Episode overview

UAP Tranche 5: If You Think There’s Nothing Here, Look Again

The Richard Dolan Show · 8 August 2026 · 59m · 5 Egleze moments

What happened in this episode?

Richard Dolan reviews the White House’s fifth release of UAP-related files, arguing that—despite heavy redactions and missing technical data—the tranche contains material he considers more substantial than previous batches. He foregrounds a dated 8 September 2021 US Special Operations AC-130J case in the Gulf of Oman, citing an accompanying intelligence report that describes small “cold orbs” seen repeatedly during a mission, including an instance in which objects allegedly accelerated away as a crew member prepared to fire. Dolan also revisits older military reporting, including a 1964 Navy document he says describes radar and pilot encounters near Puerto Rico with speeds reported in the thousands of knots.

A large portion of the episode focuses on FBI files and reconstructions tied to witness interviews, including multiple triangular-object reports and a Bagram Air Base account from 2002 described by a former military pilot. Dolan treats the renderings as indicators of systematic documentation rather than proof, while emphasising recurring shapes and alleged optical or electromagnetic effects.

In a historical section, he highlights documents on Sweden’s 1946 “ghost rockets”, a 245-page Project Sign-era collection he says shows the Air Force privately treating some reports as unexplained and strategically sensitive, and a 1953 Navy memo he says assessed two UFO films and ruled out birds and common aircraft explanations. He closes by saying the tranche demonstrates continuity across decades without constituting definitive “disclosure”.

What are the key points?

Dolan says a Tranche 5 intelligence report describes ‘cold orbs’ seen from an AC-130J over the Gulf of Oman on 8 September 2021, including claimed reaction to imminent weapons fire.
He highlights a 1964 Navy case near Puerto Rico involving radar tracking and an attempted F-8 Crusader intercept, with speeds reported above 3,800 knots.
He says FBI interview material includes a former military pilot’s account of a large, dark triangular object over Bagram Air Base in June 2002, with a second witness and an FBI reconstruction.
He argues the FBI tranche indicates ongoing documentation of triangle-shaped UAP reports via interviews and official renderings.
He cites Project Sign-era files and quotes a 1948 memo attributed to Gen C. P. Cabell stating that some type of flying object had been observed, with internal consideration of non-domestic origins.
He says a 1953 Navy memo analysing two UFO films concluded the objects were light sources and ruled out birds, aircraft, and balloons.

Which topics are covered?

UFO & Paranormal

How is this page sourced?

Programme: The Richard Dolan Show
Published: 8 August 2026
Duration: 59m
Original episode: Open the original source ↗

Egleze verifies the speaker, source and timestamp for each linked moment. Unless a moment is explicitly marked independently verified, statements remain attributed claims by the named speaker rather than established facts.

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5 moments from this episode

Source-linked · editorially selected

UFO & Paranormal

Dolan says AC-130 crew reported ‘cold orbs’ reacting to cannon fire

at 5:23 · Attributed speaker claim

the gunner pulled the trigger on uh from the aircraft's 105 millimeter cannon and was about to shoot these things, these objects that he saw. Uh, and before the cannon actually fired, the two objects suddenly took off and they shot out of the sensor view.

Richard Dolan, reviewing the White House’s UAP “Tranche 5” release, describes a US Special Operations AC-130J gunship mission over the Gulf of Oman on 8 September 2021 in which an intelligence report says two “cold round objects” hovered above the water and then accelerated away as a crew member prepared to fire. He adds that the report describes about 25 separate sightings during the same mission, estimated speeds up to 1,300 mph, no visible propulsion, and a failure of the aircraft’s video recorder that left only phone-shot clips.

Read this moment → Check original at 5:23 ↗

UFO & Paranormal

Dolan recounts 1964 Navy report of object tracked at 3,800 knots

at 12:34 · Attributed speaker claim

it detected a high alitude object moving at more than 3,800 knots. That's more than 4,000 miles per hour. Um, so, uh, the the radar track lasted for 21 minutes according to this report.

Dolan highlights a Tranche 5 document dated 19 November 1964 that he says describes a USS destroyer tracking a high-altitude object near Puerto Rico at speeds reported above 3,800 knots for 21 minutes. He says the report includes an F-8 Crusader pilot attempting an intercept before the object accelerated away, then later approaching again from behind, and that CIA analysis in the document weighed and rejected explanations involving US classified aircraft and Soviet capability at the time.

Read this moment → Check original at 12:34 ↗

UFO & Paranormal

Dolan says FBI interviewed ex-U.S. military pilot about June 2002 Bagram ‘enormous equilateral triangular object’

at 23:21 · Attributed speaker claim

Actually, the interview was in March of 2024. The FBI interviewed a former U.S. military pilot. He described a very, very extraordinary encounter at Bagram, Afghanistan in June of 2002. This is right at the beginning of the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan. So it was about 4:30 in the morning.

Dolan says an FBI interview conducted in March 2024 involved a former U.S. military pilot describing a June 2002 sighting at Bagram, Afghanistan, around 4:30 a.m. He says the witness and another pilot saw stars progressively disappearing overhead and then an enormous, totally dark, unlit equilateral triangular object that the witness estimated at roughly 500 feet across, moving silently west to east at about 150 knots; he also says the second pilot saw it independently and immediately asked, “Did you see that?”

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UFO & Paranormal

Dolan points to 1948 Project Sign files weighing ‘vehicles from another planet’

at 47:42 · Attributed speaker claim

General um uh CP Cabel, Charles Perol Cabel wrote, quote, "The conclusion appears inescapable that some type of flying object has been observed."

Dolan calls a 245-page Project Sign collection in Tranche 5 one of the most important historical releases, saying it shows the US Air Force and Air Materiel Command privately treating UFO reports as a serious intelligence and defence issue in 1948. He quotes a memo attributed to Gen C. P. Cabell and says the material includes internal discussion of whether some reports could involve foreign technology and, explicitly, the possibility of “vehicles from another planet”, alongside recommendations for restrained public messaging.

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UFO & Paranormal

Dolan says 1953 Navy memo ruled out birds in two UFO film analyses

at 52:53 · Attributed speaker claim

these analysts concluded that these objects were probably light sources not reflections. It's kind of important because one of the debunking explanations of the Utah film in particular was that they were probably seagulls reflecting light.

Dolan cites a 1953 US Navy memorandum he says analysed two early-1950s UFO films (Montana 1950 and Utah 1952) using frame-by-frame photogrammetric and luminosity work at the Naval Photographic Interpretation Center. He says the memo’s analysts concluded the objects were likely light sources rather than reflections and that they specifically ruled out birds, aircraft, and balloons in their assessment, contrary to later sceptical explanations of the Utah footage.

Read this moment → Check original at 52:53 ↗