UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 03 · JUNE 12, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · VIDEO · FBI-UAP-PR003“Orbs Over the Pond,” 2024
“Orbs Over the Pond” is the longest of the FBI’s northeastern United States clips, at 265 seconds, and the only one the government says it analyzed and authenticated. A private citizen filmed it on an iPhone in October 2024, at about 6:51 p.m., at a sparsely populated place they knew well.
What the witness saw
The light sat below the horizon line, over a pond an estimated 2,700 feet away. The witness compared it to a “plasma-like sphere” whose shape and brightness kept changing, and at times it seemed to split into smaller points of light. One point stayed just above the water; the FBI notes that it did not look like a reflection on the surface. The light stayed more or less in place for about 45 minutes before disappearing, and the witness heard nothing.
How the footage was handled
To protect the witness’s privacy the video was cropped, and the release states that nothing else was edited, enhanced or altered. The FBI rates the witness as highly credible and groups the clip with “Triangle Orbs” and “Red Orb Rotation” and with interview forms FBI-UAP-D004 through D008. Authenticated means the government judged the file genuine and unaltered, not that it identified the light; no explanation is given.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released June 12, 2026, quoted in full
In October 2024, at approximately 1851 local time in the northeastern United States, an eyewitness observed a light source below the horizon, hovering above a pond at an estimated distance of 2,700 feet. The luminous object resembled a “plasma-like sphere” intermittently changing shape and luminosity. At times, the primary light source appeared to separate into smaller luminous points. A luminous point below the primary source hovered just above the water and did not appear consistent with a surface reflection. The object remained generally stationary for approximately 45 minutes before disappearing. The eyewitness did not hear any sound from the objects. This video was captured by a private citizen on an iPhone and subsequently analyzed and authenticated by the U.S. Government. To protect the individual’s privacy, the footage has been cropped. Apart from this privacy-protective measure, no edits, enhancements, or alterations have been made to the visual content.
The description above is derived from statements provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by an eyewitness to the event. The FBI assesses the individual who reported this event as highly credible. The subject matter described in files FBI-UAP-D004 through FBI-UAP-D008 and depicted in the video footage FBI-UAP-PR001 through FBI-UAP-PR003 corresponds to reports originating from the same general area in the northeastern United States.