It’s getting a little strange out there. A mysterious triangular aircraft—described by its observer as resembling the shape of a Dorito chip—was reportedly captured on video flying over restricted airspace near Area 51 in southern Nevada during the early morning hours of January 14, 2026.
The footage was recorded around 3 a.m. by Anders Otteson, an off-grid videographer who operates the YouTube channel Uncanny Expeditions, while he was exploring desert terrain surrounding the highly classified military installation. According to Otteson, the object displayed an equilateral triangular configuration that differed noticeably from the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber—an aircraft he had filmed earlier the same night, reports The New York Post.
The B-2 Spirit, a known U.S. Air Force bomber with a distinctive flying-wing design, served as Otteson’s primary point of comparison. He observed that the aircraft seen later featured a flatter trailing edge, lacked clearly defined wings, and appeared jagged at the rear—details that set it apart from the B-2’s profile. Still, Otteson acknowledged that the limited resolution of the footage left open the possibility that the object could be a conventional military aircraft or a variant undergoing testing.
“Are we looking at a classified test flight or run-of-the-mill training sortie?” Otteson questioned in his analysis. “I certainly think we have something interesting here.”
Newly released infrared footage dated January 14 has captured an unidentified, triangular-shaped aircraft flying over Area 51 and the Nevada Test and Training Range.
The footage was filmed by videographer and explorer Anders Otteson, creator of the Uncanny Expeditions YouTube… pic.twitter.com/TMQgCV4rIw
— Aviation Mafia (@AviationMafiaX) January 22, 2026
Otteson also drew parallels to earlier sightings, including photographs taken in 2014 in Wichita, Kansas, and Amarillo, Texas, that appeared to show an unrecognized triangular aircraft. He noted that more recent reports of similar “Dorito-shaped” objects over remote desert areas in Southern California suggested a possible pattern in such observations.
The following day, January 15, Otteson connected with UFO researcher Joerg Arnu, who shared audio recordings captured from air-traffic scanners operating around Area 51. The clips, allegedly recorded during a B-2 flight hours before the triangular sighting, included unusual snack-related phrases exchanged by pilots, such as “profile Michelob,” “Imperial with garlic,” “pretzel snack,” and “fridge hydrate.”
Arnu described the radio chatter as “different than anything” he had encountered in decades of monitoring the frequencies. Otteson noted, however, that the phrases could represent standard military jargon or coded communications rather than anything out of the ordinary.
Area 51—long shrouded in secrecy and central to UFO folklore—was not officially acknowledged by the U.S. government until 2013, and it continues to fuel speculation about advanced aviation projects conducted far from public view.
According to data from the National UFO Reporting Center, Nevada recorded more than 40 reports of triangular unidentified aerial phenomena in 2025 alone, adding to the intrigue surrounding the January sighting.
While the true nature of the object filmed on January 14 remains unconfirmed—potentially a next-generation military prototype, an optical illusion created by low-light thermal imaging, or something else entirely—the footage has renewed public fascination with the enigmatic skies above one of America’s most closely guarded facilities.
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Can one be shot down or aim Laser at