US Military Thought 1952 'Flying Disc' Footage Showed Seagulls Before Declassified Documents Dropped

The US military recorded UFO reports ranging from floating orbs travelling at 480 mph over the Middle East to a 1952 'flying disc' case that the Air Force later attributed to seagulls, according to newly released declassified UFO files. The records detail sightings and investigations spanning several decades.

UFOs And Floating Orbs Recorded At 480 MPH

For context, a 2025 US Central Command (CENTCOM) report detailed a sighting involving 'six small spherical objects, grouped together' that were 'frequently changing direction' while travelling at 480 mph. One minute of accompanying video showed the objects flying over what appeared to be a desert region.

The files also include a 2023 video showing circular objects over the Yellow Sea. The objects were spotted by an infrared sensor aboard a US military platform, according to the report.

That same year, a Colorado law enforcement officer recorded a 15-minute mobile phone video of a UFO with 'red, blue and green flashing lights'. The object remained 'silent' while hovering in the sky.

The recent reports appear alongside historical records from the office of the US Air Force Director of Intelligence concerning 'flying disc' incidents recorded between September and December 1952.

Declassified UFO Files Revisit 1952 Flying Disc Footage

A separate 1952 incident involved Chief Warrant Officer Delbert Newhouse, who saw what appeared to be flying discs near Tremonton, Utah, and captured the objects on film. He was travelling from Washington, DC, to Portland, Oregon, when he recorded the footage on 2 July using a Bell and Howell auto master camera.

The 16mm Kodachrome colour motion-picture footage showed a group of bright airborne objects. According to the declassified document webpage, the film later became one of the visual cases reviewed by Project Blue Book, the US Air Force programme that investigated the nature and origin of UFOs from 1952 to 1969.

Investigators considered whether the objects could have been 'pillow balloons'. They contacted General Mills, described in the document as 'the only known manufacturer of pillow balloons at the time', to determine whether a balloon release could account for the incident.

In 1956, the Air Force Photo Reconnaissance Lab concluded that the light in the film 'was caused by seagulls soaring in thermal air currents'. However, another analysis in the files said it was 'believed to be reasonably certain' that the objects' reflection brightness exceeded that of natural diffusing objects such as white birds against the sky.

The records also describe a separate report made the day before Newhouse filmed the objects. An unidentified correspondent reported seeing a 'white object, shaped like an "elongated oval"' but 'fatter than a cigar', with an estimated length of about 100 feet.

The newly released files follow an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February 2026 that, according to the source, declassified most information concerning the government's unresolved strange-sighting cases. The release places recent military observations alongside historical records documenting earlier investigations into reported aerial objects.