Glowing Orbs in Focus in Third UFO File Release

On Friday, the U.S. government released the third round of declassified documents, images, and videos related to so-called UFO phenomena. The material includes 72 new files from, among others, the Pentagon, FBI, and CIA, and contains several previously classified testimonies, photographs, and video recordings.

The most attention has been given to a video from the northeastern United States. According to the documents, the recording was made in July 2025 and shows two glowing orbs moving across the sky. Witnesses described the objects as silent, intensely bright, and red in color.

Some reports mention a larger sphere with a strong white center, described as a “white plasma sun,” while other observations involve several smaller orbs that reportedly split, changed shape, or suddenly disappeared.

According to the declassified files, both civilian witnesses and federal investigators have observed similar phenomena for several years at a location in the northeastern United States, where recurring sightings have been reported since 2021. The documents describe how the light phenomena hovered over a pond, changed color, and sometimes split into several smaller objects. FBI personnel who visited the site are said to have witnessed unexplained lights themselves, but no definitive explanation is provided.

The third batch of documents also includes reports from other parts of the United States. One case from Colorado in 2023 describes how federal observers saw large orange-colored orbs that, according to witness statements, appeared to release smaller red light points. Pentagon investigators deemed the event sufficiently unusual to warrant continued analysis but could not determine the cause. Possible explanations such as military flares and atmospheric phenomena were discussed, with no conclusions drawn.

Among the other documents are also older cases. One concerns a disc-shaped object that, according to a CIA report, was observed over an airport in Zimbabwe in 2008. Another describes a peculiar “potato-shaped” object that U.S. military personnel saw over Colorado Springs in 2022. Investigators suggested that light reflections may have played a role but assessed the explanation as uncertain.

Praise and Criticism

Friday’s publication is the third in a series of UFO-related releases that began on May 8 and continued on May 22. The material is being made available through the new government system PURSUE, which was created after President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this year to release large amounts of previously classified information on UFO sightings.

Reactions have been mixed. UFO enthusiasts describe the latest installment as the most interesting so far because it contains more civilian testimonies and several new videos. Skeptics, on the other hand, argue that the material still lacks technical data that could support more extraordinary conclusions.

A memo describes a 1958 phone call between the CIA and a scientist about an alleged “space message” that was destroyed after being received on Earth.

Scientific Advisory Council

According to Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, the U.S. government has launched a new scientific advisory council for UAP matters (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, as it is now called), named the UAP Science Advisory Council. Loeb states that the council has been created in collaboration between the White House, the Pentagon’s UAP office AARO, the intelligence agency ODNI, the FBI, and other parts of the U.S. intelligence community.

According to Loeb, he has been tasked with leading the council and assembling a group of scientists with expertise in, among other fields, artificial intelligence, data analysis, instrument development, astrophysics, and psychology. The aim is to provide authorities with scientific support in analyzing and explaining reported UFO sightings.

Loeb emphasizes that the issue should primarily be viewed as a scientific and national security problem rather than speculation. According to him, unexplained phenomena could either involve unknown technology from a foreign power or, in a more extraordinary scenario, something not of human origin. Therefore, the council wants to focus on better sensors, more data collection, and AI-based analysis.