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Pentagon Releases 162 UFO Files — episode cover art
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五角大楼终于打开了UFO档案:但答案是"我们也不知道"

Pentagon Releases 162 UFO Files

About this story

Pentagon's PURSUE program declassifies 162 UAP files — AARO, orbs launching orbs, Apollo 17 lunar lights. HSK 5-6 Chinese listening practice.

This is an HSK 5-6 Chinese listening episode that runs about 9 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 20 key vocabulary words such as 档案、解密、归档 and walks through 8 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.

今天我们聊一个新闻——5月8日,美国五角大楼一口气放出了162份关于UFO的档案。
没错,UFO,不明飞行物——那个我们小时候在课本边角偷偷写的、电影里被描绘了无数次的东西。
但这次不是电影、不是地下出版物、不是网友拍的模糊视频。
是美国政府自己公开的,文档加照片加视频,一共162份,挂在一个叫war.gov/ufo的官方网站上,谁都能看。
这件事听起来像玩笑,但其实是一次相当严肃的政策动作。
我们今天就聊一聊——里面到底有什么?
为什么是现在?
以及最关键的:这一切到底意味着什么?
先说背景。
美国处理UFO问题的官方机构,叫"全域异常处置办公室",英文缩写AARO,归五角大楼管。
他们的工作,就是把军方、警察、情报系统报上来的"奇怪空中物体"案例,全部收集、调查、归档。
过去这些档案大多是内部文件,外界看不到。
今年,特朗普政府推动了一个新项目,叫PURSUE,全名是"总统授权的UAP案例解密与上报系统"。
这次5月8日的162份档案,就是PURSUE的第一批"开闸放水",之后还会有更多。
他们的官方说法是,这些都是"未解之谜"——也就是说,政府查了,但查不出来。
所以放给公众看,让全世界一起决定,按特朗普自己的话说,"到底他妈的发生了什么"。
这种公开方式本身,就足够有意思。
我们再聊里面的内容。
档案里有几个特别让人记得住的故事。
第一个,是2023年的"球生球"事件。
事情发生在美国西部,跨了好几个州,时间大约是两天。
七名联邦执法人员各自独立报告,看见了一种之前从没见过的现象——天上漂着橘色的发光球体,而这些球体会"生"出更小的红色光球。
报告里有一句话很关键,叫"orange orbs releasing smaller red orbs"。
除了球生球,还有一个巨大的、悬停在空中的发光体,以及一个像"半透明风筝"的东西。
更扎实的是,FBI还做了一份合成画像——画的是一个青铜色的椭球形物体,估计长度在40到60米之间,比一栋楼还大。
AARO在评估里写道,这个案例是"目前他们手里最有说服力的案例之一"。
注意他们的措辞——"最有说服力之一",不是"最有说服力"——他们仍然没有说这是外星飞船。
他们只是说:这个故事的目击者多、证人专业、现象异常,足够"值得继续看"。
第二个故事,是2025年的"热成像"事件,具体地点被涂黑了。
当时一架军机和一架直升机在协同飞行,他们用红外热成像,看到了一个"超级热"的椭球状光球。
这个东西突然加速,然后"咔"一声分裂成两个,紧接着又变成了四到五个。
都是椭圆形,橘色,中间偏白偏黄。
机组人员的描述非常技术性,没什么花哨语言。
但你想象一下那个画面——夜里,高空,几个会分裂的发光球,热到把红外屏幕烧成一片亮斑。
这种事情,听起来比任何科幻片都要奇怪。
第三个,是这次档案里最让人头皮发麻的部分——阿波罗登月的录音。
是的,五十多年前美国把人送上月球的那个阿波罗计划。
档案里包含了阿波罗17号的对讲录音转录,里面有这样的对话:
"哇,我窗户外面有一大群亮的——非常亮。
"我们眼睛适应黑暗以后,几乎一直能看到闪光。
其中一名机组成员特别强调:"这些闪光,我感觉是真实存在的物体,而不是单纯的视觉错觉。
你想想看——人在月球轨道,看到他不认识的发光体,还坚持说"这不是错觉"。
NASA一直对类似说法保持低调,现在,这段对话被五角大楼正式归档、正式公开。
这种规格的"承认",是过去六十年从来没有过的。
此外,档案里还有:最清晰的一张UFO照片,是在日本上空拍到的;最清晰的一段视频,是2024年印太司令部用红外拍下的一个发光球,黑白、有颗粒感,
但飞行轨迹明显违反常识。
所以我们再回到那个最大的问题——这是外星人吗?
五角大楼的回答非常克制:到目前为止,没有任何评估能够得出"这是地外生命"的结论。
他们没说"是",也没说"不是"——他们说的是:"我们看到了不能解释的现象。
这种态度,其实就是这次公开最值得品味的地方。
它和过去几十年的"完全否认"模式完全不一样了。
过去,问UFO,得到的是"无可奉告";现在,问UFO,得到的是"我们也想知道"。
这种立场转变,不一定意味着外星人真的来了。
它意味着的是:美国政府终于决定,与其继续保密、被人怀疑,还不如把不确定的东西也摊开来说。
那为什么是现在?
我觉得有三个原因,一起在起作用。
第一,是国会的压力。
过去几年,美国国会做过好几次UFO听证会,有前情报官员、前飞行员、前承包商出来作证,说政府还藏着没公开的东西。
公众和议员都开始不满,公开档案是政府对压力的一种回应。
第二,是技术的进步。
现在的传感器、红外相机、卫星、AI 图像分析,比二十年前强太多。
以前看不清楚的,今天能看清楚一部分;五角大楼也越来越敢说:"我们看到了真东西,只是还不知道是什么。
第三,是一种政治姿态。
特朗普这一届非常喜欢用"完全透明"这种语言,PURSUE 这个项目本身名字很招摇,发布形式也很戏剧化——网站、推特、配图、配视频。
也就是说,公开档案这件事,一半是真的政策,一半是政治表演——两者并不矛盾。
作为听众,我们可以同时看到这两层。
最后我们想一想,这次公开,对普通人到底意味着什么?
我觉得至少有三件事值得记。
第一,"不知道"也是一种结论。
长期以来我们假设,世界上的事,迟早都能被解释清楚。
但是这162份档案告诉我们:有一些现象,连最厉害的国家、最先进的传感器,都暂时没有答案。
"暂时没有答案",本身就是一个重要的事实。
第二,专业目击者非常重要。
这次的故事都不是路边大爷拍的视频,是联邦警察、军方飞行员、宇航员的报告。
他们的训练、他们的职责,让他们的话比普通爆料要重得多。
所以下一次你看到网上的"UFO视频",可以问一句:是谁看到的?
是怎么看到的?
是用什么设备看到的?
这个问题,比"它是不是外星人"更有用。
第三,公开本身,是社会成熟的表现。
真的成熟,不是嘴上说"我什么都知道",而是敢于说"这件事我们也搞不清楚"。
五角大楼的态度有点像:"来吧,看看吧,你也加入研究。
这种姿态,比过去那种"国家秘密、不许问"的姿态健康得多。
所以下一次你抬头看天,看见一个不太对劲的亮点,不用立刻喊"外星人",也不用立刻骂自己眼花。
你可以静下来想一想:也许那是一个未来会被归档进PURSUE的小案例,也许那只是一架奇怪的无人机,也许那只是云加上一点反光。
但无论是哪种,你都已经站在了一个很特别的时间点——人类终于愿意承认,自己头顶的天空,还藏着我们读不懂的东西。
而且第一次,官方愿意把这一切,慢慢地,摊给我们看。
这就够了。
English transcript reference

Today we're talking about a piece of news — on May 8, the Pentagon released 162 UFO files all at once.

Yes, UFOs, unidentified flying objects — the things we used to scribble in the margins of our schoolbooks, the things countless movies have depicted.

But this isn't a movie, isn't an underground publication, isn't a blurry video shot by some random user online.

This is the US government itself releasing them — documents plus photos plus videos, 162 in total, hosted on an official site called war.gov/ufo, free for anyone to see.

This sounds like a joke, but it's actually a fairly serious policy action.

We'll talk today about — what's actually inside?

Why now?

And most critically: what does all this really mean?

First, some background.

The official US agency handling UFO matters is called the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office — AARO for short — under the Pentagon.

Their job is to collect, investigate, and archive every "strange aerial object" case reported by the military, police, and intelligence systems.

In the past, these files were mostly internal documents, invisible to outsiders.

This year, the Trump administration pushed a new program called PURSUE — full name: the Presidential Unsealings and Reporting System for UAP Encounters.

The 162 files released on May 8 are PURSUE's first "opening of the floodgates," with more to come.

The official line is that these are all "unsolved mysteries" — meaning the government investigated, but couldn't figure them out.

So they release them to the public, letting the world decide together — in Trump's own words, "what the hell is going on."

This style of disclosure itself is interesting enough.

Now let's talk about what's inside.

There are several stories in the files that really stick.

The first is the 2023 "orbs spawning orbs" case.

It happened across several western US states, over roughly two days.

Seven federal law enforcement officers, each independently, reported a phenomenon they had never seen before — orange glowing orbs floating in the sky, "spawning" smaller red orbs.

A key phrase in the report was "orange orbs releasing smaller red orbs."

Beyond that, there was a huge glowing object hovering motionless in the air, and a "translucent kite"-like object.

More concretely, the FBI even produced a composite sketch — depicting a bronze ellipsoid object, estimated 40 to 60 meters long, bigger than a building.

AARO wrote in its assessment that this case is "among the most compelling currently in their holdings."

Notice their wording — "among the most compelling," not "the most compelling" — they still aren't saying this was an alien craft.

They're only saying: this case has many witnesses, the witnesses are professional, the phenomena are anomalous — enough to be "worth keeping an eye on."

The second story is the 2025 "thermal imaging" case — exact location redacted.

At the time, a military jet and a helicopter were flying together, and using infrared thermal imaging, they saw a "super hot" ellipsoid orb.

This object suddenly accelerated, then with a "snap" split into two, and immediately after, into four or five.

All ellipsoid, orange, with white-yellow centers.

The crew's description was very technical, no flowery language.

But imagine the scene — at night, at altitude, several orbs that split apart, hot enough to burn the infrared screen into a sheet of brightness.

That kind of thing sounds stranger than any sci-fi film.

The third part is the most spine-tingling section of the release — the Apollo lunar mission audio.

Yes, the Apollo program that put humans on the moon over fifty years ago.

The files include the Apollo 17 voice transcript, with this exchange:

"Wow, there's a whole bunch of bright ones outside my window — really bright."

"Once our eyes adjusted to darkness, we had light flashes basically continuously."

One crew member specifically emphasized: "These flashes — I believe they correspond to physical objects, not purely optical phenomena."

Just think about it — a person in lunar orbit, seeing glowing things he can't identify, and insisting "this isn't an illusion."

NASA has long stayed quiet about claims like this; now, this exchange is being formally archived and formally released by the Pentagon.

This level of "acknowledgment" is something the past sixty years had never seen.

Beyond that, the files also include: the clearest UFO photo ever, captured over Japan; and the clearest video, an infrared recording from 2024 by Indo-Pacific Command of a glowing orb — black and white, grainy,

but with a flight path that clearly violates common sense.

So let's return to the biggest question — are these aliens?

The Pentagon's answer is very restrained: to date, no assessment has been able to conclude that "this is extraterrestrial life."

They didn't say "yes" and they didn't say "no" — what they said is: "We've observed phenomena we can't explain."

This attitude is actually the most worth-tasting part of this release.

It's completely different from the "total denial" mode of the past several decades.

Before, ask about UFOs and you'd get "no comment"; now, ask about UFOs and you get "we'd like to know too."

This kind of position shift doesn't necessarily mean aliens have actually come.

What it means is: the US government has finally decided that, instead of continuing to keep secrets and be doubted, it's better to lay the uncertainty out in the open.

So why now?

I think three reasons are operating together.

First, congressional pressure.

Over the past few years, the US Congress has held several UFO hearings, with former intelligence officers, former pilots, and former contractors testifying that the government is still hiding things.

The public and lawmakers grew dissatisfied; releasing files is the government's response to that pressure.

Second, technological progress.

Today's sensors, infrared cameras, satellites, and AI image analysis are much stronger than twenty years ago.

What was unclear in the past is now partly clearer; the Pentagon is increasingly willing to say: "We saw real things — we just don't know what they are."

Third, it's a political posture.

The Trump administration likes to use "complete transparency" as language; the PURSUE program itself has a flashy name, and the release format is highly dramatic — website, Twitter, images, videos.

In other words, releasing files this time is half real policy, half political theater — and the two aren't contradictory.

As listeners, we can see both layers at once.

Finally, let's think — what does this disclosure really mean for ordinary people?

I think there are at least three things worth remembering.

First, "we don't know" is also a conclusion.

For a long time, we've assumed that things in the world can eventually be explained.

But these 162 files tell us: some phenomena, even for the most powerful nation with the most advanced sensors, currently have no answer.

"Currently no answer" is itself an important fact.

Second, professional witnesses matter.

The stories this time aren't roadside-uncle videos — they're reports from federal officers, military pilots, and astronauts.

Their training and their responsibilities make their words far weightier than typical leaks.

So the next time you see a "UFO video" online, you can ask: who saw it?

How did they see it?

With what equipment did they see it?

That question is more useful than "is this an alien?"

Third, disclosure itself is a sign of social maturity.

True maturity isn't saying "I know everything"; it's daring to say "we can't figure this one out either."

The Pentagon's attitude is a bit like: "Come on, take a look, you join the research too."

That posture is much healthier than the old "state secret, don't ask" stance.

So next time you look up at the sky and see an off-looking bright spot, don't immediately yell "aliens," and don't immediately blame your eyes.

You can quietly think: maybe this is a small case that will be archived into PURSUE in the future; maybe it's just a strange drone; maybe it's just a cloud with some reflection.

But whichever it is, you've already stood at a very special point in time — humanity has finally been willing to admit that the sky above our heads still hides things we can't read.

And for the first time, officials are willing to lay all of this, slowly, out for us to see.

That's enough.

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.

What vocabulary does this episode teach?

词汇
dàng'ànfiles; archives

HSK 6. The 162 official files released — keyword of the episode.

jiěmìto declassify; to decrypt

HSK 6. 解 (resolve) + 密 (secret). The verb at the heart of the PURSUE program.

guīdàngto file; to archive officially

HSK 6+. 归 (return/place) + 档 (file). 正式归档 = officially archived.

mùjī zhěwitness

HSK 6. 目 (eye) + 击 (strike) + 者 (-er). Specifically eyewitnesses to events.

kèzhìrestrained; self-restraint

HSK 6. 五角大楼的回答非常克制 = the Pentagon's answer is very restrained.

lìchǎngstance; position

HSK 6. 这种立场转变 = this kind of stance shift.

zītàiposture; pose; stance

HSK 6. 政治姿态 = political posture. Often used for performative positioning.

jiélùnconclusion

HSK 5. 不是结论 = not a conclusion. Used in the editorial close.

chéngshúmature; maturity

HSK 4. 社会成熟的表现 = a sign of social maturity.

bù quèdìnguncertain; uncertainty

HSK 5. 不确定的东西 = things that are uncertain. Central to the episode's argument.

yìchánganomalous; abnormal

HSK 6. 异 (different) + 常 (normal). 'Anomaly' — the A in AARO and PURSUE.

liánbāngfederal

HSK 6+. 联邦执法人员 = federal law enforcement officers. Specific to US/German political vocabulary.

héchéng huàxiàngcomposite sketch (forensic)

Specialist (forensic). 合成 (composite) + 画像 (portrait). The FBI's bronze ellipsoid sketch.

tuǒqiú xíngellipsoid (3D oval shape)

Specialist (geometry). 椭 (oblong) + 球 (sphere) + 形 (shape). The shape from the FBI sketch.

hóngwàiinfrared

Specialist. 红 (red) + 外 (outside, beyond). Refers to the heat-imaging technology used in the 2025 case.

chuán'gǎnqìsensor

HSK 6+. 传感 (transmit-sense) + 器 (instrument). Used in the 'why now' argument about technology.

tīngzhèng huìhearing (legal/legislative)

Specialist. 听 (listen) + 证 (testify) + 会 (meeting). The Congressional UFO hearings that built pressure.

chéngbāo shāngcontractor

HSK 6+. 承包 (contract) + 商 (merchant). The defense contractors who testified about hidden programs.

bǎomìto keep secret; classified

HSK 5. 国家秘密、不许问 — the old posture of 保密.

dìwài shēngmìngextraterrestrial life

Specialist. 地 (earth) + 外 (outside) + 生命 (life). The formal scientific term used by the Pentagon.

* beyond level超纲词

What grammar patterns appear in this episode?

语法

X 不是 ... 而是 Y

Corrective: 'not X, but rather Y.' Heavy in argumentative prose.

他们没说"是",也没说"不是"——他们说的是:"我们看到了不能解释的现象。"

真的成熟,不是嘴上说"我什么都知道",而是敢于说"这件事我们也搞不清楚"。

也就是说,公开档案这件事,一半是真的政策,一半是政治表演。

X 与其 ...,不如 ...

'Rather than X, better Y.' Used to argue for one option over another.

美国政府终于决定,与其继续保密、被人怀疑,还不如把不确定的东西也摊开来说。

X 也就是说 ...

Apposition: 'that is to say' — used for restating or clarifying.

也就是说,这些都是"未解之谜"——也就是说,政府查了,但查不出来。

也就是说,公开档案这件事,一半是真的政策,一半是政治表演。

X 就是 ... 的地方 / 时刻

'X is precisely the place / moment of Y.' Used to mark the heart of an argument.

这种态度,其实就是这次公开最值得品味的地方。

你都已经站在了一个很特别的时间点。

X 把 + Object + Verb + Result (disposal)

Disposal construction with explicit result.

美国政府终于决定,与其继续保密,还不如把不确定的东西也摊开来说。

他们是把以前不公开的东西公开了。

官方愿意把这一切,慢慢地,摊给我们看。

X 的措辞 / 立场 / 姿态 ...

Editorial register: 'X's wording / position / posture is ...' Common in op-ed analysis.

注意他们的措辞——"最有说服力之一",不是"最有说服力"。

这种立场转变,不一定意味着外星人真的来了。

这种姿态,比过去那种"国家秘密、不许问"的姿态健康得多。

X 一半是 ... 一半是 ...

'Half X, half Y.' Used to argue that two interpretations coexist.

公开档案这件事,一半是真的政策,一半是政治表演——两者并不矛盾。

X 即便 / 就算 ... 也 ...

Concessive: 'even if X, still Y.'

就算政府放出来,也不代表答案出来了。

无论是哪种,你都已经站在了一个很特别的时间点。

Proper nouns

专有名词
五角大楼Wǔjiǎo Dàlóuthe Pentagon美国Měiguóthe United StatesUFOUFOUFO (unidentified flying object)UAPUAPUAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena — the Pentagon's preferred term)AAROAAROAARO (the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office)PURSUEPURSUEPURSUE (Presidential Unsealings and Reporting System for UAP Encounters)war.govwar.govwar.gov (the US Department of War's official domain)国会GuóhuìCongress (US legislature)特朗普TèlǎngpǔDonald TrumpFBIFBIFBI (US Federal Bureau of Investigation)NASANASANASA (US National Aeronautics and Space Administration)阿波罗ĀbōluóApollo (the US lunar program)阿波罗17号Ābōluó ShíqīhàoApollo 17 (the final Apollo crewed lunar mission, 1972)印太司令部Yìn Tài SīlìngbùIndo-Pacific Command (US military regional command)日本RìběnJapan

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