Mysterious ‘Dorito-shaped’ aircraft spotted flying at night over Area 51: ‘Something interesting here’
A mysterious, triangle-shaped aircraft was spotted flying above the highly classified Area 51 military base in southern Nevada, fueling renewed speculation about secret aviation projects in the region.
The sighting was captured by off-grid videographer Anders Otteson, who documents the remote desert areas surrounding Area 51 for his YouTube channel Uncanny Expeditions. Otteson said he recorded the unusual aircraft around 3 a.m. on Jan. 14 while filming in the desert.
According to Otteson, the craft appeared to have an equilateral triangle shape that set it apart from a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber he had filmed earlier the same night. While the B-2 features a V-shaped flying wing design, Otteson noted that the unidentified aircraft appeared to have a flatter trailing edge, no clearly visible wings, and a jagged rear section.
Despite the unusual appearance, Otteson cautioned that the limited video resolution makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions. He said it could still be a B-2 or another military aircraft conducting routine operations. “Are we looking at a classified test flight or a standard training sortie?” he asked. “Either way, there’s something interesting here.”
Otteson also pointed out similarities between this sighting and photographs taken in 2014 that appeared to show a triangle-shaped aircraft over Wichita, Kansas, and Amarillo, Texas. Those images depicted a craft unlike any publicly known Air Force aircraft or drone.
The recent sighting additionally echoes reports of similar triangle-shaped aircraft seen over remote desert areas of Southern California in recent years.
On Jan. 15, Otteson spoke with UFO researcher Joerg Arnu, who shared scanner audio that allegedly captured unusual radio chatter over Area 51’s unencrypted channels during a B-2 bomber flight several hours before the sighting. The audio included odd code phrases such as “profile Michelob,” “Imperial with garlic,” “pretzel snack,” and “fridge hydrate.”
Arnu said the radio traffic sounded unlike anything he had encountered in decades of monitoring military communications. Otteson, however, noted that such language could simply be standard military code used during flight operations.
Even so, Otteson believes the activity points to something noteworthy occurring in the restricted airspace around Area 51.
Nevada recorded more than 40 reported sightings of triangular unidentified aerial phenomena in 2025, according to the National UFO Reporting Center.
Area 51 remained classified for decades and became a central fixture in UFO folklore before the government officially acknowledged the base’s existence . More recently, a triangular tower structure spotted at the facility sparked fresh conspiracy theories, with some speculating about advanced or non-human technology.
The exact purpose of the structure remains unknown, though estimates place its height between 150 and 190 feet.
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