The Trump Administration has released a fresh wave of UFO files, including the moment a US fighter jet appeared to open fire and shoot down a mysterious object flying in American airspace in a fiery explosion.
The stunning footage from the Pentagon captured the seconds before and after an F-16 fighter jet launched an air-to-air missile at the unidentified craft over Michigan‘s Lake Huron.
Infrared cameras caught the instant the small craft with round or diamond shape and jagged tail was struck by what the Pentagon called a US ‘weapons system’ on February 12, 2023.
The object was seen exploding during the violent collision, sending countless pieces of shrapnel in all directions.
In the military’s description of the incident, officials said: ‘The footage appears to depict a kinetic interaction between two distinct areas of contrast, with the initial subject of the footage fragmenting in a radial displacement pattern that suggests a high-energy event.’
In simpler terms, the Air Force used kinetic weaponry, the technical term for missiles, to strike the UFO, causing it to ‘fragment’ or break up into several pieces after the high-energy explosion.
In a letter demanding the release of the new videos in March, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna confirmed that the weapon used was a AIM-9X ‘Sidewinder’ missile.
The new footage was one of 46 new videos released on Friday by the Pentagon-led committee put in charge of disclosing America’s UFO files to the public.
UFO files released on May 22, 2026 revealed what the US Air Force described as a UFO over Lake Huron in Michigan
UFO files released on May 22, 2026 revealed what the US Air Force described as a UFO being destroyed by a US fighter’s ‘weapon system’
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a Friday statement: ‘The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.’
‘These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation, and it’s time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency.
The new tranche of files appeared on the Department of War website just before 8am ET, featuring chilling audio from the Apollo 12 crew, which reported mysterious objects while in space.
The dump also included reports of glowing orange orbs swarming around a military helicopter, mysterious ‘fireballs’ that triggered airborne particle hunts in New Mexico and intelligence documents describing unidentified aerial phenomena near a Soviet weapons-testing range.
Other entries in the nearly four dozen videos revealed Tic Tac-shaped UFOs tracked by the US Coast Guard, glowing spheres darting through clouds over Afghanistan, unidentified submerged objects emerging from the ocean and multiple fast-moving craft swarming military aircraft over the Persian Gulf, East China Sea and restricted US airspace.
So far, the Pentagon has released over 200 files related to UAPs, which have long been an object of public fascination, following the directive from Trump.
Officials noted, however, that many of the records lacked a fully verified chain of custody, raising questions about how the materials were obtained and authenticated.
Four unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) appeared to create a formation over water in Iran in August 2022
The files appeared on the Department of War website just before 8am ET on May 22. Above is a photo of mysterious objects uploaded to a classified network in June 2024
Above is a still from a military platform showing a mysterious object came into view. The video was uploaded to a classified network in July 2023
According to the report released by the Pentagon, the F-16C ‘Fighting Falcon’ sent to intercept the UFO was part of the US Air National Guard, the air force branch of the National Guard.
This group is a part-time reserve force made up of pilots, aircraft mechanics and support personnel who fly fighter jets, cargo planes, refueling tankers and other aircraft.
The F-16 typically carries up to six air-to-air missiles, including the Sidewinder and the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile.
The UFO file does not state why the fighter jet was scrambled or from what air base. It is unclear if the wreckage seen in the video was recovered from Lake Huron and if it was analyzed to determine its origin.
Along with troves of military footage released on Friday, chilling audio emerged from a medical debrief involving the crew of Apollo 12, the second group of astronauts to land on the moon in 1969.
Astronauts Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon and Alan Bean described seeing mysterious flashes and streaks of light in the darkness of space while trying to sleep during their mission.
NASA later concluded that the strange phenomena were caused by internal visual effects experienced by the astronauts rather than light sources outside the craft.
However, previous radio transcripts from both the Apollo 12 and 17 moon missions, released in the first wave of UFO files in May 8, revealed more strange sightings of unknown objects in space while the astronauts were on the lunar surface.
Pictured: A US Air Force F-16 ‘Fighting Falcon’ seen in 2023 (Stock Image)
Pictured: A sphere-shaped craft seen in the latest batch of UFO file disclosed by the Pentagon. The object was seen flying over an undisclosed country on October 7, 2020
This archival photograph depicts the lunar surface as viewed from the landing site of Apollo 12. This image features highlighted areas above the horizon in which unidentified phenomena are visible
The confirmation of the US military opening fire on an unidentified flying object over Michigan marked the latest incident involving the Air Force and a mysterious craft.
Last year, during a bombshell UFO whistleblower hearing, members of Congress were shown video from an October 2024 encounter involving a US military drone and an orb-shaped UFO off the coast of Yemen.
Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri revealed never-before-seen footage of the UFO being struck by a Hellfire missile from the drone and surviving the impact.
The black-and-white video captured the 100-pound air-to-ground precision weapon bouncing off the mysterious orb, which continued traveling at extreme speed.
The video also appeared to show several fragments of the orb break away during the impact but continue to fly next to the UFO.
Before the UFO files started to be disclosed on May 8, the US government had maintained for decades that there has been no physical proof that alien spacecraft or extraterrestrials exist.
However, government whistleblowers have continued to claim that the US military has been secretly running covert programs aimed at recovering and reverse engineering crashed UFOs from around the globe.
