Western United States (undisclosed) — 2023

“Blacker than black object, Prius-sized, shot upward faster than known drones.”

Incident summary

Law enforcement officer reported a large orange orb several hundred feet above ground, accompanied by a 'blacker than black' object roughly the size of a Prius. The black object tilted 45 degrees, shot upward faster than known drone capabilities, and emitted bright red and blue lights. Closest approach was 40-60 meters from the witness.

Why this case matters

This incident is logged in the Pentagon's PURSUE catalog — the U.S. Department of War's rolling declassified UAP file release (Release 01 on 2026-05-08, Release 02 on 2026-05-22) — under identifier PURSUE-021. The originating agency is the Department of War (DoD); 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)
• WESTERN US EVENT (DOC-122 · DECLASSIFIED)