The Trump administration has published a new tranche of Pentagon and FBI records detailing a series of unexplained aerial phenomena observed across the northeastern and western United States.
The files were released through the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Encounters, known as PURSUE, a government-wide declassification initiative.
President Donald Trump directed federal agencies in February to review and declassify records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena, launching the transparency program that has since produced a steady stream of case files.
Among the most striking northeastern incidents, two witnesses reported observing a glowing red sphere roughly one meter in diameter containing a bright white center resembling a basketball-sized “plasma sun.”
FBI records indicate the objects were estimated to be approximately 30 yards away and between 20 and 30 feet above the ground when witnesses first spotted them.
Both witnesses said a second identical orb later appeared nearby, with the two objects eventually appearing to merge into a single object before disappearing from view.
A separate October 2024 incident from the same northeastern region involved a witness who reported a “plasma-like sphere” hovering above a pond at an estimated distance of roughly 2,700 feet.
The luminous object intermittently changed shape and brightness, at times appearing to separate into smaller points of light, and remained stationary for approximately 45 minutes before vanishing.
Video footage captured on an iPhone was later analyzed and authenticated by the U.S. government, with the FBI assessing the eyewitness as highly credible.
Among the most significant cases in the latest release was a 2023 incident near a sensitive national security site in the western United States, where six federal law enforcement agents reported observing glowing orange “mother orbs” releasing smaller red objects into the night sky.
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office found that roughly 40% of reported activity from that western site remains unexplained after analysts reviewed commercial and military flight logs, radar data, spatial estimates, and ADS-B records.
Analysts concluded military flare activity could plausibly account for a significant portion of observations, while assessing foreign adversary technology as highly unlikely, but determined no single explanation fully accounted for all reported activity.
Investigators said “unrecognized technology” remained a provisional hypothesis for the unexplained portion of the case, while cautioning the assessment was based primarily on witness testimony rather than technical or physical evidence.
A February 2022 sighting near Colorado Springs, Colorado added another unusual case to the release, with five U.S. Army personnel reporting a shimmering object hovering above Cheyenne Mountain for up to three minutes.
Witnesses described the object as roughly the size of a large jet, resembling an angular, nonsymmetrical “potato” composed of irregular panels that slowly shifted and changed shape while remaining stationary.
A former Army intelligence officer interviewed by the FBI in 2024 described the object as a creamy white, opalescent shape made up of what appeared to be articulating fish-scale-like panels that moved in slow waves before the object suddenly vanished.
Pentagon investigators concluded the Cheyenne Mountain sighting may have been caused by sunlight reflecting off snow-covered terrain, though AARO described that assessment as low confidence given uncertainty surrounding witness viewing angles and environmental conditions.
Former AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick has argued that unresolved cases often remain unresolved because investigators lack sufficient information to reach high-confidence conclusions.
Neither the Department of War nor AARO has concluded that any incidents released through PURSUE constitute evidence of extraterrestrial life, nonhuman intelligence, or alien technology.
Government officials have repeatedly emphasized that an unresolved case simply means investigators lack sufficient information to determine a definitive cause, and the records do not establish evidence of extraterrestrial origins.
