Pentagon Releases Third Batch of Declassified UFO Files, Including ‘Potato-Shaped’ UAP Account

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – The Department of Defense has released a third batch of declassified UFO-related files, offering new details on unresolved government investigations into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), including a striking 2024 account from Colorado in which a former U.S. Army intelligence officer described a shimmering, “potato-shaped” object that appeared to cloak itself before vanishing.

The latest release includes 72 records from multiple federal agencies: 29 from the FBI, 18 from the CIA, 12 from the Department of Defense, 11 from NASA, one from the intelligence community, and one from an unspecified U.S. government agency.

The documents contain government memos, investigative reports, first-hand witness accounts, and artist renderings of UAPs. Several renderings depict unusual, rounded objects that officials and witnesses described in unconventional terms, including one that resembled a “potato.”

In one 2024 FBI document, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and four members of his unit reported seeing a UAP over the Cheyenne Mountains in Colorado. The object was described as having distinct edges, an opalescent white appearance, and a somewhat translucent quality with a slight shimmer. The officer also noted that it cast no shadow.

“The object was made up of what can best be described as articulating fish scales or panels that were non-symmetrical, non-overlapping, and irregular shaped,” the report stated. “The object itself was perfectly still but each panel on the object shifted in slow waves starting at different points of origin but at the same time.”

According to the report, the object remained visible for roughly two minutes before it suddenly vanished, appearing to “cloak” in the brief moment it took one observer to turn his head.

The records also include a July 2008 sighting at Harare International Airport in Zimbabwe, where witnesses debated whether the object was an advanced reconnaissance device from a foreign government or something of extraterrestrial origin. According to the file, “beams” were observed coming from the object, though the record did not include a final determination.

Another Defense Department file from 1946, titled “Evaluation Study of the Phenomenon (Flying Saucers),” reviewed roughly 210 incidents and said about 20 percent had been explained. The study concluded there was “no tangible evidence” supporting a theory that the incidents were attributable to a foreign nation.

Some sightings appeared to have more earthly explanations. A 1949 file concerning an explosion in the Cascade Mountains suggested the event may have been connected to military or scientific activity, possibly involving the Atomic Energy Commission.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the government’s UAP portal, war.gov/UFO, has received more than 1.7 billion hits worldwide since launching May 8, reflecting intense public interest in the Trump administration’s disclosure effort.

“As the unprecedented levels of interest in both this topic and the Trump administration’s historic transparency effort continue,” Parnell said, the department and its agency partners are working on the next release of UAP files.

The records are being released on a rolling basis under President Donald Trump’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, an effort aimed at declassifying and releasing decades of U.S. government material on UAPs and UFOs.

The Defense Department emphasized that the archived materials involve unresolved cases, meaning officials have not been able to make a definitive determination about the nature of the observed phenomena.

The release comes amid renewed debate in Washington over how the government should interpret unexplained aerial sightings. Vice President J.D. Vance added a spiritual dimension to that discussion earlier this year, saying in a March interview that he does not believe such phenomena are aliens but “demons.” Vance said his view is shaped by his Christian faith and the belief that supernatural or “extra-natural” phenomena may involve spiritual forces rather than extraterrestrial visitors.

His comments underscored a broader tension in the UFO debate: whether unexplained sightings should be viewed primarily through national security, scientific, or spiritual lenses.

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