A newly released video captured by a U.S. reaper drone shows a glowing orb off the coast of Yemen. Then in the video, a Hellfire missile suddenly struck the unidentified object and bounced off it.
Rep. Eric Burlison, a Republican from Missouri, shared the video at a House Oversight hearing on Tuesday on what the military calls “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” or better known as UFOs.
The video, dated Oct. 30, 2024, was provided by a whistleblower and when slowed down, the missile can be seen continuing on its own path after striking the orb.
A recent government report revealed that it had received more than 750 new UAP sightings between May 2023 and June 2024, leaving lawmakers digging into the mystery and national security concerns posed by the objects.
“We’ve never seen a Hellfire missile hit a target and bounce off,” said Lue Elizondo, a former senior intelligence official with the Pentagon.
“When a hellfire makes a hit, a kinetic strike on something solid, there’s usually not much left of whatever it is it’s hitting,” Elizondo said. “It’s very, very destructive. But in the video … what seems to happen is that the missile is either redirected, or in some case, perhaps glances off the object and continues on its way.”
What was not shown in the video is a second reaper drone that launched the missile.
Details remain unclear, including what the mission was.
The U.S. military was conducting regular air strikes against Houthi targets that posed a threat to the U.S. Navy and commercial vessels.
Pentagon officials told CBS News they have no comment.
The Defense Department in 2023 launched a website for declassified UAP information, following a House Oversight Committee held a hearing earlier that year that featured testimony from a former military intelligence officer and two former fighter pilots, who had first-hand experience with the mysterious objects.
