CASE FILE F-5
His Camera Flash Made the Lights Vanish. He Told the FBI - Case F-5
2026-09-06 · Declassified UAP records
In October 2024 the FBI interviewed an employee of a facility whose name is redacted about recurring lights he had been observing from his property in the northeastern United States since 2021.
His first sighting came around 5am in November 2021: lights outside his back window that he first took for a flashlight in the yard. Outside, a single light split into two or three, forming a triangular pattern with a light in the center, and held for about ten minutes. While filming on his phone he accidentally took a flash photo - and the lights immediately disappeared.
He told agents he has since seen hundreds of these lights, typically at dusk or at night, morphing and moving laterally, with activity increasing since September 2024 and video recordings frequently coming back corrupted. He cross-referenced his sightings against ADS-B flight data to rule out aircraft. He also recounted a 1996 incident in New Mexico in which, he claimed, the vehicle he was driving with an Army officer shut down while a large light shone on them for about two minutes.
A former industry contact he reached through LinkedIn told him the sightings were "legitimate" and that "people have been hurt by these things." He acknowledged throughout the interview that he had never had an interest in UAPs and that much of what he described "may seem weird or crazy." Names, employer and location are redacted; the account itself is intact. Below is the FBI's FD-1057, followed by the transcript and the general region.
The Document
October 2024
FBI FD-1057 Electronic Communication - Interview of a Facility Employee Reporting Recurring Lights (Oct 2024)
Title: ██████ Interview of ██████. Case ID #: ██████ Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) - ██████ Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP) ██████. Synopsis: Interview of ██████.
Details
On 10/██████/2024, ██████ (██████) was interviewed at the FBI ██████. ██████ is currently employed by ██████ and works primarily in the ██████ facility. ██████ spoke to a presentation and videos that were previously provided to the FBI. ██████ has spoken with fellow and former ██████ employees, ██████, ██████, and ██████ about the sightings observed from ██████ property in ██████.
██████ stated that ██████ first UAP sighting was on 11/██████/2021. ██████ was exercising in ██████ house around 5am when ██████ noticed some lights outside of ██████ back window. Initially, ██████ believed someone was in ██████ yard with a flashlight bobbing around. When ██████ went outside, ██████ observed a singular light that eventually split into two or three lights. This formed a triangular pattern with a light in the center and remained for approximately ten minutes. ██████ got ██████ to see what ██████ was seeing as well. ██████ while filming on ██████ smartphone, accidently took a flash photo and the lights immediately disappeared.
Speaking to a sighting on 03/██████/2022, ██████ played a video that was previously provided to the FBI and explained that the location of this sighting was not in the same location. ██████ stated that the UAP sightings that ██████ observes are typically at dusk or at night and the light observed appears to morph and move laterally.
██████ first reached out to ██████, formerly of ██████, through LinkedIn to speak about what ██████ had observed from ██████ home. In conversations with ██████, ██████ was told that what ██████ was observing was legitimate and that "people have been hurt by these things" and to be careful. ██████ asked ██████ if ██████ had a UFO experience before in ██████ life. At this point, ██████ explained an incident that occurred in 1996. ██████ stated that ██████ was driving with ██████ Army officer from Fort Bliss, TX to Fort Carson, CO. While in New Mexico, ██████ claimed that the vehicle ██████ was driving shut down and a large light shined on ██████ and ██████ passenger. After about two minutes the light went away and the vehicle's electronics turned back on.
██████ has lived at ██████ current property, ██████ in ██████, since 2021 but ██████ previously lived about five miles from ██████ current home from ██████. ██████ stated that ██████ has seen hundreds of these lights from ██████ property and has numerous videos and photos that ██████ was willing to share. ██████ also stated that ██████ has seen these lights as well and others who have visited his property as well.
██████ stated that ██████ has seen more activity since September. The sightings have not always been as long as ██████ initial sighting in 2021. There have been shorter bursts and it is common to have corrupted video when trying to record these sightings.
██████ explained how ██████ used ADS-B data to try to disprove what ██████ was seeing as aircraft flying overhead. ██████ explained that ██████ cross referenced date and time stamps with ADS-B records to determine what sightings may be aircraft. ██████ would then determine the azimuth of the lights and check the ADS-B data.
██████ acknowledged throughout the interview that ██████ never had an interest in UAPs and that a lot of what ██████ said may seem weird or crazy.
FBI FD-1057 (3 pages), interview conducted October 2024; released under the PURSUE UAP disclosure - redactions preserved. · Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI-UAP-D005)
Where It Happened
Full Transcript
A man who works at a facility the FBI blacked out told agents he has seen these lights hundreds of times from his own backyard. The first time, they formed a triangle. Then his camera flash made them disappear.
November 2021, five in the morning, the northeastern United States. Exercising at home, he noticed lights outside his back window and figured someone was in the yard with a flashlight. Outside, a single light split into two or three, forming a triangle with a light in the center. It held for about ten minutes.
Filming on his phone, he accidentally fired the flash. The lights immediately disappeared. Since then, he told the FBI, he has seen hundreds of them, usually at dusk or at night, morphing and moving laterally, and his video often comes back corrupted.
He also described a night in 1996, driving with an Army officer through New Mexico, when he says the car shut down and a large light shone on them for two minutes before the electronics came back. And he tried to debunk himself, checking his sightings against ADS-B flight data to rule out aircraft.
He told the agents he never had any interest in UFOs, and that he knows it may sound crazy. The Bureau wrote it all down anyway. Search Case F-5 at ufodata.org to read the report. Subscribe to UFO Data.
Sources
All documents and footage are authentic, public-domain U.S. government releases. Narration is AI-generated text-to-speech.