On September 9, 2025, during a new congressional hearing on UAPs, a declassified video — informally dubbed the “Hellfire UAP Strike” — was publicly shown for the first time. The video, released by the declassification authority All‑Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), reportedly dates to an incident off the coast of Yemen on October 30, 2024.
The video was presented alongside testimonies from veterans and journalists such as George Knapp, as part of ongoing efforts to increase public transparency about Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs).
What was seen — and what analysts think
Members of the photo-analysis team at MUFON examined the footage. Their observations included:
- The object in the video appears to be hit by a missile — a Hellfire missile — yet no explosion occurs.
- After impact, the target seems to fragment into several smaller pieces that descend or fall away.
- The object’s speed is undeterminable without knowing the velocity of the launching aircraft.
Given these observations, some analysts propose that the object might not be a “UAP” in the sense of exotic or extraterrestrial technology — but something more mundane, such as a balloon.
Others remain skeptical. One analyst suggested the video appears cropped or edited, raising the possibility it might depict a classified military exercise — perhaps using a variant of the Hellfire missile known as R9X, which uses kinetic blades rather than a conventional explosive warhead.
Meanwhile, another analyst’s detailed frame-by-frame review concluded that the missile did strike the object, which then released several smaller secondary objects. That review also noted what looked like a brief “energy surge” as the orb rotated toward the incoming missile — behavior some enthusiasts compare to earlier UAP encounters such as the famous 2004 “Tic Tac” incident.
Technical context
The drone reportedly used for the footage was an MQ-9 Reaper — a surveillance and strike drone capable of carrying Hellfire missiles. Its maximum speed is about 300 mph, suggesting that the tracked object itself likely moved slower than that — far below the sudden acceleration or rapid maneuvering often associated with UAP reports.
Some have speculated the orb may have had special coatings, or that part of the craft continued flying after impact. But because the released footage ends shortly after the strike, there’s no follow-up to confirm either possibility.
Interpretations and competing theories
Given the ambiguity, several hypotheses about what the video shows have emerged:
- Balloon Theory — The orb could simply have been a balloon. The missile’s failure to detonate, the way the object fragmented, and the motion seen in the video all align with how a balloon might behave under such conditions.
- Classified Military Test — Some analysts believe the footage might document a covert military operation or training exercise rather than an authentic UAP encounter.
- Hybrid/Balloon + Tech — A variant of the above: the object might have been a balloon or balloon-type target used within a military testing context (for instance, a “rockoon” — rocket-balloon hybrid).
- Genuine UAP Hypothesis — A minority among the analysts argues the video depicts a true unknown aerial phenomenon, citing the odd behavior at impact, release of smaller objects, and the similarity to previously reported UAP behaviors.
Conclusion: More questions than answers
Because the public release appears to be edited and ends too soon after the strike, the video doesn’t provide conclusive proof that the object was extraterrestrial or anomalous. According to MUFON analysts, without access to the unedited source footage — and lacking follow-up data — the video remains inconclusive. At best, it offers a puzzling snapshot; at worst, it may be a misleading artifact.
Until more information becomes available — such as the raw video and subsequent tracking data — the “Hellfire UAP Strike” remains an intriguing mystery.
