Pentagon Releases 155,000 Pages of UFO Documents Discussing Oumuamua, Mysterious Orbs, and Lights

Pentagon UFO files released under President Donald Trump have revived a 2023 encounter involving federal agents chasing unexplained lights in the American West.

A new US advisory council is now debating whether some unidentified sightings could involve nonhuman technology.

The documents describe glowing orbs and seemingly extraordinary movements, but they do not establish the presence of extraterrestrial objects. That distinction matters as scientists and former government investigators disagree over what the evidence can support.

The Pentagon published its sixth batch of UFO-related records on 18 September 2026 through its disclosure programme, PURSUE.

Separately, The New York Times assembled approximately 155,000 unique pages of records from seven countries. Those pages were not a single Pentagon release.

Trump has encouraged the public to examine the government files and reach their own conclusions.

Pentagon UFO Files Describe Agents Chasing Strange Orbs

A federal agent's account, recorded in a memorandum dated 2 June 2026, describes an October 2023 operation to investigate suspected drone activity near a sensitive site.

The agent and a colleague saw lights resembling vehicle headlights, then drove toward them with their headlights off. Using night-vision equipment, they followed what appeared to become a white-orange orb surrounded by a halo.

The witness estimated they approached within 50 yards before the light abruptly changed direction. Later, it reportedly reappeared as a box-shaped arrangement of orange and purple lights, apparently crossing four miles of rugged terrain in approximately one minute.

The agent likened the apparent vehicle-like movement to 'the flying car from the Harry Potter book series.' The comparison conveys how unusual the experience seemed, not what the lights actually were.

'Orbs Launching Other Orbs'

A separate Pentagon case summary recorded six agents describing 'orbs launching other orbs' over two days. They reported larger orange lights seemingly producing smaller red ones, sometimes in coordinated formations.

The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, known as AARO, examined flight records, radar information and the witnesses' accounts.

In a June 2026 assessment, it considered military aircraft deploying infrared flares a plausible explanation for approximately 60% of the reported activity. After initial analysis, the remaining 40% lacked a plausible explanation.

AARO classified the case as unresolved. It did not identify alien technology, and the agents' distance and speed estimates were not instrument measurements.

Some illustrations attached to the witness statements were generated using artificial intelligence more than two years after the sightings. They are reconstructions based on descriptions, not photographs of the reported phenomena.

Historical files also describe a 16 February 1949 meeting at Los Alamos, where scientists including physicist Edward Teller discussed green fireballs reported over New Mexico. The records show that they considered possible explanations, not that they established an extraterrestrial origin.

Trump's UFO Council Faces Questions About the Evidence

The UAP Science Advisory Council, chaired by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, was established amid Trump's disclosure initiative. It provides scientific advice rather than replacing AARO's investigative role.

Loeb has separately proposed that 'Oumuamua, an interstellar object observed in 2017, might have been artificial. His theory remains contested and is not validated by the Pentagon disclosures.

Other council members include retired US Navy rear admiral Tim Gallaudet, Stanford pathology professor Garry Nolan and Michael Shermer, the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine.

Shermer has cautioned that blurry images and incomplete observations cannot establish what produced a sighting.

He described a $1,000 (€894 and £755) wager with Loeb over whether extraterrestrial life or technology will be confirmed by the end of 2030. 'I hope he wins,' Shermer told The New York Times.

Former AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick has criticised the advisory council. His former office's 2024 historical review found no verified evidence that the US government possessed or reverse-engineered extraterrestrial technology.

Former intelligence official David Grusch told Congress in July 2023 about alleged secret recovery programmes. Those allegations remain distinct from findings in the recently released case files.

The advisory council also faces questions over access to classified evidence. Without original sensor readings or other independently testable material, even unusually detailed witness accounts can leave investigators with competing explanations.