WELLINGTON, Jan 26: A New Zealand man has found confidential US military files on an MP3 player he bought in an Oklahoma thrift shop, a television network reported on Monday.

Chris Ogle, 29, paid nine dollars for the player and when he plugged it into his computer he found 60 pages of military data, the channel said.

The files contained the names and personal details of US soldiers, including some who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as information about equipment deployed to bases and a mission briefing.

“The more I look at it, the more I see and the less I think I should be (seeing),” Ogle said.

Although most of the files are dated 2005, the channel said it rang some of the phone numbers and they were answered by the corresponding personnel.

Ogle said the MP3 had never worked as a music player and he would hand it over to the US Defence Department if asked.—AFP