Pentagon drops 41 new UFO files spanning 1950 to 2026

The Pentagon has released 41 new declassified documents related to unidentified flying objects.

The Pentagon has released 41 new declassified documents related to unidentified flying objects. The files span an enormous timeframe, covering incidents from 1950 all the way through 2026.

Among the most striking entries is a 1963 telegram from Brazil, describing a dead crewman found inside a crashed metal balloon. A follow-up cable sent just six days later, however, called the entire report fabricated.

This marks the fifth batch of declassified UFO material released so far this year. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the files on Friday under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, known as PURSUE.

The collection draws from multiple agencies, including the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, State Department and the Executive Office of the President. Parnell confirmed that additional releases are already being prepared for the future.

Interestingly, these documents predate today’s broader UFO disclosure movement by decades. The earliest file dates back to January 1947, referencing so-called “ghost rockets” spotted over Finland and Denmark the year before, believed at the time to be Soviet rocket tests.

A separate 1948 memo sent to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base confirmed that some kind of flying object had genuinely been sighted, though no explanation was ever given.

More recent entries include a 2021 account from military personnel in the Gulf of Oman. They reported spotting 25 objects moving at speeds up to 1,300 miles per hour during a live-fire operation.

Another document details a former service member’s account of a massive, silent, triangular object seen over Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan back in 2002. The object was reportedly around 500 feet long and blocked out the stars as it passed overhead.

Two additional triangle sightings, both from Colorado Springs, were digitally rendered by the FBI based on witness testimony rather than actual photographs. One reconstruction dates to 2011, the other to 2023.

Together, the newly released files offer a rare, wide-ranging look into decades of military encounters with unexplained aerial phenomena.