In October 2023, over a period of two days, U.S. federal law enforcement special agents on a counter-drone detail in the western United States reported watching unidentified anomalous phenomena they could not explain.
One agent's first-hand account — Witness 2 — is documented in a Memorandum for Record provided to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and released, unredacted, by the Pentagon's UAP office.
In the agent's own words: at about 1900 hours a bright orb-like light appeared with a smaller red orb inside it. As it grew, it expelled three to four red lights that accelerated instantly and maneuvered with perfect, smooth coordination into a horizontal formation. The orb then dimmed and faded. The agent watched the process repeat about five times, and other teams in the area confirmed they observed the same objects. Three aligned, equally-spaced red lights then hovered above the southern horizon from roughly 1930 until 2300 hours, dipping below the horizon and rising back up.
Unusually for these files, nothing in the narrative is blacked out — it is the witness's complete free-form account. Below is the document itself, followed by the full narration transcript and the general region of the encounter.
UNCLASSIFIED 02 June 2026
Narrative from Witness 2 — Western U.S. Event
Executive Summary
This memorandum presents the first-hand narrative from Witness 2 provided to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Witness 2 was one of several United States (U.S.) federal law enforcement special agents who reported observing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023 in the western United States.
Incident 1
"In October 2023, my partner and I were tasked to survey an area for individuals launching drones. My partner and I were positioned in a valley, with mountain ranges to the west and east and more distant ranges to the north; we had teams positioned throughout the area as well. The weather was clear; we sat [and] watched the sunset as dusk transitioned into darkness. At approximately 1900 hours, I observed a bright circular orb-like light approximately 35-45 degrees above the northern/northeastern horizon. Originally, the light was not dissimilar to that of a luminescent planet observed in the night sky but grew slowly brighter. The bright orb-like light had a smaller red orb-like light within it. As the bright orb-like light grew larger, it expelled three or four red lights from it. The red lights accelerated instantly and maneuvered with perfect, smooth coordination into a horizontal formation. The red lights were approximately 1/15 the size of the orb-like light. The bright orb-like light did not appear to be an artificial neon glow, but rather a bright natural light with a slight halo effect. The red lights were less luminescent and appeared to be more like artificial lights (e.g., taillights). Following the expulsion of the smaller red lights, the bright orb-like light dimmed and faded from sight. From approximately 1900 hours to approximately 1930 hours, I witnessed the process repeat approximately five times across the northern, northeastern, and eastern horizon. Our teams confirmed they observed the same objects. The last grouping of red lights moved in a horizonal pattern to the southern horizon where they remained the rest of the evening. The three red lights were all aligned and remained equally spaced. From approximately 1930 hours until approximately 2300 hours, the red lights hovered above the southern horizon. The red lights sometime dipped below the horizon, out of sight but consistently rose back up. At approximately 2300 hours we departed the area. There were no acoustics, interreference or physiological effects experienced during the incident.
The objects appeared to move with purpose in a coordinated fashion, but it did not appear to be a defensive countermeasure. It looked like a mix of mechanical deployment and biological division; it appeared too smooth and agile to be mechanical, but too structured/coordinated to be a biological division. To offer an obscure yet similar description, I find the characterization of portals oddly comparable to the event I witnessed. The bright orb-like light was small, grew larger, appeared to project objects out of it, and then it dimmed until it was no longer visible; not dissimilar to the opening and closing of a portal through which objects travel and deploy forward. I am not saying or suggesting that was what we observed but rather offering that as a similar/applicable description.
Incident 2
In October 2023, my partner and I were tasked to survey an area for individuals launching drones. My partner and I drove northwest on a rural highway and turned right onto a dirt road heading north/northeast up a valley toward a mountain range. We drove for approximately 10 miles before parking a small hill at approximately 1800 hours. The weather was clear; we sat [and] watched the sunset as dusk transitioned into darkness. At approximately 1845 hours, I observed two circular orb-like lights appearing to be headlights of a vehicle to the south approximately five to seven miles away. The headlights sat still in the valley while we sat and continued to observe the area. At approximately 1900 hours, I observed a row of red lights appearing to hover approximately 15 degrees above the southern horizon (I do not recall how the lights entered the area). The lights were consistent with the glow of a taillight and appeared to be arranged in a triangular formation or attached to unobservable vehicle of some sort; they appeared to cover the area of a football field, hovering over a significant portion of the horizon. The object floated with an impossible, eerie stillness. At that same time, I observed the vehicle to the south of our location flash its lights toward us; the flashing appeared to be consistent with a white pulse. Soon after, what appeared to be headlights of a second vehicle approximately one mile east of the first vehicle, still approximately five to seven miles from our location. The second vehicle flashed their lights in the same manner as the first vehicle. The two vehicles appeared to hover within, approximately, a six-mile by six-mile box between the southern tips mountains ranges surrounding the valley. While the two vehicles moved in between the mountain ranges, the row of red lights remained in place, appearing to still hover above the southern horizon. At approximately 1915 hours, one of the vehicles appeared to move north toward our location. We decided to drive toward the objects. One set of lights turned off but the other remained in view. We drove with our headlights off only utilizing night vision equipment; at one point reaching approximately 70 miles per hour. At some point while driving toward it, the headlights morphed into one bright white/orange orb-like light with a halo-like glow. Around two or three miles north of the original highway we exited from, we appeared to be gaining on the object; at approximately 50 yards away we thought were going to encounter it. The object then accelerated instantly to the south, traveling at least one mile south in less than a minute across the rugged terrain. We continued south toward the object for a short distance; the object shifted east and continued eastward until it stopped at the base of the mountain range, dimmed and turned off. The object's travel was inconsistent with a vehicle's travel over rugged terrain; the object appeared to hover and floated smoothly across rugged terrain. We parked on the road and watched in the direction the light had been. After a short while, the light turned back on, and the object began to move west across the valley. Again, the object appeared to hover over the terrain as it moved across in a gliding motion approximately half a mile south of our location. After passing the dirt road we were parked on, the light transformed into a group of orange and purple lights in the shape of a box (not dissimilar to a semi-truck in shape and opaqueness). We started to drive south toward the highway. The box of lights continued uninterrupted north/northwest toward the mountain range on the west side of the valley. The object glided smoothly across the rugged terrain as if traveling at a high rate of speed on a non-existent road. The object covered approximately four miles of rugged terrain within approximately one minute. The object came in proximity to the mountain range, the lights turned off, and the object was not seen again. Once the lights near the mountain range were no longer visible, the row of red lights hovering above the southern horizon were gone as well. The incident concluded at approximately 2000 hours. There were no acoustics, interreference or physiological effects experienced during the incident.
The objects in the valley appeared to stay within 20 feet of the ground and did not extend beyond that. The objects appeared highly reactive to our interaction with them. The objects initially appeared to mimic vehicles (my best example is the flying car from the Harry Potter book series). The object then appeared to mimic a box truck (superficially) but was inconsistent with what an actual vehicle travel. The object appeared to 'toy' with us (flashing headlight on and off and moving abruptly once we came in proximity). The movements appeared very controlled, and the sudden transition of the object felt very purposeful. The 'headlights' and 'box-truck' did not appear organic; the orb-like light is harder to define. All the objects did appear significantly technologically advanced, and their behavior was inconsistent with physics. The triangle/red lights over the horizon were reminiscent of the Phoenix lights event/incident in the 1990s.
Incident 3
In October 2023, my partner and I were tasked to survey an area for individuals launching drones. Sometime between approximately 2100 and 2300 hours, my partner and I pulled off onto a side of the road to observe an orb-like light we saw sitting on the road at the crest of a hill. The night was clear and dark. At this point we had seen several unusual objects and so we stopped to observe the object. The object was on a rural highway approximately one to two miles northwest of us just sitting on the road. It was similar to a single headlight but was a bit brighter and larger in size. It caught our attention because, if it were headlights, the lights should theoretically be moving west to east. We decided to drive towards to catch up with it and observe the object more closely. As we started driving towards it, the object began to travel west on the road as if it were a vehicle. It hovered above the right lane at approximately the height of a vehicle. It was unusual because if it were an actual vehicle we would expect to see taillights, there would be two lights not one, we would be gaining on it, and gravity would force the vehicle to follow the road pattern exactly; the object we saw only has one center light and loosely followed the road pattern, gliding very smoothly. If I recall correctly, on several occasions the bright orb-like light dimmed out and transitioned to what appeared to be a single red taillight but then transitioned back to the single bright orb-like light. The object maintained this behavior for approximately 10 to 15 miles. We travelled approximately 80 miles an hour and could not catch up to it. Towards the end of the interaction, we saw the object abruptly transition into an orange light/orb-like-disk with a halo glow and glide to the side of the road at the base of a hill. The road we were driving on curved to the left where the orb-like-disc landed. As we neared it, what appeared to be a semi-truck came around the corner and was driving right toward us. If I recall correctly, at that moment we were not sure if this was the same object that had transitioned into a semi-truck coming at us or if this was an actual vehicle on the road. In the video footage, I believe we say something about thinking it was going to hit us. The apparent semi-truck passed us at a high rate of speed and appeared to continue down the highway eastward. Having focused our attention back to the side of the road, we saw that the orb-like-disc was no longer there. There were no acoustics, interreference or physiological effects experienced during the incident.
The object appeared highly reactive to our interaction with it. It sat still on the road and did not start moving until we pulled onto the road and began driving toward it. The object appeared to mimic a car (my best example is the flying car from the Harry Potter book series, if it had a single center headlight); the mimicking felt specific and off-putting. Other vehicles passed heading east and no one appeared to react to the object we were seeing (i.e., no vehicles pulled over or stopped abruptly). The sudden transition/appearance of the object felt very purposeful. I do not know if the semi-truck that came around the corner had anything to do with the object disappearing, but it felt similar to when we approached the other object on the dirt road, and it appeared to move far away instantly as soon as we thought we were going to encounter it. It felt like it was drawing us in and had control to disappear instantly. The video footage captures some of it, but more valuable is the audio of our reactions."
— Jon T. Kosloski, Director, AARO
Office of the Under Secretary of War (Intelligence & Security) — Memorandum for Record; released via the AARO Western U.S. Event disclosure. · U.S. Department of War / AARO (DoW-UAP-D080, Narrative 2)
A U.S. federal agent watched a glowing orb grow, then release three to four red lights that snapped into perfect formation. Over half an hour, it happened about five times.
This one wasn't over the ocean, like most of these files. It was October 2023, over the western United States, and the witnesses were federal law enforcement agents on a detail watching for illegal drones.
At about 1900 hours, a bright orb appeared with a smaller red orb inside it. As it grew, it expelled the red lights, then dimmed and faded. Other teams in the area confirmed they saw the same objects.
And here's what makes this one rare: the Pentagon didn't black it out. This is the agent's full account, in his own words, released by AARO. He wrote that the objects moved with purpose, unlike any vehicle or aircraft he knew.
Federal agents. Two days of sightings. Objects they could not identify. What do you think they saw? Read the agent's full narrative, Case D-80 at ufodata.org. Subscribe to UFO Data.
All documents and footage are authentic, public-domain U.S. government releases. Narration is AI-generated text-to-speech.