Incident · 30 October 2024 · Off the coast of Yemen
Yemen MQ-9 “Hellfire” orb video
Also known as Yemen orb, Hellfire orb, MQ-9 Hellfire video
At the House Oversight task force's hearing on 9 September 2025, Rep. Eric Burlison played a video he said he had been given. He described it as filmed on 30 October 2024 by an MQ-9 Reaper tracking an orb-like object off the coast of Yemen, while a second, unseen MQ-9 fired a Hellfire missile at it. In the clip a missile streaks in, appears to strike the object, and the object keeps moving.
Asked about it, the journalist George Knapp said he had heard of the event but had not had the footage, and described the missile as hitting the object and bouncing off; Burlison used the video to press his complaint that Congress is denied such material.
The video was not released or authenticated by the Pentagon or AARO, and nothing public establishes its source, the platform or what the object was. What happened in the frames rests on the descriptions given at the hearing.
Sources: Official hearing transcript CHRG-119hhrg61718 · House Oversight hearing video (9 September 2025)
Facts and claims
- documented At the House Oversight task-force hearing of 9 September 2025, Rep. Eric Burlison played a video he said he had been given, describing it as taken on 30 October 2024 and showing an MQ-9 drone tracking an orb off the coast of Yemen while another MQ-9 fired a Hellfire missile at it. — Eric Burlison Source: doc-transcript-2025-09-09.pdf
- claimed Journalist George Knapp, a witness at the hearing, said he had heard about the event before but had not had the video, and that the missile struck the object and "bounced right off". — George Knapp Source: Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection at 1:44:31
- unverified The clip entered the public record through a member of Congress; the Department of Defense and AARO have not released or authenticated it, and its origin and chain of custody are not public. Source: doc-transcript-2025-09-09.pdf
Connected files
People
- Eric Burlison (presented by)
- George Knapp (discussed by)
Hearings & briefings
- Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection (presented at) — Rep. Burlison played the video at the hearing
Videos
Mentioned in this file
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Organization)
- Department of War (Department of Defense) (Organization)
- Hearing transcript: Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection (Sept 9, 2025) (Document)
- All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (Program)