UNCLASSIFIED // PUBLIC RELEASERELEASE 01 · MAY 8, 2026
PENTAGON UFO FILE · DOCUMENTWestern US Event
These slides summarize what the release calls the Western U.S. Event: four kinds of sightings reported over two days in 2023 by seven federal law enforcement special agents, identified only as USPER1 to USPER7. Related files in the release include DOW-UAP-D077 is AARO’s case update and DOW-UAP-D078 a notional map.
The four sightings
“Orbs launching orbs”: at dusk on two days, three two-agent teams describe an orange orb, visible for a second or two, releasing smaller red orbs in groups of two to four, at least five times. “Large, fiery orb”: two agents saw a glowing orange orb near a rock pinnacle for about a minute, silent and apparently hovering; they compared it to the Eye of Sauron. They estimated 500–600 meters, but AARO’s later measurements put it about 1,050 meters away and 12–18 meters across.
“Dark kite”: before dawn, two agents chased what they took for a car with a red and a white light on a road in a restricted zone. It slid sideways off the road at 15–20 mph, stopped about 100 meters away and went dark; through night-vision goggles it looked like a thin line about 4 feet wide. “Transparent kite”: about 30 minutes later, the same pair, now with a third colleague who saw nothing, describe a kite-shaped object about 6 meters up, drifting with the wind, with faint stars apparently visible through it.
How to read it
AARO’s description notes there is no technical data, but ranks the report among the most compelling in its holdings because of the witnesses’ credibility and similarities to other cases. The slides record witness accounts and a few later measurements; they do not offer an explanation.
The official description
From war.gov/UFO, released May 8, 2026, quoted in full
This document is a summary of statements by seven US PERSONs employed by the federal government who separately reported observing several unidentified anomalous phenomena in the western United States over the course of two days in 2023. The summary notes the US PERSONS reported four distinct categories of experiences, including observing “orbs launching other orbs” at a distance, observing a large stationary glowing orb at close estimated range, pursuing a large phenomenon near the ground, and observing a large, seemingly transparent phenomenon, reported to being akin to a “translucent kite.” Although there is no technical data directly associated with this report, contextual factors — such as these events sharing features with others reported to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the reporters’ credibility, and the potentially anomalous nature of the events themselves — combine to make this report among the most compelling within AARO’s current holdings.