Bright Orb Seemingly Takes Off Like Rocket In New UFO Dump
A luminous object that seems to shoot skyward at blinding speed sits among the strangest clips in the government’s newest batch of UFO records, and officials still cannot say what it is.
The Department of War (DOW) posted its second round of declassified Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files Friday on its WAR.GOV/UFO site. The release came roughly two weeks after an initial drop on May 8 and stems from a transparency directive signed by President Donald Trump, with additional records promised on a rolling basis.
The clip with the luminous object carries the label “Syrian UAP instant acceleration.” The Pentagon said an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform captured the footage in 2021, and someone later loaded it onto a classified network in 2024. (RELATED: Apollo 12 Crew Claims Seeing ‘Streaks Of Lights’ In Eyes, New UFO File Dump Says)
A separate video shows an American fighter jet destroying a UAP above Lake Huron in February 2023, The Daily Wire reported. The strike came shortly after a Chinese spy balloon floated across the country. Then-NORAD chief Gen. Glen VanHerck said after the Lake Huron incident that the military could not figure out how the object stayed airborne. “We’re calling them objects, not balloons, for a reason,” he said, according to The Daily Wire.
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) May 22, 2026
The latest batch held 51 videos located by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the Pentagon unit that investigates such sightings, CBS News reported. House lawmakers had requested the footage in March. One written account told of a senior intelligence officer who watched orange spheres swarm near his aircraft and trail the fighters sent to intercept them, leaving the crew stunned. CBS News noted the Pentagon cautioned that many of the files lack a verified chain of custody.
Investigators have stopped short of calling any of it alien. The cases stay officially unresolved, and AARO has found no proof of extraterrestrial origins even as it concedes many sightings still defy explanation, ABC News reported. War Secretary Pete Hegseth pitched the rollout as a win for transparency. “It’s time the American people see it for themselves,” Hegseth said in a statement, according to FOX 5 DC.
The department reported more than 1 billion visits to the site since its May 8 launch. Trump has pledged to keep releasing files tied to “alien and extraterrestrial life,” closing his directive with “GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
