Key takeaways
- On 29 July 2025 a US Air Force special operations crew over the Middle East logged '6X small spherical objects grouped together' at an estimated 480 mph. The report (DOW-UAP-D108) and a one-minute infrared video (PR135) were published on 18 September 2026
- On the same form the crew answered 'NO' to advanced capabilities, 'UNKNOWN' to propulsion and intelligent control, and 'NONE' to any reaction to the aircraft
- No radar or second sensor was used to check the objects, and every number on the form, including the 480 mph, is marked 'Estimated'
- AARO's description of the video speaks only of 'several areas of contrast'. It never counts six objects or calls them spheres
- Two Iraq reports from 5 May 2022, filed by different squadrons, use almost the same words, misspelling included, and one labels what it saw 'UAS', the military term for a drone
Jump to section 9 sections
- What Is the Six Spheres UFO Report?
- What Did the Crew Report About Six Objects at 480 mph?
- Did the Six Spheres Have Advanced Capabilities?
- Was There a Radar Lock on the Six Spheres?
- What Does the Middle East UFO Video Show?
- The 2022 Iraq UFO Reports: Same Day, Same Words
- What Is the White Orb UFO Report From 2025?
- What Could the Six Spheres Have Been?
- How to Read the Mission Reports Yourself
In July 2025 a US Air Force crew over the Middle East logged "6X small spherical objects grouped together", moving at an estimated 480 mph and "able to change directions quickly and simultaneously". The Pentagon published the six spheres UFO report and a minute of infrared video on 18 September 2026, and it became one of the headline cases of the release.
The form says less than the headlines did. On the same page the crew answered "NO" when asked whether the objects showed advanced capabilities. Nobody checked them with radar or a second sensor, and AARO's description of the video never counts six of anything. Here's the report line by line, along with the three other mission reports that came out with it, two of which read almost word for word alike.
What Is the Six Spheres UFO Report?
The six spheres UFO report is DOW-UAP-D108, a standard US military mission report dated 29 July 2025. It was filed by the 65th Special Operations Squadron during Operation Inherent Resolve, the long-running campaign against Islamic State, and it pairs with a one-minute infrared video, DOW-UAP-PR135. AARO, the Pentagon's UFO office, lists it as unresolved.
The aircraft type, base and coordinates are all blacked out. What's left shows an ordinary surveillance flight: take-off at 17:34 UTC, and the sighting at 20:22 UTC while the aircraft was still on its way to the target. Both files arrived in the Pentagon's sixth UFO file release, mostly remembered for the old AAWSAP research papers.
What Did the Crew Report About Six Objects at 480 mph?
They reported six small spheres flying as a group, agile and often changing direction, at about 480 mph and 22,000 feet, heading south-east. The observer was a staff sergeant, and the details sit in the form's structured "UAP" section.
The description field reads "6X SMALL SPHERICAL OBJECTS GROUPED TOGETHER". Under manoeuvrability: "SEEMED TO BE AGILE, FREQUENTLY CHNAGING DIRECTION", typo included. Under anomalous behaviour: "ABLE TO CHANGE DIRECTIONS QUICKLY AND SIMULTANEOUSLY". That last line is where the story came from.
The numbers need care. Altitude FL220, speed 480 mph (typed "48OMPH", with a letter O) and direction south-east are each marked "Estimated". The 22,000 feet is the estimate for the objects, not the aircraft, whose own height is redacted. And the reaction field says the objects did nothing in response to being watched: "NONE. FOLLOWED OF OWN ACCORD UNTIL LIST. REPORTED AFTERWARDS." "LIST" is almost certainly "lost". The report was written up after the event.
Did the Six Spheres Have Advanced Capabilities?
No, by the crew's own answer. The form asks "UAP Advanced Capabilities And/Or Materials (yes/no; if yes, describe)", and the answer is "NO". Intelligent control and propulsion are both "UNKNOWN", effects on people "NO", effects on equipment "NONE", and nothing was recovered.
So the one line that sounds strange, six objects turning at the same moment, sits on the same page as an answer saying nothing advanced was seen. Both are the observer's description, written up afterwards, and the form doesn't try to square them.
Was There a Radar Lock on the Six Spheres?
No. The form asks whether the objects were checked with any sensor, "if yes list sensor(s) and returns", and the answer is "NO". There was no engagement either. The 480 mph and the 22,000 feet come from what one camera showed, with no measured distance.
That matters more than it sounds. A single camera can't tell a small thing nearby from a big thing far away, and a speed worked out from the picture carries the same uncertainty. Get the distance wrong and the speed is wrong by the same factor.
What Does the Middle East UFO Video Show?
The PR135 video shows a few small bright specks crossing a grey infrared picture, and AARO's own description never says how many there are or what shape. It lasts one minute.
AARO's shot list is short. For the first four seconds, "no content". Then, from 5 to 10 seconds: "Several areas of contrast transit the sensor field-of-view, entering from the top of the frame and exiting from the bottom." From 11 to 47 seconds the camera pans to keep them in the middle of the frame, and the last 12 seconds are a zoom change with nothing in view. It ends with AARO's standard warning that none of it is "an analytical judgment".
You can watch it here (DVIDS 1023397):
It's the same kind of footage as most of the Pentagon's declassified UAP videos: small hot spots, a crosshair, and a lot of panning.
The 2022 Iraq UFO Reports: Same Day, Same Words
Two more mission reports in the release, D106 and D109, both come from 5 May 2022 and describe the same kind of contact in almost the same words. They were filed by different units, the 196th and 20th Attack Squadrons, about 15 hours apart (05:24 and 20:26 UTC), both under Operation Inherent Resolve.
Each says the objects were "TRAVELLING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS BETWEEN 80-180 MPH. WE WERE UNABLE TO DETERMINE ALTITUDE", that their size was "APPROXIMATELY 1-2 METERS", and that they "DID NOT HINDER THE MISSION". Both even spell sporadically as "SPORATICALLY". That points to shared wording, copied from one report to the next or from a squadron template, rather than two people describing something independently.
Two details make these reports even less dramatic. D109 hedges its own sighting as "PROB UAPS", and its weather section notes that "DUE TO DUST STORMS SOME COLLECTION ON UAPS WAS AFFECTED". And in D106, the field for what was observed is filled in as "UAS", the military abbreviation for an unmanned aircraft system, in other words a drone. The report doesn't explain that choice, but it's on the form. D106 came with two still frames (PR130 and PR131) rather than a video; D109 pairs with videos PR140 and PR141.
What Is the White Orb UFO Report From 2025?
The white orb UFO report is D107, the fourth mission report in the release, from 29 October 2025 and filed by the 11th Attack Squadron. Between 01:41 and 01:50 UTC the crew watched what the observer said "LOOKED LIKE A WHITE ROUND ORBIT", almost certainly a typo for orb, "MOVING AS FAST AS 500MPH", until they lost it. Most of the form's UAP questions are left blank. In the paired video, PR133, AARO notes that the camera's auto-tracking reticle "does not establish a lock" on the object.
Here are the four reports side by side.
| Report | Date | Unit | What was logged | Speed (as written) | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D109 | 5 May 2022 | 20th Attack Sqn | "PROB UAPS", 1 to 2 m | 80 to 180 mph | PR140, PR141 |
| D106 | 5 May 2022 | 196th Attack Sqn | UAPs, 1 to 2 m, activity filed as "UAS" | 80 to 180 mph | Stills PR130, PR131 |
| D108 | 29 Jul 2025 | 65th Special Operations Sqn | Six small spheres, grouped | 480 mph (estimated) | PR135 |
| D107 | 29 Oct 2025 | 11th Attack Sqn | One white round object | Up to 500 mph | PR133 |
None of the four records a radar check, an engagement or an explanation.
What Could the Six Spheres Have Been?
The six spheres files don't say what they were. None of the four mission reports offers an explanation or rules one out, and the release contains no AARO analysis of any of them.
Before reaching for anything exotic, look at the directions on the form. The aircraft was heading north-west and the objects were logged heading south-east. Anything slow or hovering will seem to slide backwards past a moving aircraft, and a whole group will seem to swing round together when the aircraft turns or the camera pans. A group of small drones or balloons fits "grouped together" well, and one of the 2022 reports labelled its own contacts "UAS". None of that is a verdict, and with the location and distance redacted, nobody outside can test it. A similar cluster of lights turned up in the 2021 Gulf of Oman gunship encounter, and the same caution applies there.
The checklist works closer to home too. Satellites and aircraft are the first things to rule out with any light in the sky, and ISS passes tonight shows you when the brightest satellite of all will cross. Our page on what you can see in the sky tonight lists the planets, and the UK night sky this week covers what else is up.
Small lights in a group are usually easy to name
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How to Read the Mission Reports Yourself
All four reports and their videos are public domain. Our PURSUE files browser opens D108 and plays PR135, and you can search it for D106, D109 and D107 too. Our guide to the US PURSUE file releases explains how the file names work.
For another modern case from the same release, see our page on the Colorado UFO orbs of October 2023. The UAP research hub lists every case we've written up from the original documents.
Header image: an illustration made with Google Gemini, not a photograph of the sighting. Form extracts: DOW-UAP-D108, D106 and D109, US Department of War, public domain. Video frame: DOW-UAP-PR135 via DVIDS, public domain.
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Ian ClaytonAmateur astronomer and founder of WatchTheStars.co.uk, dedicated to helping others explore the wonders of our universe. Full profile →
