Pentagon Releases Fourth Batch of UFO Files, 40 New Records
The Pentagon released its fourth batch of declassified files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) on July 10, publishing 40 new records that include military encounter reports spanning from 1949 to 2025. The release continues an unprecedented transparency initiative established under President Donald Trump’s executive order earlier this year.
What the New Release Contains
The fourth tranche includes 14 documents, 19 videos, four audio recordings, and three images sourced from multiple agencies — the Pentagon, NASA, the CIA, the FBI, and the Department of Energy, according to CBS News. The files are hosted on the Pentagon’s dedicated UAP portal at WAR.GOV/UFO.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed that additional files are being prepared for future publication. “The Department of War and our agency partners are actively working on the next release of UAP files,” Parnell said in a statement, as reported by Newsmax.
Military Encounters: ‘Unlike Anything I Had Seen’
Among the most striking accounts is a 2019 report from a military aviator who observed an object over the eastern United States. “I noticed an object with flight characteristics unlike anything I had seen in my 28 years of performing for the [Air Force] and Navy,” the aviator wrote in a range fouler debrief. The report describes a small rectangular object traveling at high speed in the opposite direction, which the pilot tracked for 10 to 15 seconds before it accelerated out of view.
A separate 2020 incident over the Atlantic Ocean involved a Navy crew member who described a maroonish object approximately 12 to 15 feet in height. “Structurally, it appeared as a large, somewhat deformed balloon, but we were unable to verify that as we passed at the merge,” the crew member wrote, according to the ZeroHedge report republished from The Epoch Times.
Nuclear Facility Intrusion
The Department of Energy contributed a file detailing a September 2015 incident at the Pantex nuclear weapons facility near Amarillo, Texas. Security officers reported a diamond-shaped object approximately four feet tall that moved silently over the facility at low speed. According to the report, officers noted the object made no sound and appeared to lack any visible propulsion system. The object changed direction when pursued and eventually moved north beyond the facility’s perimeter.
Historical Records: The ‘Green Fireball’ Mystery
The release includes a transcript of a 1949 conference at Los Alamos National Laboratory where Manhattan Project scientists debated unexplained “green fireballs” observed over the nuclear laboratory. Meteoritics expert Lincoln LaPaz told the assembled scientists that “nothing like this, to my knowledge, has ever been observed in the case of meteorite drops.” Physicist Edward Teller suggested the phenomenon might be “an electron phenomenon” if not characteristic of a material body. The conference failed to reach a consensus explanation.
Global Sightings and Modern Recordings
More recent files include infrared videos from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command showing unexplained objects over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea in 2025. One video captures what the Pentagon describes as “an area of contrast resembling a six-pointed star” over the Yellow Sea near China. Another shows a string-like object slicing through clouds over the South China Sea, captured in 2024.
A 2023 video from U.S. Central Command in the Middle East shows a UAP appearing to shapeshift before changing direction at high speed, according to The Gateway Pundit.
No Definitive Answers
Despite the volume of material released, Pentagon officials stress that the files do not offer proof of extraterrestrial life. Investigators continue to examine conventional explanations ranging from weather balloons and atmospheric phenomena to advanced foreign technology. The release is part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), established by Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to declassify UAP-related records in the interest of transparency.
What’s Next
The Pentagon began releasing files on a rolling basis on May 8, 2026, with the first batch containing 158 files. Subsequent releases followed on May 22 and June 12. Officials have confirmed that more releases are planned, though the total number of batches and the timeline for future disclosures remain unclear. The files remain accessible to the public at WAR.GOV/UFO.