MIT Engineers Unleash New ‘Aerial-Aquatic’ Robot That Can Swim Underwater and Fly Like a Bird
Dubbed the “Flapping-Wing Aerial-Aquatic Vehicle” (FAAV), this lightweight robotic platform weighs less than 300 grams and can transition seamlessly between water and air with its very flexible flapping wings. Now, the team’s findings, published in the journal Science, could help scientists better understand how diving birds, which include puffins, petrels, loons, and gulls, are so adept at navigating two vastly different environments.
Such capabilities, the team says, could also pave the way toward advanced drones in the coming years that could transform ocean research.
Departing from conventional modern designs employed for aircraft or underwater vehicles, the team based their design on diving birds, which evolved to fly over water, then plunge beneath the waves to hunt for food, before surfacing and resuming flight.
MIT’s new aerial aquatic robot seen launching from water into the air
(Image Credit: Raphael Zufferey/MIT)
One problem when it comes to replicating these abilities in robots involves the density of water, which is around 1,000 times denser than air. Because of this, the engineering team had to carefully balance the flexibility of the robotic wings in their design, along with flapping frequency, tail angle, and other factors that allowed the robot to move efficiently through both environments without requiring propellers or separate propulsion systems.
Experiments were undertaken by the team in the lab and in Switzerland’s Lake Geneva, and helped the team determine that the robot achieved best performance with medium-sized wings that flap at approximately five times per second. Under such conditions, the robot was able to swim one meter per second, then by pitching upward at a 70-degree angle, it could break through the surface, and continue this same movement to propel itself through the air.
Although the robot still has some limitations compared to the avian examples that inspired it, interestingly, it does appear to have one advantage: unlike diving birds, which paddle using their feet to achieve aquatic launches into the air, the new robot has no such requirement, and can transition from water to air relying only on its wings and adjustable tail.
In the future, drones equipped with such capabilities could be leveraged to monitor marine ecosystems in a variety of ways. The team also says it could help to observe environmental concerns, such as water near glaciers or offshore infrastructure, or even collect data from hazardous locations that are either too difficult or simply too costly for ships to reach.
“Our dream vision is for oceanographers, marine biologists, and members of coastal communities to launch this robot from a boat, or from shore, and it would fly close to the area of interest, such as an iceberg or a port facility, or over a pod of whales,” according to Raphael Zufferey, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.
“It would dive into the water to take a measurement or collect a sample, and fly back to deliver the data at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. Then it could go back out to dive for more,” Zufferey recently told MIT News.
Drawing from movements in nature influenced by evolution, the researchers hope their bird-inspired design may eventually help scientists by introducing cost-effective, but formidable new tools to help obtain information from some of the most challenging environments, all with help from robots that can do what only nature’s diving birds could once achieve.
The achievement is detailed in a new paper, “Leaping out of the water: aerial-aquatic locomotion with flapping wings,” which appeared in the journal Science.
Secretive Chinese probe snaps first photo of Earth's mysterious 'quasi-moon' — and it may pose a big problem
China's Tianwen-2 spacecraft has captured the first close-up photo of one of Earth's "quasi-moons," Kamo'oalewa. However, the image and the timing of its release suggest that it may be harder for the probe to collect samples from the space rock than originally planned.
A secretive Chinese spacecraft has captured the first-ever close-up photo of one of Earth's temporary "quasi-moons" after arriving there for a potential first-of-its-kind landing.
The space probe is supposed to scoop up samples from the newly imaged space rock and return them to Earth next year. However, the blurry photo and the timing of its release hint that this may be trickier than initially thought.
The Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) probe, named Tianwen-2, launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southern China on May 28, 2025, according to Live Science's sister site Space.com. Its primary target is Kamo'oalewa, also known as 2016 HO3, a fast-spinning asteroid that is classified as a quasi-satellite of Earth. That means it circles the sun alongside our planet, making it appear as if it were gravitationally bound to Earth when, in fact, it isn't. (This is only a temporary association; Kamo'oalewa will eventually fall out of sync with Earth and drift away from us.)
The CNSA has released minimal information about the parameters and timeline of the Tianwen-2 mission and only shared the first photo of the spacecraft several weeks after its launch. Based on one unverified timeline, Live Science previously reported that the probe had most likely arrived at Kamo'oalewa on June 7. However, Chinese officials have remained tight-lipped about the probe's progress.
But on Monday (July 6), the CNSA finally confirmed that, after a roughly 400-day-long journey spanning more than 600,000 miles (1 million kilometers), Tianwen-2 is now circling Kamo'oalewa, according to the state-run news outlet Xinhua. The agency also revealed that the probe first inserted itself into the asteroid's orbit on June 7, as originally predicted.
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This photo of one of Tianwen-2's decagonal solar panels, captured in orbit, was the first image of the probe released by the CNSA.
(Image credit: CNSA)
The announcement was accompanied by the first clear photograph of Kamo'oalewa, captured at a distance of around 12.5 miles (20 km) from the quasi-moon. The blurry image suggests the space rock is around 130 feet (40 meters) across, according to the South China Morning Post, which is on the lower end of previous estimates that suggested the asteroid was up to 330 feet (100 m) wide.
Initial readings also suggest that Kamo'oalewa is a rubble-pile asteroid, which means it is loosely bound together and has an unstable surface. Until now, researchers were unsure of the asteroid's composition and hoped it had a solid, rocky surface, which would have allowed the spacecraft to attempt a first-of-its-kind landing using an "anchor and drill" technique. (It now seems unlikely that this sampling method will be used.)
The asteroid's small size, fragile composition and fast spin will make it harder for the probe to collect samples from the space rock's surface, even with other tried-and-true techniques. The new image also hints that there are few flat spots on the space rock where the probe could land safely.
"This greatly increases the complexity of the sampling process and the risk of the mission, making it much more difficult," CNSA representatives wrote in a report, according to the South China Morning Post.
Tianwen-2 launched into space May 28, 2025 on board one of China's Long March 3B rockets.
(Image credit: VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
The unverified mission timeline, which correctly predicted the probe's arrival date, stated that the sampling attempt would commence July 4. However, the fact that this has seemingly not happened yet further suggests that Chinese scientists are struggling to figure out how to collect their desired samples.
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The moon is green and brown? Why scientists are already excited about Artemis II's historic lunar photosCNSA officials wrote that the probe "will progressively conduct more detailed scientific exploration to acquire data on the asteroid's morphology, material composition and internal structure, laying the groundwork for subsequent sample collection operations."
If Tianwen-2 does manage to snag some samples, the probe will release them in a capsule during a flyby of Earth in November 2027, and they will reenter the atmosphere at around 27,000 mph (43,500 km/h). This would make China the third country to successfully collect and return asteroid samples to Earth, following Japan, which returned samples from the asteroid Ryugu in 2020, and the U.S., which acquired material from the space rock Bennu in 2023.
Kamo'oalewa (a.k.a. 2016 HO3) circles Earth but does not orbit our planet. This simulation shows its predicted movements relative to Earth over the next few centuries.
(Image credit: NASA/Pheonix7777/Wikimedia)
Researchers hope the returned samples will help unravel the secrets of the early solar system and potentially shed light on how key compounds, such as organic molecules and water, ended up on Earth. They may also shed light on the seven other quasi-moons that are currently known to co-orbit the sun with our planet.
Some experts previously theorized that Kamo'oalewa may be a fragment of the moon that was knocked loose from our permanent companion by an ancient meteor strike. Others have even attempted to pinpoint which crater the asteroid may have come from and hope that the samples will help confirm their hypothesis.
"I am curious to find out the answer about its origin, since the debate on its [potential] lunar origin is still very open," Marco Fenucci, a mathematician at the European Space Agency's Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre who has co-authored multiple studies on Kamo'oalewa, previously told Live Science. Any returned samples should "definitely give us an answer to this matter," he added.
After its close approach to Earth next year, Tianwen-2 will slingshot farther into the solar system to begin its secondary mission to study 311P/PanSTARRS — a peculiar object beyond Mars that displays characteristics of both comets and asteroids — in 2035.
4th batch of Pentagon UAP files: ‘Floating brain’ goes viral
Clipped version of the jellyfish or “floating brain” video from over the Atlantic on January 1, 2020. It’s part of the 4th batch of Pentagon UAP files, released on July 10, 2026. Observers said the object didn’t maneuver or change direction and traveled with the wind. So it might be an unusually shaped balloon or clump of deflated balloons squashed together. Or it might be something else. An AI-enhanced version of this video went viral on the internet this weekend. Read more about the latest Pentagon UAP files below. Video via DoD/ Forbes.
The Pentagon released a 4th batch of UAP/UFO files on July 10, 2026. The release includes 19 videos, 14 documents, three images and four audio files. One video – dubbed the “floating brain” – was immediately altered with AI and re-released to the internet, where it went viral this weekend. Forbes reported:
An X user applied AI to enhance the Pentagon’s previously released UFO footage designated DOW-UAP-PR030, also called the ‘floating brain’ UAP. The enhanced image depicts an image that shape-shifts and performs a sharp high-speed maneuver before it accelerates away …
The AI-enhanced image took the internet by storm, sparking a fresh wave of speculation, with viewers drawing very different conclusions about what they’re seeing.
One user wrote, ‘It’s just a bunch of Mylar balloons tied together. Probably escaped a fair. They can ascend for thousands of feet without popping like latex balloons.’
Another one also presented its own theory, stating, ‘Yeah, that thing flew here from Alpha Centauri, or from the Andromeda Galaxy. Makes perfect sense. Look at its mystifyingly perfect symmetry. It can’t possibly be a distorted balloon or a random piece of garbage. Our lives are changed forever.’
Meanwhile, the non-AI-enhanced videos – like the ones found on this page – are also being widely distributed online. The recent batch of UAP files includes the data coming from various agencies, including FBI, NASA, CIA, Energy Department and Pentagon.
The AI-enhanced ‘floating brain’ UFO video went viral, sparking conspiracy theories.
See a video of this AI-enhanced image at X. Image via Forbes.
The Pentagon had released its 1st batch of declassified UAP/UFO materials on May 8, 2026. It released a 2nd batch on May 22, and a 3rd batch on June 12.
And as usual, Sean Parnell, Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman, said in a statement:
Today, the Department of War is publishing the fourth release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The collection continues to be housed on WAR.GOV/UFO, and the Department will release additional files on a rolling basis.
And again, many of these files have been known about already, both historically and more recently, by researchers and others who follow the subject. But these centralized releases will help more of the general public to see them as well.
well.
The full video of the jellyfish or “floating brain” video from over the Atlantic on January 1, 2020. Video via DoD.
UAP video from the Middle East on January 1, 2023. A dark squarish object comes into view at the bottom of the video. Just as it reaches the top of the frame, a long, dark, skinny object suddenly enters the frame at the same spot, and crosses very fast toward the lower left corner. Video via DoD.
One of the most unusual-looking videos is from January 1, 2020, over the Atlantic Ocean. It was taken by a “U.S. military platform.”
The witnesses described the object as a “darker, maroonish color, approximately 12-15 feet [3.6-4.5 m] in height.” It had an odd, kind of layered look, with smaller pieces extending sideways and from the bottom. Indeed, some people have likened it to a jellyfish or “floating brain.”
Unfortunately, as is often the case, the release provides no other details. The accompanying Range Fouler Debrief stated that the object didn’t maneuver or change direction and traveled with the wind. So a good possibility is that this was an unusually shaped balloon or clump of deflated balloons squashed together.
A Range Fouler Debrief is a standardized reporting form the U.S. Navy uses to record the circumstances surrounding an unauthorized intrusion into controlled airspace during active military operations or training.
Also, another interesting military video from somewhere in the Middle East on January 1, 2023, shows a dark squarish object coming into view at the bottom of the video. Just as it reaches the top of the frame, a long, dark, skinny object suddenly enters the frame at the same spot, and crosses very fast toward the lower left corner.
It looks like the square object suddenly changed shape and direction extremely quickly. But is it two different objects as the description suggests?
The documents in this release include more historical documents, as well as some more recent ones.
One of these is a document from 1948, from Project Sign. It includes 100 reports from between 1947 and 1948. This was also the time when World War II pilots reported sightings of foo fighters, glowing orbs that followed their aircraft. And the infamous Roswell incident occurred in July 1947.
In addition, a review file from Project Blue Book is also included. It documents the 1966 and 1967 Scientific Advisory Board review. The board recommended that the Air Force contract a university-affiliated scientific team to investigate selected UAP sightings.
Plus, a more recent document records details of a UAP reported near the Pantex nuclear plant in Texas on September 1, 2015. The object was diamond-shaped and rounded on the top, about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide (1.2-.6 m). It was silent and moved slowly, about 10-15 mph (16-24 kph), sometimes increasing speed.
Parts of this document had originally been released in the 2nd batch of files released on May 22, 2026.
There is also an Air Force assessment from 1949 called “Analysis of Flying Object Incidents in the United States.” It includes details and sketches from the famous Chiles-Whitted pilot UAP case from July 24, 1948.
And while it is not known what the object was, there has been a long history of UAP near or right over nuclear installations in the U.S.
Other documents from the DoD, CIA and FGI are also here.
View larger. | Sketch 1 from the Chiles-Whitted pilot UAP report on July 24, 1948. Image via DoD.
View larger. | Sketch 2 from the Chiles-Whitted pilot UAP report on July 24, 1948. Image via DoD.
There is also a complete transcript of the February 1949 Los Alamos conference. Edward Teller, the Hungarian-American theoretical physicist known as the father of the hydrogen bomb, organized the conference. It discussed “green fireballs” seen near Los Alamos and other nuclear sites.
And in another Range Fouler Debrief report from 2019, five military pilots reported an unauthorized intrusion into their airspace during active military operations or training. They described a small rectangular object that was caught on the camera of a surveillance plane. The witnesses described it as having flight characteristics they had never seen in 28 years of service for the Navy and Air Force. In addition, they reported that it moved fast enough to outrun the aircraft’s tracking system.
Another document, the “1966-1967 deliberations and recommendations of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Scientific Advisory Board’s Ad Hoc Committee to Review Project Blue Book,” includes the CIA’s official position at the time to deliberately “debunk” the UAP issue in the minds of the public. It says:
… the Panel recommends … That the national security agencies take immediate steps to strip the Unidentified Flying Objects of the special status they have been given and the aura of mystery they have unfortunately acquired.
The CIA did this to “reassure the public” that there was no threat or “inimical forces behind the phenomena.” Plus there was also new training for military personnel to focus on “true indications of hostile measures” from adversaries.
View larger. | 1st of 3 images from the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-80 in 1996. A triangular object can be seen in the distance. Image via NASA/ DoD.
View larger. | 2nd of 3 images from the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-80 in 1996. A triangular object can be seen in the distance. Image via NASA/ DoD.
View larger. | 3rd of 3 images from the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-80 in 1996. A triangular object can be seen in the distance, but now it’s in front of Earth and more difficult to see (near center of image). Image via NASA/ DoD.
As with the previous releases, there are also some new NASA files. This includes three images and four audio files.
The images are from the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-80 mission in 1996. They show a long, narrow triangular object in the distance. The object has changed orientation between the first two images, and in the third Earth is behind it.
These images had been known about before, and in 2016, one of the astronauts on STS-80, Tom Jones, said that he thought the object was an ice particle or other debris.
The audio files are debriefings from the Apollo 14 and Apollo 17 missions. They discuss the “flashes of light” seen outside the astronauts’ capsules. This might have been a biological effect caused by high energy cosmic-rays passing through the astronauts’ eyes and striking the retina.
In related news, Avi Loeb at Harvard University said last month that the White House tasked him to lead a new UAP Science Advisory Council.
The council is part of a larger new UAP Governance Board. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) stated:
To support the President’s directive on UAP transparency, ODNI – alongside FBI and DOW [Department of War] – established a UAP Governance Board to provide guidance, recommendations and coordination at the interagency level, bringing together military, law enforcement, the intelligence community and other civilian agencies.
The 4th installment of the Pentagon’s UAP files has provided more videos, documents, images and audio to be examined and debated, but still no “smoking gun” hard evidence for any particular theory. What will the 5th release reveal? We’ll just have to wait to find out.
Bottom line: The 4th batch of the Pentagon UAP files has just been released. The files range from a “floating brain” video to more historical documents, including from NASA.
Read more:
The Vatican fired me after I claimed a word used 2,570 times in the Bible refers to alien beings
An Italian translator who says he was 'fired by the Vatican' for his interpretation of the original Hebrew Bible has revealed a radical reinterpretation of what God in scripture really is.
Mauro Biglino pointed to the word 'Elohim,' found 2,570 times in the Holy Book, which translates to 'God' or, in his opinion, 'Gods.'
Biglino, an Italian scholar who worked as a biblical translator for Edizioni San Paolo, a major Catholic publishing house linked to the Vatican, suggested that instead of detailing encounters with one God, the Bible describes encounters with a group of mortal, alien beings armed with high technology.
In a podcast interview with Project Unity, he said: 'When I started to write what I really read in the Hebrew Bible, I was fired in one minute.'
According to Biglino, his conclusions stem from translating the original Hebrew text literally rather than through centuries of theological interpretation.
He argued that many of the Bible's best-known passages have been reshaped by later religious tradition, masking what the ancient authors actually intended to convey.
Pointing out that Elohim is often treated as a singular name for God despite its plural form, he argued that the Bible describes multiple divine figures rather than one supreme being.
'There are multiple divine figures, with different names of God,' he said. 'If Elohim are not God, the Bible is another Book.'
Mauro Biglino pointed to the word 'Elohim,' found 2,570 times in the Holy Book, which translates to 'God' or, in his opinion, 'Gods'
Rather than viewing the Elohim as supernatural spirits, Biglino believes they were advanced beings of flesh and blood.
'The Elohim were flesh and blood, but with a longer lifespan, but still mortal, with higher technology and higher powers,' he told podcast host Jay Anderson.
His theory builds on the controversial ancient astronaut hypothesis popularized by Swiss author Erich von Däniken, who argued in his 1968 bestseller Chariots of the Gods that extraterrestrials visited ancient civilizations and shared advanced technology with humanity.
Before his death earlier this year, von Däniken collaborated with Biglino on the book Skies Aflame.
Unlike von Däniken, whose work centered on monuments such as the Egyptian pyramids and other archaeological mysteries, Biglino bases his conclusions on his own translations of the Hebrew Bible, arguing that key words have been misunderstood for centuries.
In his book Gods of the Bible, he notes that 'Elohim' is routinely translated simply as 'God' in modern Bibles, even though specialist editions often leave the Hebrew word untranslated because its meaning remains disputed.
'Where people read "God" and were led to believe that the biblical authors had written the word "God," scholars read the untranslated term "Elohim" and were made aware that this term is problematic,' he wrote.
Hebrew dictionaries, he argues, offer a far broader range of meanings for Elohim, including 'gods,' 'judges,' 'rulers,' 'superhuman beings,' 'angels,' 'children of God,' and 'those from above.'
Biglino, an Italian scholar who worked as a biblical translator for Edizioni San Paolo, a major Catholic publishing house linked to the Vatican, suggested that instead of detailing encounters with one God, the Bible describes encounters with a group of mortal, alien beings armed with high technology
The word also appears throughout the Old Testament with both singular and plural verbs, which he says suggests it cannot always refer to a single deity.
One passage central to his theory is Psalm 82, where God appears to stand among other divine beings before declaring: 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.' But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.'
To Biglino, the passage describes an assembly of the Elohim rather than a lone, all-powerful God.
He argued it reflects a council of powerful beings, not a single divine ruler. Biblical scholar Michael S Heiser also interpreted Psalm 82 as describing a divine council, although he viewed its members as spiritual beings rather than extraterrestrials.
The Italian author extended that interpretation beyond the Psalms, arguing that several biblical passages traditionally viewed as supernatural visions are better understood as eyewitness descriptions of advanced technology.
Among the most famous examples, he says, is the Book of Ezekiel, which describes 'wheels one inside the other' that 'moved in every direction without moving.'
While mainstream biblical scholars regard the passage as a symbolic vision of God's glory, Biglino believes the prophet was describing a craft using the limited language available more than 2,500 years ago.
'The ancient Hebrew term "ruah" had a very concrete meaning, as it stood for "wind," "breath," "moving air," "storm wind," and thus, in a broader sense, for "that which moves swiftly through the air space,"' he said.
In his view, later theological interpretation transformed the word into 'spirit,' obscuring what was originally intended as a literal description of something moving rapidly through the sky.
Rather than recording a mystical experience, Biglino insists Ezekiel was documenting a real historical encounter.
'We have a description of a very close encounter with an unidentified object that was undoubtedly in the air,' he wrote.
'It looked like a thundercloud coming from the north; in its center, the prophet saw a fire (a propulsion system?) rotating around itself, like luminous radiation.'
RELATEDPrehistoric discovery in the Oregon mountains older than Egypt's Great Pyramid could rewrite human history READ MORE: America's greatest mystery was a lie: Truth about the Lost Colony of Roanoke revealed by experts See more Daily Mail on Google - save us
A prehistoric discovery in the Oregon mountains could rewrite the story of the first people to live in North America.
Archaeologists said a remote rock shelter, known as Rimrock Draw, may have been occupied by humans about 18,250 years ago, thousands of years earlier than scientists once believed the first Americans arrived.
If confirmed, the site would rank among the oldest known places of human occupation in North America and date back to roughly four times the age of Egypt's Great Pyramid.
Instead, it suggests Ice Age humans reached North America thousands of years ago by following a coastal 'kelp highway,' using boats to move along the Pacific shoreline and settle places like the Channel Islands.
The islands have also yielded the bones of pygmy mammoths and remarkably preserved archaeological sites that offer an unprecedented glimpse into Ice Age life. Scientists have described the chain of islands as a place where ancient landscapes and human history have been frozen in time.
Researchers said the evidence points to a forgotten maritime migration that could fundamentally change our understanding of America's earliest people. And they believe many of the answers may still be waiting to be uncovered.
The Channel Islands have been studied by scientists and archaeologists for more than a century, with some of their most important discoveries, including the remains of Arlington Springs Man, emerging during excavations in the mid-20th century.
Now, a new documentary released on June 30 on the YouTube channel Timeline is bringing fresh attention to these discoveries and the mysteries that still lie beneath the islands and surrounding waters.
The eight California Channel Islands lie in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California, stretching from Point Conception near Santa Barbara to south of Los Angeles. Pictured is Santa Cruz, one of the islands
Not all archaeologists agree that the Channel Islands provide definitive proof of a maritime migration.
While many researchers now accept that people were present in the Americas before the Clovis culture, experts continue to debate exactly when the first settlers arrived and whether they traveled by sea, by land, or through a combination of routes.
The eight California Channel Islands lie in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California, stretching from Point Conception near Santa Barbara to south of Los Angeles.
Author Frederic Caire Chiles, who has a PhD in history from the University of California at Santa Barbara, said in the film: 'They are the trace of a vanished world.'
The four northern islands – San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Anacapa – were not always where they are today.
Geologists say they were once located much farther south, near present-day San Diego, before tectonic forces slowly carried them north and rotated them by around 110 degrees.
The islands have become a treasure trove for archaeologists because their ancient deposits have remained remarkably undisturbed, preserving evidence erased elsewhere by rising seas and thousands of years of human activity.
Among the most significant discoveries is Arlington Springs Man, human remains found on Santa Rosa Island and eventually dated to at least 13,000 years old.
Pictured is the site where the Arlington Springs Man was discovered
Bones of a man were uncovered 37 feet below waterlaid sand, mud and gravel sediments in 1959.
Dr Thomas Stafford, a geologist and radiocarbon dating expert, said that after testing the remains in 2001, the bones were the oldest dated human skeletal remains in North America.
The discovery was particularly important because the remains are roughly the same age as the Clovis culture, long considered the first people to inhabit the Americas.
But unlike the Clovis sites found inland, Arlington Springs Man was discovered on an offshore island, suggesting some of North America's earliest inhabitants may already have been skilled seafarers.
The Clovis people, known for their distinctive fluted spear points, were once thought to have entered North America through an ice-free corridor in Canada.
The Channel Islands discovery raised the possibility that another group may have reached the continent by boat, following the Pacific coastline instead.
The islands have also yielded the bones of pygmy mammoths and remarkably preserved archaeological sites that offer an unprecedented glimpse into Ice Age life
Five of the islands have been established as a national park
But the Channel Islands presented a puzzle. People living on an offshore island 13,000 years ago would have needed boats to get there, suggesting seafaring technology existed much earlier than previously believed.
Some researchers have argued that the ice-free corridor may not have been fully open or ecologically viable when the first people reached the islands, raising the possibility that they arrived by sea instead.
Researchers call this the 'kelp highway' hypothesis. Dr John Johnson, curator of anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, said: 'All the way from Japan to Baja California, there are kelp forest ecosystems that have very similar suites of animals.
'This connects with the whole idea of a coastal migration, an ancient coastal migration where people would have been using watercraft and going around glaciers when they encountered them and working their way down until they came to California.'
'People showed up on this island 13,000 years ago or thereabouts and evolved through time into the group we know as the Chumash.'
The Chumash ancestral homeland spans California's central and southern coast and includes the four northern Channel Islands.
During the Ice Age, mammoths roamed what was once a single larger island made up of today's northern Channel Islands before evolving into dwarf versions known as pygmy mammoths.
Pictured is a view from across Santa Rosa Island
The species vanished around the same period humans appeared on the islands, fueling speculation that some of North America's earliest inhabitants may have encountered, and perhaps hunted, the miniature elephants.
For thousands of years, the islands became the homeland of the ancestors of the Chumash people, who developed sophisticated maritime communities and traded shell bead money with mainland groups.
The islands were forever changed after Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo became the first European to reach California in 1542.
'This was the furthest projection of Europe into a world that they knew nothing about,' one historian explained.
Disease, colonization and social upheaval eventually devastated Indigenous communities and led to the abandonment of the islands.
One of the most remarkable stories to emerge from this period is that of the 'Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island,' later immortalized in the novel Island of the Blue Dolphins. She survived alone on the island for about 18 years before being rescued in 1853.
Today, scientists believe the islands still hold countless secrets beneath their rugged landscapes and surrounding waters.
During the Ice Age, sea levels were hundreds of feet lower, meaning areas that are now underwater were once dry land that may have been inhabited by some of America's earliest people.
Mapped: US UFO Sightings by State and the 15 Most Famous UAP Cases — After the Pentagon’s May 2026 File Release
AARO has stated that the public files do not contain proof of extraterrestrial origin for any case. The releases are described as a transparency exercise rather than a disclosure event.
Six canonical shapes US witnesses most commonly describe in UAP/UFO sightings — top-left to bottom: classic flying disc (Roswell, Travis Walton), tic-tac capsule (USS Nimitz 2004), V-formation of lights (Phoenix Lights 1997, Lubbock 1951), rotating object with motion blur (USS Roosevelt Gimbal 2015), dark silent triangular craft (Stephenville 2008, Hudson Valley 1983), and the most-reported simple bright orb.
Illustration: Mappr.
These are the cases that show up most often in the official declassified record and in academic UAP literature. The map below plots 13 of them across the lower 48 in chronological order (pin 1 = Battle of Los Angeles, 1942 → pin 13 = USS Roosevelt’s Gimbal, 2015), with the full case list in the legend. Two cases — JAL 1628 over Alaska (1986) and the Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, naval-radar incident (2013) — sit outside the contiguous frame and are described in the section below.
NUFORC · Cumulative
Cumulative reports filed with the National UFO Reporting Center since 1974. Rankings reflect both population and reporting-culture density, not just sighting frequency.
| State | Reports | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 California |
17,158 | Aerospace + dense coastline + Tic Tac (2004) |
| Florida |
8,880 | Cape Canaveral, NAS Key West, Atlantic warning areas |
| Washington |
7,633 | Maury Island birthplace; Boeing aviation density |
| Texas |
6,719 | Lubbock Lights, Stephenville, military airspace |
| New York |
6,346 | Hudson Valley wave (1983); flight-path density |
| Pennsylvania |
5,395 | Kecksburg incident (1965) |
| Arizona |
5,347 | Phoenix Lights, Travis Walton, dark-sky observatories |
| Ohio |
4,728 | Wright-Patterson AFB region — Project Blue Book HQ |
| Illinois |
4,513 | O'Hare 2006 incident; large radar coverage |
| North Carolina |
3,913 | Atlantic test ranges; Fort Liberty proximity |
| Michigan |
3,902 | Great Lakes air-traffic corridors |
| Oregon |
3,812 | Pacific Northwest reporting culture |
| Colorado |
3,576 | NORAD Cheyenne Mountain; high-altitude visibility |
| New Jersey |
3,092 | Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst |
| Missouri |
2,966 | Whiteman AFB, central-corridor flight paths |
California’s 17,158 reports — twice Florida’s count and more than double third-place Washington’s — track three structural drivers. The state has the largest population of any in the union, the longest stretch of densely-populated coastline (which provides clear horizons and high airline-flight density), and the country’s deepest concentration of military aerospace infrastructure (Edwards AFB, NAS Lemoore, Vandenberg, Twentynine Palms, Camp Pendleton, Naval Base San Diego). It also produced one of the most-cited modern UAP encounters — the USS Nimitz “Tic Tac” event in 2004, declassified pilot testimony and FLIR footage included.
The more interesting story is which states over-index. Washington at 7,633 reports is more than triple what its population alone would predict — driven by both the Maury Island case (1947, one of the earliest postwar UFO incidents) and a regional reporting culture that includes the Mount Rainier sighting that same year. Arizona’s 5,347 reports reflect a triple effect: Phoenix Lights (1997), Travis Walton’s claimed abduction (1975), and the state’s role as the home of major dark-sky observatories that make Americans more atmospherically literate. Ohio’s 4,728 owe partly to Wright-Patterson AFB — the institutional home of the U.S. Air Force’s UFO investigations from Project Blue Book (1952–1969).
At the other end, the smallest states (Wyoming, North Dakota, the Dakotas generally) record the fewest — a function of population density rather than skyscape. Per-capita rates flatten the curve: small-population states like Vermont, Maine, and Montana over-index relative to size, while California and Florida normalise toward the middle.
The primary government source is the Pentagon’s AARO portal:
AARO has signalled the rolling declassification will continue, with further batches likely through 2026 and into 2027. None of the files released so far indicate proof of non-human origin for any incident, but several remain officially classified as “unresolved.”
Declassified intelligence map reveals where America's largest UFO waves unfolded
Dozens of newly declassified UFO records were released by the Pentagon on Friday, including a shocking map revealing where hundreds of UFOs were seen flying near major cities throughout the US.
Acting like a roadmap for extraterrestrial encounters, the US military created the top-secret document in 1948, marking off where pilots, scientists, police officers and ordinary civilians saw strange objects in the sky during World War II.
Between 1947 and 1948, the joint study by the Air Force and the Office of Naval Intelligence found that Americans had seen an entire fleet of UFOs, including 'disks,' 'cigar-shaped' craft, 'balls of fire' and 'cones of fire.'
In total, 210 sightings were reported to the military, with the largest number of encounters coming near Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Louisville in the east, and Los Angeles, Portland and Boise in the west.
Flying saucers were the most commonly reported UFO, with 'cones of fire' being regularly seen in Ohio and Kentucky.
Meanwhile, cigar-shaped UFOs were reported throughout the country, with some witnesses even seeing them clearly enough to sketch what had just passed overhead.
'There were no wings or fins,' one pilot wrote on a drawing they made after seeing a cigar-like rocket that was approximately 100 feet in length and flying past them over the US.
Although the military could not confirm that these were real alien spacecraft, they deemed the reports added to the map credible enough to investigate and feared the UFOs may have been technology recovered by the Soviet Union during the war.
The US Air Force and Navy created a top-secret map showing over 200 UFO contacts between 1947 and 1948
Witnesses revealed detailed drawings of the craft they saw, including cigar-shaped rockets flying over the US
Many of these sightings came before UFO hysteria would grip the nation after the alleged events in Roswell, New Mexico in July 1947.
These include two trained US Weather Bureau observers spotting a metallic disk three times while tracking weather balloons in Richmond, Virginia in April 1947.
'The disk appeared metallic, shaped something like an ellipse with a flat bottom and a round top,' the report revealed.
In May 1947, Byron Savage, a field engineer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma reported seeing another flying disk roughly 10,000 to 12,000 feet overhead, moving north at high speed with no trail from an engine - similar to many modern-day UFO sightings.
One month later, on June 28, 1947, a US Air Force pilot flying at 10,000 feet saw five or six white circular objects in close formation traveling at about 285 mph near Lake Mead in Nevada.
Just days later, military officials would officially report that a flying disc had crashed and been recovered on a ranch near Roswell - only to retract the claim the very next day and say it was just a weather balloon.
These incidents would continue throughout 1947 and 1948, with civilian pilots, military airmen and law enforcement officials all saying they spotted groups of flying saucers and other strangely shaped objects flying around 10,000 feet over the US.
'If it is firmly indicated that there is no domestic explanation, the objects are a threat and warrant more active efforts of identification and interception,' the military concluded in their report.
Images taken in the late 1940s revealed strange craft spotted throughout the US, which were declassified on July 10, 2026
A top-secret military map shows the location of UFO sightings over the US, with larges clusters over the East and West Coasts
Military officials concluded that the number of reports, the similarity in the descriptions of these UFOs and the quality of many witnesses coming forward made it unlikely that all of these sightings were hoaxes or publicity stunts.
The Air Force and Navy grouped these UFOs into three distinct categories: disk-shaped, cigar- or pencil-shaped, and balls of fire.
Even after 80 years, witnesses who claim to see UFOs often mention these same shapes, while adding other shapes such as triangles and rectangles to the list as well.
The military believed these sightings followed a clear geographic pattern, with the heaviest clusters coming along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and additional concentrations in Ohio and Kentucky.
Multiple sightings of UFOs in the 1940s reported seeing large formations of flying saucers flying roughly 10,000 feet over the US (Stock Image)
Military officials believed one possible explanation was that these were 'flying wing' aircraft being tested by a foreign power
With no way of telling where these craft came from, intelligence officials settled on two possibilities: the first being that the UFOs were some type of US-made balloons, test rockets or experimental aircraft - especially 'flying wing' designs.
The other possibility that the military feared was that the UFOs were foreign-made technology, likely using experimental German technology from World War II that had fallen into Soviet hands.
If the objects were foreign aircraft, the military believed these sightings over US soil were being carried out to destroy US confidence in the newly created atomic bomb, being the 'most advanced and decisive weapon in warfare.'
Moreover, intelligence officials feared these UFOs were doing reconnaissance of the US, testing American air defenses and familiarizing themselves with the routes to major cities.
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Waar worden UFO's het vaakst gesignaleerd?
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Waar worden UFO's het vaakst gesignaleerd?
UFO’s worden al lang geassocieerd met buitenaards leven. Elk jaar melden duizenden mensen over de hele wereld dat ze vreemde objecten door de lucht hebben zien vliegen, en recente trends laten zien dat dit aantal zelfs toeneemt door de groeiende belangstelling van het publiek.
Maar sommige landen spannen echt de kroon wat betreft het aantal gemelde waarnemingen. Terwijl de meeste landen wereldwijd slechts een paar UFO-meldingen hebben, zijn er andere waar hele databases ermee overspoeld worden. Beniewd in welke landen de meeste UFO's worden gesignaleerd? Klik dan verder.
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Wat zijn UFO's?
De afkorting UFO staat voor ‘ongeïdentificeerd vliegend object’, terwijl UAP staat voor ‘ongeïdentificeerde abnormale verschijnselen’. Beide termen verwijzen in feite naar iets dat iemand in de lucht, op zee of in de nabije ruimte waarneemt en dat nog niet is geïdentificeerd.
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Waarom de naam is veranderd
De term UFO was ooit alomtegenwoordig, maar veel instanties geven tegenwoordig de voorkeur aan ‘UAP’, omdat die term breder klinkt en minder beladen is. De term omvat niet alleen objecten in de lucht, maar ook vreemde waarnemingen op verschillende gebieden.
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Onbekend betekent niet buitenaards
Het sleutelwoord is ‘niet-geïdentificeerd’. Dat betekent niet automatisch dat er buitenaardse wezens in het spel zijn. Het All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) zegt dat het geen bewijs heeft gevonden voor buitenaardse technologie, en veel gevallen blijven onopgelost.
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Het land dat bovenaan staat
Er worden in de Verenigde Staten de meeste UFO’s gemeld. In de wereldwijde database van Enigma Labs, een onderzoeksgemeenschap die zich bezighoudt met UAP’s, staan de VS met een enorme voorsprong op de eerste plaats, gevolgd door Canada, het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Australië en Frankrijk.
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Het huidige wereldwijde klassement
In de Verenigde Staten zijn er ongeveer 252.100 meldingen van UFO’s geweest, terwijl dat aantal in Canada 15.300 bedraagt, in het Verenigd Koninkrijk 14.638, in Australië 5.531 en in Frankrijk 5.010.
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Waarom Amerika de statistieken domineert
De Verenigde Staten staan waarschijnlijk bovenaan, deels omdat het een groot land is met een hoge bevolkingsdichtheid, een levendige luchtvaartindustrie, een uitgebreide internetverbinding en de bakermat van enkele van ’s werelds beroemdste UFO-verhalen. Meer mensen die omhoog kijken en meer plekken om waarnemingen te melden, betekent doorgaans ook meer waarnemingen.
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De belangrijkste staat van de VS
Binnen de Verenigde Staten is Californië veruit koploper wat betreft het totale aantal meldingen in de belangrijkste openbare databases. Volgens het National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) zijn er in Californië ongeveer 17.100 waarnemingen gemeld.
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Andere staten
Na Californië zijn de Amerikaanse staten met de meeste meldingen van UAP’s Florida (met 8.800 meldingen), Washington (7.600 meldingen), Texas (6.700) en New York (met 6.600 meldingen).
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Het halve verhaal
Het is ook belangrijk om te bedenken dat een staat met een grote bevolking veel waarnemingen oplevert zonder dat dit per se opvallend is. Daarom zijn kaarten per hoofd van de bevolking van belang: die laten namelijk zien waar meldingen vaak voorkomen in verhouding tot het aantal inwoners.
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Washington en Vermont
Uit een voor de bevolkingsomvang gecorrigeerd overzicht op basis van NUFORC-gegevens blijkt dat Washington en Vermont bovenaan staan, met elk bijna 1.000 waarnemingen per miljoen inwoners. Dat wijkt sterk af van de ranglijst op basis van de ruwe totalen.
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Wat onderzoekers op nationaal niveau hebben vastgesteld
Uit een in de VS gepubliceerd, door vakgenoten beoordeeld onderzoek, waarbij meer dan 98.000 openbare meldingen werden geanalyseerd, bleek dat er in het westen van de Verenigde Staten en in het uiterste noordoosten veel meer waarnemingen werden gedaan, gecorrigeerd voor de bevolkingsomvang, dan in het grootste deel van de rest van het land.
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Washington, D.C.
Uit het onderzoek bleek ook dat er verspreide concentraties te zien waren rond Washington D.C. en in het drielandengebied van Illinois, Indiana en Kentucky, in de buurt van Evansville. Uiteindelijk bevinden niet alle significante concentraties zich in het verre westen.
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Waarom er in het Westen wellicht meer wordt gemeld
Onderzoekers hebben vastgesteld dat het aantal meldingen toeneemt op plaatsen waar mensen beter zicht op de lucht hebben en waar zich boven hun hoofd meer objecten kunnen bevinden, zoals vliegtuigen en militaire installaties.
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Lichtvervuiling
Uit het onderzoek bleek dat er een verband bestaat tussen meer lichtvervuiling en minder meldingen. Een helderdere hemel kan sterren, satellieten, meteoren en andere vreemd uitziende verschijnselen doen vervagen voordat mensen ze opmerken.
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Bomen en zichtbaarheid
In het nationale onderzoek bleek er ook een verband te bestaan tussen een dichter bladerdak en een lager aantal meldingen. Een belemmerd uitzicht betekent dat er minder dingen aan de hemel worden opgemerkt, dat er minder mysteries ontstaan en dat er minder gelegenheid is voor mensen om een officiële UFO-melding in te dienen.
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Luchtverkeer
Er werd een verband gelegd tussen meer vliegverkeer en meer meldingen, aangezien een druk luchtruim meer kansen biedt dat vliegende objecten verkeerd worden geïdentificeerd. In een druk luchtruim krijgen mensen te maken met meer onbekende lichtverschijnselen en bewegingen die ze moeten interpreteren.
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Militaire gebieden
In datzelfde onderzoek werden militaire installaties als een van de factoren genoemd. In de publieke opinie wordt al lang gewezen op strategische militaire locaties (zoals Area 51) als plekken waar het aantal UFO-waarnemingen sterk toeneemt. Dit bewijst echter niet dat er in militaire gebieden iets vreemds aan de hand is.
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Wat de regering vaak besluit
Van alle door AARO geregistreerde UFO-meldingen werd ongeveer 75% van de afgesloten zaken toegeschreven aan ballonnen, 16% aan drones, 6% aan vogels en telkens 1% aan vliegtuigen, satellieten en andere oorzaken.
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Wat mensen het vaakst zeggen te zien
Volgens AARO meldden mensen in ongeveer 46% van de gevallen dat ze 'lichtjes' hadden gezien, terwijl er in ongeveer 31% van de gevallen sprake zou zijn geweest van lichtbollen, ronde vormen of bollen.
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Waarom eenvoudige dingen er vreemd kunnen uitzien
De waarheid is dat vogels, puin, ballonnen, vliegtuigen, drones, satellieten, raketlanceringen, Venus, Jupiter en meteoren allemaal vaak als UAP’s worden gemeld. Onder vreemde hoeken of bij slechte zichtomstandigheden kunnen gewone dingen er buitengewoon uitzien.
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Beweging kan het oog bedriegen
Een andere reden waarom mensen in de war kunnen raken, is bewegingsparallax: een stilstaand of langzaam bewegend object kan snel lijken te bewegen omdat de waarnemer zelf snel beweegt. Dat verklaart mede waarom sommige spectaculaire waarnemingen vanaf de grond uiteindelijk heel alledaags blijken te zijn.
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Satellieten
De toename van satellietverkeer, met inbegrip van felle lichtflitsen en schitteringen, draagt waarschijnlijk bij aan het huidige aantal UFO-meldingen. Onderzoekers hebben inderdaad herhaaldelijk vastgesteld dat satellieten vaak voor verwarring zorgen.
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Ballonnen
Ballonnen (met name die welke door meteorologen worden gebruikt) verdienen een speciale vermelding omdat ze op onvoorspelbare wijze kunnen afdrijven, op grote hoogte blijven hangen, zonlicht weerkaatsen en geen duidelijke markeringen hebben.
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Rapportage versus voorval
De plekken waar de meeste UFO’s worden gemeld, zijn niet per se de plekken waar de meeste vreemde gebeurtenissen plaatsvinden. Het kan gewoon zijn dat mensen daar vaker omhoog kijken, dat de lucht daar helderder is, of dat ze weten waar ze een melding kunnen doen.
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Canada
Canada is veruit de belangrijkste speler buiten de VS als het gaat om meldingen van UAP’s, wat waarschijnlijk te danken is aan een combinatie van het uitgestrekte grondgebied van het land, de weidse lucht, een actieve cultuur van burgermeldingen en een goede zichtbaarheid in minder dichtbebouwde gebieden.
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Verenigd Koninkrijk
Het Verenigd Koninkrijk onderscheidt zich niet alleen door de omvang, maar ook door zijn buitengewoon rijke officiële archief. Het Nationaal Archief bewaart tientallen jaren aan UFO-documenten, correspondentie en beleidsdossiers die verband houden met de manier waarop de overheid met meldingen omgaat.
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Frankrijk
Frankrijk valt vooral op omdat het binnen het Franse ruimteagentschap een officiële, aan de staat gelieerde instantie heeft, genaamd GEIPAN (Groep voor Onderzoek en Informatie over Onbekende Lucht- en Ruimteverschijnselen). GEIPAN verzamelt, analyseert en archiveert casusmateriaal en maakt dit openbaar, waarbij de anonimiteit van getuigen wordt gewaarborgd.
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Australië
Australië komt veelvuldig voor in internationale databases en beschikt bovendien over een omvangrijke gedocumenteerde geschiedenis. Uit openbaar archiefmateriaal en latere berichtgeving blijkt dat waarnemingen soms zo serieus werden genomen dat ze in de nationale archieven werden opgenomen.
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Uitgebreide aardrijkskunde
De enorme omvang van Australië, de relatief donkere hemel in veel regio’s en de grote afstanden tussen bevolkingscentra kunnen helpen verklaren waarom er daar steeds weer meldingen van UFO’s worden gedaan. Omstandigheden die het zicht verbeteren, kunnen het mysterie ook vergroten.
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Andere brandhaarden wereldwijd
Maar afgezien van deze landen zijn er ook diverse gebieden in andere delen van Noord-Amerika, het oostelijke Middellandse Zeegebied tot Zuid-Azië en Oost-Azië waar veel UFO-waarnemingen worden gemeld. Het lijkt erop dat het zien van UFO’s een wereldwijd verschijnsel is.
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AI analyzes recent UAP data releases
A new discussion in the UAP community has centered on a preprint that offers a natural explanation for some reported “orbs” — and on an accompanying AI-based critique that argues the model may not be as solid as it first appears. The analysis, published by The Good Trouble Show on July 8, says it used multiple AI systems to stress-test a paper by atmospheric chemist John W. Birks, who proposes that some glowing UAP orbs may actually be meteor dust clouds held together by magnetic forces and sustained by heat.
The article is notable not only for the claim it examines, but for its method. The author, who identifies himself as a journalist rather than a scientist, says the technical review was performed by Anthropic’s Claude and then checked by xAI’s SuperGrok, with the systems encouraged to challenge one another’s conclusions. The resulting assessment was then translated into plain language for readers. That approach is intended to reduce the risk of relying on a single AI output, though it also underscores an important limitation: the critique is not a peer review, and it does not substitute for direct scientific evaluation.
Birks’ preprint, titled “UAP Orbs: Magnetically Confined Dusty Plasmoids Produced by Meteors,” suggests that at least some orb-like sightings reported to the National UFO Reporting Center may be explained by a natural process. In the paper’s model, an iron-rich meteor disintegrates in the atmosphere, leaving behind a cloud of tiny, magnetized particles that could remain bound together, glow, drift, split, and persist for as long as an hour. The claim is intentionally cautious — Birks reportedly uses language such as “some” orbs and “may” — but it is still a significant attempt to frame a recurring UAP report within known physics.
Birks’ credentials help explain why the paper has drawn attention. He is professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder and previously co-authored, with Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen, the first paper on what became known as nuclear winter. He is also known for developing air-quality instruments used globally. The article emphasizes that he is not an outsider or fringe figure, but a respected scientist whose ideas merit serious review.
The paper has already moved into a broader scientific and policy conversation. Avi Loeb, the Harvard astrophysicist who received the preprint, posted it on his Harvard page and said he shared it with the UAP Science Advisory Council, a group of scientists he convened. According to Loeb, the council plans to compare Birks’ hypothesis with quantitative data available on AARO’s orb reports, referring to the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. Skeptic and science communicator Michael Shermer, also associated with the council, publicized the paper and noted that it had been sent to Loeb for review.
The article uses the Birks paper as a case study in a larger UAP challenge: how to weigh unconventional explanations against limited and often ambiguous evidence. Supporters of the AI analysis argue that computational tools can help identify weak assumptions, missing variables, or unsupported leaps in reasoning. Critics may note that AI itself is not an arbiter of scientific truth. Still, the piece reflects a growing trend in UAP reporting — using machine-assisted analysis, public datasets, and outside experts to pressure-test claims in real time.
For readers following the disclosure debate, the question is not just whether meteor dust could explain some orb sightings, but whether the evidence can withstand scrutiny from both scientists and skeptical reviewers. On that point, the conversation is still unfolding.
Pentagon Releases New Batch of UAP Videos and Historical Files, But Clarity Remains Elusive
The United States Department of War (DOW) released its latest collection of imagery and other materials related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) on Friday.
The fourth official release under what the DOW has dubbed the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), the latest tranche of files includes several new previously unseen U.S. military videos depicting unidentified aerial objects acquired by the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).
“Today, the Department of War is publishing the fourth release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE),” said Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell in a statement.
“The collection continues to be housed on WAR.GOV/UFO, and the Department will release additional files on a rolling basis,” Parnell said.
As with previous releases, most of the new videos leave much to the imagination, in most cases showing small blurry objects captured with multi-sensor electro-optical targeting capabilities from fighter aircraft or UAVs, and in some cases, imaging systems on board civilian aircraft.
In addition to the new imagery, several historical documents from as early as the 1940s were included with the release, the majority of which were previously made available in past releases by various U.S. government agencies.
One series of historical NASA images included with the new PURSUE release originates from the 1996 STS-80 mission. The entry on the DOW’s site, “NASA-UAP-D030, STS-80 Unidentified Object Image 1, 1996,” features photographs obtained by astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia at the time, which convey a small triangular or cone-shaped object.
“During STS-80, between November 19 and December 7, 1996, astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Columbia captured a series of three images of an unidentified object in low-Earth orbit. In the first photograph, the object is visible near the center of the frame, to the right of the limb of the Earth,” a caption accompanying one of the images states at the DOW website.
It is unclear what the object in the photograph may be, although it is worth noting that several observations of allegedly unusual phenomena occurred during STS-80, which included the imagery captured of grainy luminous shapes from the spacecraft’s backward-facing cameras. The most common interpretation of these objects is that they were ice particles outgassed from the spacecraft, whose highly reflective surfaces could produce the optical effects captured from the space shuttle’s cameras, especially in such low-light conditions.
DOW-UAP-PR030, Unresolved UAP Report, Middle East, 2023: In this video, “Two areas of contrast transit the sensor field-of-view. The first enters the field-of-view from the bottom right and exits from the top edge of the frame. The second, relatively smaller area of contrast enters from the top and exits the bottom of the frame.”
The unusual shape of the object first seen entering the frame from the bottom of the screen could potentially be the result of a sensor artifact, similar to past videos released by the DOW, where the starlike appearance of refraction spikes emanating from an object (as also seen in this example from the most recent release) had been misinterpreted by some as being the literal shape of the alleged UAP.
DOW-UAP-PR108, Unresolved UAP Report, Western United States, 2020: This footage, reportedly collected over the Western United States in 2020, is notable (if for no other reason) due to its similarity to the famous “Tic Tac” imagery from 2004, captured by F/A-18 pilot Chad Underwood off the Baja California coast. Apart from that superficial similarity in appearance, the footage—like others from recent PURSUE releases—provides little additional context, and it is unclear what the object (seen below) may be.
Still frame from the DOW’s “DOW-UAP-PR108, Unresolved UAP Report, Western United States, 2020” video, included in the most recent PURSUE release number four
(Image Credit: DOW).
Several other examples of imagery included with the fourth PURSUE release depict objects apparently engaging in flight at high speeds, such as an object appearing in “DOW-UAP-PR112, Unresolved UAP Report, Eastern United States, 2019” where the observer reportedly described the object in question as exhibiting “flight characteristics unlike anything [the observer] had seen in 28 years for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy.”
Other objects appearing in videos included with the newest release, such as the UAP in “DOW-UAP-PR116, Unresolved UAP Report, Atlantic Ocean, 2020,” include descriptions from the observer that note an object with a “darker, maroonish color, approximately 12-15 feet in height” that was “travel[ing] with the wind,” did not “maneuver or change direction,” and appearing similar to a “large, somewhat deformed balloon.”
We would have to agree with the witnesses’ assessment in the case: the flight dynamics of the object in the accompanying video (seen above) are indeed very consistent with an inflatable object, albeit possessing an odd shape (it is also possible this object may be a cluster of smaller balloons). The same can be said of other examples in the new releases, where, in some instances, dangling payloads beneath what are obviously balloons are clearly discernible in the purported “UAP” videos.
To date, none of the videos or other documentation made available at the DOW website as part of its PURSUE releases provides clear examples of any objects attributable to unknown aircraft, or objects exhibiting unusual or advanced technologies.
In his statement on Friday, Parnell said the DOW and its agency partners “are actively working on the next release of UAP files,” which can be expected to appear on the DOW website in the coming weeks. In the meantime, all of the existing four releases of UAP imagery and documentation can be found on the DOW’s PURSUE page.
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