling in a straight line opposite our direction at high speed. I tracked it for ~10-15 seconds before we turned on the recorder to provide the attached video,” the account continued.
The same report said the object seemed “rectangular”, and that others with equal or greater experience were also unable to identify what it might have been.
AARO’s public database has grown steadily since its launch, and its releases have increasingly focused on material that can be shared without compromising sources, methods or national security. In past public updates, the office has also emphasized that many UAP reports ultimately turn out to be balloons, aircraft, drones, atmospheric effects or sensor artifacts, even as a smaller number remain unresolved.
Discussing the newly published material, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves.”
The Department of War celebrates the launch of https://t.co/odnX2WDaGO as a major milestone in government transparency. In just 12 hours, the site has received 340 MILLION hits from Americans and truth seekers worldwide seeking unfiltered UAP information.
This overwhelming…
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) May 9, 2026
The website drew 340 million hits in 12 hours, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on X.
Trump penned on Truth Social: “Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves. ‘WHAT IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!”