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Pentagon Releases 162 UFO Files — Orbs Spawning Orbs and Strange Apollo 17 Lights on the Moon — episode cover art
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162UFO""

Pentagon Releases 162 UFO Files — Orbs Spawning Orbs and Strange Apollo 17 Lights on the Moon

About this story

Pentagon releases 162 UFO files on war.gov — orbs spawning orbs, strange Apollo 17 lights on the moon, and what's inside. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.

This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 8 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 18 key vocabulary words such as 档案、公开、透明 and walks through 7 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.

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原文

Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.

我们今天一个最近大家都在说的
五月美国政府放出一批 UFO 档案
听到 UFO 可能想到电影
但是这次真的美国政府自己公开
一百六十二份里面照片视频报告
放在一个网站都可以
我们今天一下里面什么为什么重要还有告诉我们什么
一下背景
"UFO"英文 Unidentified Flying Object中文一般"不明飞行"
就是天上一个东西看见但是不知道它是什么
不是飞机不是不是什么都不是
这种很久以前就有看到
而且看到不只是普通老百姓
也有警察军人飞行甚至宇航
听起来不太但是这次档案都是来自这些"专业"
所以特别想看
这次美国政府做了一个网站网址 war.gov/ufo
他们我们"最高透明度"档案大家
什么"透明"
透明就是清楚没有秘密
一次他们一下子放了一百六十二份之后更多
就像洋葱一层一层打开
那里面有什么有意思故事
我们
一个故事""2023
美国西边几个七个联邦警察他们都是政府工作
他们看到天上一些不是一个是好几个
橘色
但是奇怪的是这些""
怎么
一个橘色忽然变成几个红色
出来就像母鸡生蛋但是是在空中
他们看见一个发光那里不动
看见一个风筝一样"半透明"东西
"半透明"什么意思
就是看穿但是又能看到形状
个人看到他们报告
报告"我们看到东西看起来不是普通东西我们看不出什么
美国政府 UFO 办公这个故事他们目前有意思之一
为什么
因为因为这些不会乱说因为他们看到东西真的不像普通东西
第二个故事2025
一架一架直升机他们一起
他们一种特别相机"成像"就是东西相机天黑时候也能
他们这种相机看到一个那个非常非常"超级"
然后奇怪事情发生那个突然加速飞得很快
然后""一声成了成了
都是椭圆都是橘色中间发黄
飞行都很吃惊他们"从来没见过这种东西
第三个故事最让意外
知道五十年前美国人去月亮
那个时候"阿波罗计划"不是动画片里真的
火箭飞了三天到了月亮然后走在上面
他们月亮石头现在博物还有
但是一次档案告诉我们时候宇航看天时候看到很多奇怪
比如阿波罗17他们"窗户外边很多东西
还说"我们眼睛适应黑暗开始看到很多闪光
他们那些看起来不是错觉真的"东西"
听到这个我也觉得有点
你想一个月亮然后看到一些不知道什么东西
那个画面电影还有意思
这些东西到底是不是外星人
觉得大家最想
但是政府回答非常清楚他们"我们不知道"
真的不知道
他们"我们没有证据外星人也没有证据不是
"我们很多但是不出来
所以这些档案"案例"解开
意思我们看到我们记下来但是我们说不清楚什么
这次什么新的看法
其实没有
他们以前公开东西公开
答案还是以前一样"我们不知道
听起来有点没有答案
但是想想看其实也是一种答案就是"这个世界我们复杂
我们普通应该怎么
觉得几个建议
第一不要害怕
就算这些东西真的存在它们已经很多年前看到
我们一直好好活着日子一直在
所以不用紧张
第二不要相信网上视频
现在网上很多假的UFO视频的是电脑做的的是无人的是
这次政府出来真正"专业"看到网上一样
第三可以保持好奇
"好奇"就是知道
我们生活一个有意思时代电脑越来越聪明火箭越来越
但是有些东西我们还是不知道
这种"不知道"其实生活有意思
最后我们一想告诉我们什么
觉得有三
第一世界很大天空很大还有很多事情我们不知道
第二政府终于愿意公开
一个进步以前新闻现在政府自己出来
透明一件好事
第三"不知道"也是一种知识
真正聪明不是什么知道而是知道哪些自己知道哪些自己不知道
五角大楼这次回答其实就是这种态度
以下一次抬头天空如果看到一个奇怪东西不用着急不用害怕也不马上"外星人"
可以一想也许这个东西明天出现政府网站
也许几十年
但是一点肯定不是一个
全世界也在一起抬头天空
English transcript reference

Today we're talking about something everyone is discussing lately.

On May 8, the US government released a batch of UFO files.

When you hear "UFO," you probably think of movies.

But this time it's real — released by the US government itself.

There are 162 files, including photos, videos, and reports.

All on a website that anyone can see.

Today we'll talk about what's inside, why it matters, and what it tells us.

First, some background.

"UFO" is English for Unidentified Flying Object — in Chinese it's usually called 不明飞行物.

That is: there's something in the sky, you saw it, but you don't know what it is.

Not a plane, not a bird, not a cloud — none of those.

This kind of thing has been seen for a very long time.

And the people who saw them aren't just ordinary citizens.

There are also police, military, pilots, even astronauts.

It sounds unreliable, but this batch of files is from these "professionals."

That's why people especially want to look.

This time the US government made a new website at war.gov/ufo.

They said: we want "maximum transparency" and to show the files to everyone.

What is "transparency"?

Transparency means clear, no secrets.

This time, they released 162 files at once, and more will come.

Like peeling an onion, opening one layer at a time.

What interesting stories are inside?

We'll cover three.

The first story is called "orbs spawning orbs," from 2023.

In several western US states, seven federal officers — all government workers — saw something in the sky.

They saw orbs — not one, several.

Orange orbs.

But strangely, these orbs would "spawn" smaller orbs.

How do they spawn?

A big orange orb suddenly became a big one plus several small red ones.

The small ones flew out of the big one, like a hen laying eggs — but in the sky.

They also saw a big glowing orb hovering in place, motionless.

And something like a "kite" that was "translucent."

What does "translucent" mean?

It means you can see through it but still see its shape.

All seven officers saw it, drew it, and wrote reports.

The reports said: "What we saw doesn't look like an ordinary thing — we can't tell what it is."

The US government's UFO office said: this story is among the most interesting they currently have.

Why?

Because there were many witnesses, because these people don't make things up, because what they saw really doesn't look like ordinary things.

The second story is from 2025.

A military jet and a helicopter were flying together.

They were using a special camera called "thermal imaging" — a camera that sees how hot things are; it works in the dark too.

With this camera, they saw an orb — a "super hot" one.

Then something strange happened: the orb suddenly accelerated and flew very fast.

Then with a "crack," it split into two, and then into four or five.

All oval-shaped, all orange, with white-yellow centers.

The pilots were stunned, and they said: "I've never seen anything like this."

The third story is the most surprising.

You know that over fifty years ago the US sent people to the moon, right?

Back then it was called "the Apollo program" — not the cartoon, the real one.

People rode rockets for three days to the moon, then walked on it.

They brought back moon rocks, which are still in museums today.

But this batch of files tells us: at that time, when the astronauts looked at the sky, they also saw lots of strange lights.

For example, the Apollo 17 crew said: "Wow, there are a lot of bright things outside my window."

They also said: "Once our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we started seeing lots of flashes."

They said those lights didn't look like illusions — there really was "something" there.

Hearing that, I felt a little chill too.

Imagine a person on the moon, seeing things they can't identify.

That image is more interesting than any movie.

So are these things aliens?

I think this is what everyone most wants to ask.

But the government's answer is very clear: they say "we don't know."

Really, they don't know.

They say: "We have no evidence they're aliens, and no evidence they aren't."

"We've checked many times, but we can't figure it out."

So these files are called "unresolved cases" — not solved.

Meaning: we saw it, we recorded it, but we can't say what it is.

So is there any new finding this time?

Actually no.

They've simply released what wasn't public before.

The answer is the same as before: "we don't know either."

That sounds like there's no answer.

But think about it — that itself is also an answer: "this world is more complicated than we thought."

So how should ordinary people view this?

I have a few suggestions.

First, don't be too afraid.

Even if these things really exist, they've been seen for many years already.

We've been living our lives, life keeps going.

So no need to be tense.

Second, don't trust UFO videos online too much.

There are many fake UFO videos online — some are made on a computer, some are drones, some are clouds.

What the government released this time was seen by real "professionals" — different from what's online.

Third, you can stay curious.

"Curious" means wanting to know, wanting to ask.

We live in a very interesting time — computers are smarter, rockets are stronger.

But there are still things we don't know.

That kind of "not knowing" actually makes life more interesting.

Finally, let's think — what does this tell us?

I think there are three things.

First, the world is big, the sky is big, and there are still many things we don't know.

Second, the government is finally willing to be open.

This is progress — it used to depend on news leaks; now the government tells us itself.

Transparency is a good thing.

Third, "not knowing" is also a form of knowledge.

Truly smart people don't know everything; they know what they know and what they don't.

The Pentagon's answer this time is exactly that kind of attitude.

So next time you look up at the sky, if you see a strange bright thing, don't panic, don't be afraid, and don't immediately say "it's aliens."

You can think: maybe that thing will appear on the government's website tomorrow.

Maybe we'll wait decades.

But one thing is certain — you're not the only one watching.

People all over the world are also looking up at the sky with you.

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.

What vocabulary does this episode teach?

词汇
dàng'ànfiles; archive

HSK 6. 档 (file) + 案 (case). The 162 official UFO files released.

gōngkāito make public; open

HSK 5. 公开档案 = release files publicly. Verb and adjective.

tòumíngtransparent; transparency

HSK 5. Glossed inline as '清楚,没有秘密'. The political slogan of this release.

rènzhēnserious; conscientious

HSK 4. 这些人不会乱说 — they're 认真.

zhèngjùevidence

HSK 5. 没有证据 = no evidence. Central to Pentagon's framing.

yǔhángyuánastronaut

HSK 6. The Apollo crews who reported strange lights.

hàoqícurious; curiosity

HSK 5. 保持好奇 = stay curious. The episode's recommended attitude.

jìnbùprogress; to improve

HSK 4. 这是一个进步 = this is progress.

tàidùattitude

HSK 4. 这种态度 = this attitude. Used in the episode's editorial close.

cōngmíngsmart

HSK 3. 真正聪明的人 = truly smart people. Used in the closing reflection.

qiú shēng qiúorbs spawning orbs (literal)

Specialist coinage for this episode. 球 (orb) + 生 (give birth/produce) + 球 (orb). Direct translation of the Pentagon's '浪举集体事件'.

júsèorange (color)

HSK 5. 橘 (tangerine) + 色 (color). The signature color of the orbs.

xuántíngto hover

HSK 6+. 悬 (suspended) + 停 (stop). The big stationary orb seen by the officers.

bàn tòumíngtranslucent; semi-transparent

HSK 6. 半 (half) + 透明 (transparent). Glossed inline.

rè chéngxiàngthermal imaging

Specialist. 热 (heat) + 成像 (imaging). The technology used in the 2025 case.

tuǒyuán xíngoval; ellipse-shaped

Specialist. 椭 (oblong) + 圆 (round) + 形 (shape). The shape of the orbs.

wàixīngrénalien; extraterrestrial

Beyond. The big question of UFO discourse.

wèijiě de àn'lìunresolved case

Specialist. 未解 (unresolved) + 案例 (case). The Pentagon's official label for these files.

* beyond level超纲词

What grammar patterns appear in this episode?

语法
X 也就是说 / 也就是 Y

'That is to say.' Used to restate or clarify in expository register.

也就是说:一个橘色的大球,忽然变成大球加几个红色的小球。

也就是说,一半是真的政策,一半是政治表演。

X 不是 ... 是 ...

Corrective: 'not A, but B.' Used for emphasis.

这次不是电影,是真的。

不是动画片里的,是真的。

X 决定 / 终于 + Verb

'X decides / finally does Y.' Modal of resolve / long-awaited action.

政府终于愿意公开了。

美国政府决定:"我们把这些东西,给大家看吧。"

X 听起来 ...,但是其实 ...

Hedge frame: 'sounds like X, but actually Y.' Sets up a reveal.

听起来不太靠谱,但是这次的档案,都是来自这些"专业人"。

听起来有点像没有答案。但是想想看,这其实也是一种答案。

X 把 + Object + Verb + Result

Disposal construction.

美国政府决定:"我们把这些东西,给大家看吧。"

他们是把以前不公开的东西公开了。

X 不只是 ...,还 ...

'Not only X, also Y.' Adds parallel points.

看到的人,不只是普通老百姓。也有警察,有军人,有飞行员,甚至有宇航员。

我们的电脑越来越聪明,火箭越来越强,但是有些东西,我们还是不知道。

X 越来越 + Adj

'More and more X.' Describes a trend.

电脑越来越聪明。

火箭越来越强。

Proper Nouns

专有名词
五角大楼Wǔjiǎo Dàlóuthe Pentagon (literally 'five-cornered building')美国Měiguóthe United StatesUFOUFOUFO (unidentified flying object)war.govwar.govwar.gov (the US Department of War's official domain)阿波罗ĀbōluóApollo (the US lunar program)阿波罗17号Ābōluó ShíqīhàoApollo 17 (the final Apollo crewed lunar mission, 1972)FBIFBIFBI (US Federal Bureau of Investigation)日本RìběnJapan

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