Western United States (undisclosed) — SEP 2023

“Among the most compelling cases in current AARO holdings.”

Incident summary

Two federal law enforcement agents observed a glowing orange orb near a rock pinnacle. One witness compared the object to the 'Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings, except without the pupil, or maybe an orange Storm Electrify bowling ball'. AARO assessed this case as 'among the most compelling' in current holdings due to witness credibility.

Why this case matters

This incident is logged in PURSUE Release 01 — the U.S. Department of War's 2026-05-08 declassified UAP file release — under identifier PURSUE-019. The originating agency is the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the case is currently classified DECLASSIFIED and rated ANOMALOUS by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). UAP.WATCH mirrors the original record, adds a geographic and temporal index, and links every claim back to the canonical war.gov source.

Primary-source evidence

Declassified documents

• AARO ASSESSMENT — WESTERN US ORB EVENTS // 2-DAY MULTI-WITNESS ENCOUNTER (DOC-007 · DECLASSIFIED)
• FBI SEPTEMBER 2023 SIGHTING - COMPOSITE SKETCH (DOC-118 · DECLASSIFIED)
• FBI SEPTEMBER 2023 SIGHTING - SERIAL 3 (DOC-119 · DECLASSIFIED)
• FBI SEPTEMBER 2023 SIGHTING - SERIAL 4 (DOC-120 · DECLASSIFIED)
• FBI SEPTEMBER 2023 SIGHTING - SERIAL 5 (DOC-121 · DECLASSIFIED)
• WESTERN US EVENT (DOC-122 · DECLASSIFIED)

Video evidence

• WESTERN US // ORB FORMATION (VID-004 · EO · 47s)