The Trump administration released a fifth tranche of declassified UFO files on Friday detailing reports of triangular craft and mysterious objects. The records expose dozens of reports and videos previously hidden from the public, including accounts of massive triangular craft, high-speed orbs and a metal sphere carrying a human body.
Government officials emphasized that the documents preserve witness statements and media reports rather than verified government findings. The records offer no evidence that any of the observed objects were extraterrestrial.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated on Friday that the Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government's understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. Hegseth said the files had long fueled justified speculation behind classifications, adding that the release demonstrates an earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.
Military Pilot Sightings Over Afghanistan
One three-page Federal Bureau of Investigation interview summary details a military pilot's encounter over Bagram Airfield, a U.S.-operated base in Afghanistan, in 2002. The pilot reported observing a silent, 500-foot triangular object while stargazing with a colleague at approximately 4:30 a.m., noting that stars suddenly began disappearing above them.
The FBI interview summary states that "it appeared as if something huge went overhead." The pilot described an equilateral triangle moving silently across the sky at a steady speed and altitude with no visible lights, estimating its speed at around 173 mph.
The craft abruptly rolled 90 degrees onto its left side while veering right, moving in the opposite direction a conventional aircraft would normally bank, before returning to level flight. A second pilot also witnessed the craft, asking, "Did you see that?" as it passed overhead. Neither pilot reported the encounter at the time, and the witness later failed to find any explanation for what they observed.
Commercial Airline Pilot Encounters
The same FBI file revealed that the pilot later reported unexplained lights during commercial flights starting in October 2023. While flying from Boston to Dublin at 37,000 feet, he observed lights hovering at least 13,000 feet above his aircraft.
The lights brightened and faded in cycles lasting between ten seconds and one minute, with some remaining stationary while others traveled in straight lines or suddenly changed direction. Although they resembled aircraft landing lights, the pilot said their behavior did not match planes, meteors, satellites or Starlink, the satellite internet company operated by Elon Musk.
The pilot claimed to have witnessed the phenomenon approximately ten times, with individual encounters lasting between 45 minutes and two hours. During a flight in February 2024 near Sioux Falls, he recorded more than ten lights moving and changing brightness while traveling at roughly Mach 0.80. He stated he never felt threatened and believed the lights remained at least 100 miles away.
Reports of Metal Spheres and Aerial Orbs
Another record recounts claims that a large metal sphere crashed into the center of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 1963, gouging a 13-foot-deep hole. The mysterious object reportedly had window-shaped openings covered with thick glass.
The document notes that the sphere contained a human body dressed in heavy clothing bearing inscriptions that could not be deciphered.
Friday's release also included footage of an unresolved UFO report from last year. A screenshot from the video shows a small orb-like object traveling across the screen.
Colorado Springs Black Triangle Encounters
A separate FBI file details a dramatic encounter involving a giant black triangle over Colorado Springs in October 2023. A witness told agents he was standing outside with a co-worker on a clear night when a strange, dark-gray cloud appeared in the sky, describing it as stationary and seemingly "pixelated or distorted" before a red light emerged from it.
An enormous solid-black triangle emerged from the cloud, displaying a diffuse red light at each of its three corners. The witness estimated that the craft was as large as the parking lot where he was standing and measured between three and five stories thick.
The object initially traveled at a speed comparable to a helicopter before "almost instantaneously" accelerating to what he believed was Mach 1 or Mach 2. Waves appeared to radiate from the craft, producing a shimmering distortion similar to the mirage seen above a hot road.
Despite its apparent size and speed, the triangle allegedly generated no noise, displayed no visible propulsion and produced no unusual odor. The witness said it then abruptly rolled 90 degrees onto its left side while veering right, the opposite direction in which a conventional aircraft would normally bank, before quickly returning to level flight.
After the craft disappeared to the south, the witness discovered that the strange cloud from which it had emerged had also vanished. Around a minute later, he called his wife, who told him his voice sounded "robotic," as though electronic interference was disrupting the call. The FBI report records the account but offers no conclusion and does not independently verify the size, speed or altitude estimates.
Low-Altitude Craft and Historical Filmed Objects
Another Colorado Springs couple described a smaller triangular object that passed approximately 300 feet above their home in 2023. The witness said it appeared "almost see-through" and was surrounded by haze and ripples, describing it as "like you were looking at an object that is underwater."
The craft reportedly banked until it was nearly vertical without changing its direction or altitude, then disappeared within four seconds.
Another study analyzed films of unidentified objects recorded over Utah and Montana in the early 1950s. The filmed objects appeared disk-shaped and blue-white.
Analysts calculated that objects in the Utah footage traveled at up to 2,457 mph and endured acceleration reaching 965 times the force of gravity. The report concluded that birds, balloons and conventional aircraft could not explain the calculated movements, describing the objects as neither identifiable natural phenomena nor "commonly known man-made objects." Analysts acknowledged that those figures relied on arbitrary assumptions about the objects' distance from the camera.
Remote West Incident and Clock Disruption
In a bizarre encounter this year, two witnesses reported red lights descending over a remote area of the western United States, with one allegedly hovering just six feet above the ground. Another glow appeared to move through a dry wash around 330 feet behind them.
Afterward, one witness discovered that his mechanical watch had jumped 25 minutes ahead. His phone, vehicle clock and companion's digital watch continued showing the correct time, while his watch continued running normally afterward but remained 25 minutes fast.
