It was the year of the UFO in 2025. From new-age documentaries to decades-old mysterious reports coming to light, both experts and civilians have been baffled by a slew of new information regarding otherworldly objects appearing over the country’s skies. 

Here is a look at the most compelling, out-of-this-world UFO headlines from 2025, as questions continue to swirl regarding the validity of such claims and whether we are truly alone in the universe.

Decades-old images reveal new UFO clues in strange bursts over nuclear test sites

Earlier this year, scientists at California’s Palomar Observatory discovered several instances of transient, star-like flashes in photographs taken over 70 years ago that may hold the key to answers regarding instances of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) – or UFOs – appearing near nuclear testing sites, according to a research paper published in Nature’s Scientific Reports on Oct. 20, 2025.

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The images originated from digitized astronomical plates – pieces of glass that capture images of the night sky – compiled by the observatory from 1949 to 1957, while also predating the launch of the first artificial satellite in October 1957. 

“We speculate that some transients could potentially be UAP in Earth orbit that, if descending into the atmosphere, might provide the stimulus for some UAP sightings,” the paper states.

While many of the objects were determined by scientists to be errors or markings on the physical plates, thousands of other sightings reportedly correspond with various documented sightings of UFOs appearing near nuclear testing sites. 

In one instance, bright objects were spotted in the night sky within the same two weeks when witnesses reported numerous UAPs above Washington, D.C., from July 19 to July 27, 1952, according to the report. 

The final documented sighting within the timeframe was over a nuclear testing site on March 17, 1956, just one day after the “Joe 21” test conducted by the Soviet Union, according to the New York Post.

Researchers also subsequently observed transients hovering on at least 124 above-ground nuclear tests at sites that were active from 1951 until the launch of Sputnik in 1957. However, further research reportedly led them to the conclusion that the phenomenon was the result of “high energy particles” present within the atmosphere, due to the nuclear testing materials. 

Similarly, the study pointed to findings that revealed transients were 45% more likely to be spotted in the air within 24 hours of nuclear testing, with “significantly more” UAP sightings being documented within the test windows.

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UFO sightings surged in 2025 as new reports, archival discoveries and government documents fueled renewed national interest. (iStock)

The researchers ultimately concluded that eyewitness sightings of star-like transient objects directly correlating with conditions created by nuclear weapons testing are “small but statistically-significant associations.” 

“Our findings provide additional empirical support for the validity of the UAP phenomenon and its potential connection to nuclear weapons activity, contributing data beyond eyewitness reports,” the scientists wrote.

UFO-like drones target police helicopter over U.S. air base, vanish

Newly released police logs and video directly contradict explanations from officials regarding a near-collision between a U.K. police helicopter and UAPs over a United States air base last year, ultimately discrediting reports from officials claiming it was merely a routine fighter jet sighting. 

According to documents obtained by the Daily Mail, the incident unfolded around 10 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2024, when a National Police Air Service (NPAS) EC135 helicopter was forced off-course as it took emergency evasive action after the pilot reported two fast-moving craft “targeted” and pursued the crew over RAF Lakenheath, a major U.S. military installation in Suffolk.

The move required the pilots to maneuver a steep dive to ultimately avoid crashing into the objects, which were matching the aircraft’s speed at roughly 190 mph in what was later described as an “unprovoked pursuit.” 

“They had to perform an emergency dive and described that they were pursued in the dive by two drones who matched their speed – and then pursued them for several minutes out of the area,” one police entry states. 

Separate police reports compiled between Nov. 20-22 documented roughly 20 drone sightings across RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell, with eyewitness accounts describing “10-15 drones [flying] potentially into base airspace,” that ultimately grounded surrounding aircraft.

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Experts continued to dispute explanations for UFO reports in 2025 as public attention and unanswered questions grew. (iStock)

Additionally, a witness using night-vision goggles described spotting “five to six drones” flying above the A1065 highway. Another individual reported seeing “large stationary things – tic tacs – they are not birds.” 

However, despite the sightings by both government officials and civilians, Britain’s Airprox Board concluded in its final report that the objects were actually the lights of a U.S. Air Force F-15 operating nearby, pointing to radar data indicating the two aircraft came within 1,700 feet of each other on the evening of the incursion. 

UFO tracker maps mysterious object clusters beneath U.S. shores

The popular UFO-reporting app Enigma gripped the nation after its crowdsourced data recorded thousands of mysterious objects jetting up and down the United States’ coastlines. 

Since August, Enigma has documented more than 9,000 sightings of unidentified submersible objects (USOs) within 10 miles of United States shorelines or other major bodies of water, Marine Technology News reported.

Of the documented sightings, roughly 500 reportedly occurred within five miles of the country’s coastline, with 150 objects being seen either hovering above – or entering and emerging from – bodies of water. 

According to Enigma, several clusters of activity appeared to be centered around specific coastal points, with California and Florida accounting for the most sightings throughout the country. 

“It seems like there are five or six areas where there’s real high UFO activity around water,” Kent Heckenlively, author of “Catastrophic Disclosure: Aliens, The Deep State and The Truth,” told Fox News Digital.

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Crowdsourced data in 2025 mapped clusters of UFO and underwater object sightings along U.S. coastlines. (iStock)

“It would make a great deal of sense, and I think the problem that the regular person is facing is that they’re saying to themselves, ‘OK, if these things are real, how could they come to earth and hide?’ And the ocean seems like a great place to hide.”

New UFO documentary claims U.S. hid evidence of non-human intelligence for decades

The release of a new UFO documentary titled, “The Age of Disclosure,” has pulled back the curtain on the decades-long mystery surrounding strange, unknown objects spotted throughout the skies over the U.S. 

“For a very long time, the public, Congress and even the president have been kept out of the loop on this subject,” director Dan Farah told Fox News’ Bret Baier. “In the last few years, senior members of Congress, senior members of the administration — thanks to whistleblowers — have found out what’s been going on, and they are now in pursuit of the truth for themselves and for the American people.”

Director Dan Farah’s documentary “The Age of Disclosure” features 34 senior U.S. officials revealing an alleged 80-year government cover-up of non-human intelligence. (The Age of Disclosure)

The documentary features interviews with 34 senior members of the U.S. government, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to pull back the curtain on an alleged “80-year global cover-up” of non-human intelligence potentially existing on other planets and their intrusion on Earth.

“We’ve had repeated instances of something operating in the airspace over restricted nuclear facilities, and it’s not ours,” Rubio said in the trailer.

The documentary looks to expose what has notoriously been a buttoned-up topic among U.S. government officials, with Farah revealing that members of Congress and the Trump administration are working to break through decades of refusing to release information to the public.

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Additionally, the film reveals how the U.S. government is currently involved in a “high-stakes, secret Cold War race with adversarial nations like China and Russia” to investigate objects that are of non-human origin, with high-level officials corroborating the information.

The film also points to instances of non-human bodies being recovered from mysterious objects, further punctuating the mystery – and sense of urgency – surrounding alien life coming to Earth. 

“I think that the human race would do a lot of growing up if we found out we lived in a very crowded neighborhood,” Heckenlively said. “We would be curious, we’d want to fit in. I think we would up our game if we knew that there were species out there that didn’t have some of the negatives associated with the human race.”

Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price contributed to this report.