The Pentagon Posted Its 2nd Declassified UFO Data Dump, And It Looks Like We Haven’t Been Alone For 77 Years
· Thought Catalog
Updated 18 minutes ago, May 22, 2026
The files were posted to WAR.GOV/UFO this month as the second batch in a rolling declassification Congress ordered in 2022. The most striking thing isn’t any single sighting. It’s what the reports have in common.
The recurring visual is bright green or orange lights, usually near mountains or secure sites. A 1990 letter from a former Los Alamos staffer describes green lights drifting through the Jemez Mountains between 1948 and 1951, mostly between 9 and 11 p.m., seen repeatedly by the site’s Protective Force. A 1973 intelligence-style report from “Site 7” describes a bright green circular mass in the sky that widened into several concentric green rings before fading without a sound. A modern helicopter crew describes orange orbs flaring up against a mountain backdrop during a live operation.
The stronger pattern is behavior, not color. Across all three eras, the objects appear near restricted or nuclear-relevant areas, move or change shape in unusual ways, form multiples or split apart, arrange themselves in patterns, vanish after short durations, and get observed by trained personnel. The Los Alamos letter mentions five objects flying in formation over the lab. The 1973 report describes one circle becoming many. The modern account describes a single object splitting in two, then multiple orbs forming a “T,” then the same orbs appearing above U.S. fighter jets and matching their flight path.
The documents aren’t equally strong. The Los Alamos letter is retrospective and admits the writer can’t remember exact dates. The 1973 report is more formal but notes the object’s altitude and size were undetermined. The modern helicopter account is the most operationally detailed, with FLIR, night-vision, radar hits, multiple observers, and a Joint Operations Center in the loop. But the excerpt that’s public is a narrative without sensor logs, timestamps, unit details, or chain of custody, so it can’t be fully assessed on its own.
The “splitting” motif is the most interesting thread. One luminous thing becoming many shows up in every era. That could mean real objects maneuvering in formation. It could also mean optical effects: blooming, glare, sensor artifacts, night-vision amplification, flares, drones, balloons, or atmospheric phenomena. NVGs in particular can make small light sources look larger, closer, and stranger than they are. FLIR can make a warm object look dramatic without giving reliable distance.
The proximity claim in the modern account is the most extraordinary part. The crew says the object rose from the ground, came within 10 feet of the helicopter, dropped below it, and accelerated out of sight. If accurate, that’s a serious aviation safety incident. It’s also the kind of claim that needs the highest level of corroboration, because distance-to-light estimation at night under NVGs is notoriously unreliable without fixed reference points.
The fighter jet sequence is suggestive but ambiguous in the same way. The crew says orbs appeared above jets at roughly 23,000 feet, matched their speed, flared in formation, and repeated the pattern several times. Compelling as a story. Also vulnerable to misreading distant aircraft lights, flares, training activity, or perspective effects from a moving helicopter.
The three documents together build a theme. They don’t prove continuity. Locations, dates, colors, and source quality all differ. The Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office says nothing in the new release confirms extraterrestrial origin, and most cases stay unexplained because the sensor data isn’t good enough to rule anything in or out. A third batch is expected in the coming months.