A newly disclosed video claims to show an MQ-9 trying to bring down an unidentified object with a Hellfire missile during a mission off Yemen.

A member of Congress has shared a video claiming to show an attempt by U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones to intercept an unidentified object in the air off the coast of Yemen last year. The footage and the circumstances behind it are otherwise unconfirmed, but this appears to be the first known instance of a Reaper engaging an aerial target of any kind in an operational setting.

Rep. Eric Burlison, a Missouri Republican, first showed the video, seen in the social media post below, during a House Oversight Committee hearing today. The stated focus of the hearing was on U.S. government transparency regarding so-called unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), previously more commonly referred to as unidentified flying objects (UFO), and protections for whistleblowers.

The video “was taken [on] October 30 of 2024. This video is of an MQ-9 drone tracking an orb or this object off the coast of Yemen,” Burlison said during the hearing before playing the clip, which is approximately 50 seconds long. “You’ll see that another MQ-9 launched a[n AGM-114] Hellfire missile that – you cannot see that [other] drone.”

The footage shows the purported AGM-114 striking the object and causing some debris to go flying, and then deflecting away without detonating. The object, which had been shown traveling along a steady path before the attempted intercept, is seen continuing on despite being struck until the clip ends. The video feed also prominently includes the text “LRD LASE DES,” which would point to one MQ-9 laser designating the target for the other Reaper to engage with a laser-guided Hellfire variant. This is also known as buddy lasing.

A screen capture from the video shared at today’s UAP hearing. The claimed unidentified object is seen in the middle in the crosshairs. What is said to be a Hellfire missile is seen approaching from the upper left. via Rep. Eric Burlison

“It looks like the debris was taken with it,” Burlison said at the hearing after showing the video. “I’m not going to speculate what it is.”

In the social media post included earlier in this story, Burlison further stressed that the “footage [is] presented as received from a whistleblower” and that an “independent review is ongoing.”

What the object might be is unclear from the footage, but at times it looks, at least how the sensor interprets it, more cylindrical than orb-shaped, as seen below. This could also be a product of the video quality. It looks to go tumbling in the air after being struck, as well, and how long it actually remained airborne afterward is unknown.

via Rep. Eric Burlison

TWZ has reached out to the House Oversight Committee for more information about the video. We have also reached out to the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) for comment.

“We do not have anything to provide on this,” a U.S. defense official has told TWZ.

What is known is that the Houthis in Yemen have been engaged in on-again-off-again attacks on ships in and around the Red Sea, as well as targets in Israel using ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as long-range kamikaze drones, since October 2023. Prior to the announcement of a ceasefire between the Houthis and the U.S. government in May, American air and naval forces were very actively engaged in responding to those threats, as well as targeting the Iranian-backed militants in Yemen. MQ-9s were a fixture in those operations, with the Houthis claiming to have shot down dozens of them. American Reapers have been operating over and around Yemen, in general, for years now.

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