A bizarre jellyfish-shaped object spotted hovering near a US military base in Alaska has sparked online speculation, with viewers debating whether it could be an unidentified flying object (UFO) or something far more ordinary.
The footage was recorded by Sara Jane Osborn on June 15 at around 10pm in Anchorage. She told the Daily Mail that she and her husband, Pete, had been photographing a rainbow when the strange object appeared in the sky.
The dark object appeared to have several tentacle-like structures dangling beneath it as it floated above a forest near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), a military installation that houses F-22 Raptor fighter jets and other aircraft.
Osborn claimed the object remained visible for about three minutes before suddenly disappearing.
“It disappeared almost as quickly as it came,” she said.
She also pointed out that a small aircraft passed nearby during the sighting, appearing tiny in comparison with the mysterious object.
Osborn said she attempted to determine whether it was a kite by looking for anyone who might have been operating one in the area, but was unable to find an explanation.
The video has since triggered a debate among social media users, with several offering possible explanations.
One suggested it could have been an insect caught on a spider’s web close to the camera lens, creating the illusion of a much larger object in the distance.
Another speculated that it might be a giant black octopus-shaped kite, while others simply questioned whether it was a kite.
No explanation has been confirmed, and authorities in Alaska have yet to comment on the sighting.
The incident has drawn comparisons with another jellyfish-like object reportedly spotted over a US military base in Iraq in 2018.
Footage of that incident was released by filmmaker Jeremy Corbell in 2024, showing a large, dark object floating above a military installation with three leg-like structures hanging beneath it.
Former US Marine Michael Cincoski later told NewsNation that there had been several sightings of the mysterious object in Iraq.
He described it as something that became a ghost story among personnel stationed at the base, adding that it did not appear to pose a threat.
“It kind of just ended up being like the ghost story of the base. It didn’t seem to be posturing to threaten us at all,” he said.
Cincoski said some Marines had reportedly been tasked with finding the object and keeping watch over it, although they were not placed on defensive alert.
Asked whether he believed it could have been an alien aircraft, he said the possibility had crossed his mind because the explanations they had considered did not fully account for what they saw.
