The Pentagon on Friday, Oct. 23, published its seventh batch of declassified files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), and the headline document describes a silent, matte-black triangular object that federal agents reported seeing near a "national security site" in the western United States in June 2026.

Why it matters: Most files released so far are decades old. This one is from this year, and the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) said it "warrant[s] further investigation" because it closely matches other reported incidents in the western U.S., CBS News reported.

What the files say

The release, posted at war.gov/UFO under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), included 28 PDF files, according to CBS News. The triangle is described in two of them: an AARO memo on investigators' debrief of the agents and a signed statement the agents gave the FBI.

The agents said they spotted "a substantial, nonreflective, dark black triangular object most resembling a delta wing drone" above a ridgeline a few miles to the west after sunset. They estimated its wingspan at about 9 to 15 feet.

According to the AARO memo, the object rose about 200 to 300 feet "in absolute acoustic silence," hovered for about 20 seconds, then sped off at a speed the observers compared to a military fighter jet. A ground survey of the canyon the next morning found no wreckage, scarring or vegetation damage.

Through an infrared scope, the object appeared warmer than its surroundings but showed no visible exhaust, the agents told the FBI.

What the files don't say

The location and exact date are redacted. The records do not conclude what the object was, whether it was a threat or whether it had anything to do with extraterrestrial life, USA Today noted. AARO has repeatedly said it has never found evidence that extraterrestrials are behind UAP reports, and NASA's 2023 independent study likewise found no such evidence.

The Pentagon describes the files on the site as "unresolved cases," meaning the government cannot make a definitive determination. It says more releases will follow on a rolling basis.