DISCLOSURE / FILE
This June 2, 2026 Department of War memorandum records Witness 5's first-hand AARO narrative about federal law enforcement agents observing orange, red, white, and faint light formations in the western United States over two days in October 2023.
DOW-UAP-D083, Narrative Statement 5, Western United States Event, 2023
This June 2, 2026 Department of War memorandum records Witness 5's first-hand AARO narrative about federal law enforcement agents observing orange, red, white, and faint light formations in the western United States over two days in October 2023.
Witness 5 reported a large orange light near a ridgeline at 1858, then a larger red orb that appeared to release two smaller red orbs around 1918. Early the next morning, the witness described a red and white light pair about 2 to 3 feet above the ground, followed through night vision goggles by a thin horizontal line about 4 feet wide. Agents later returned to the field and noted fresh-looking, symmetrical scrape marks around a plant, but the narrative does not identify a confirmed source for the lights or ground marks.
It seemed to be hovering with zero resistance or movement, or to be suspended just over a distinctive peak in the ridge line.p.1
The larger orb did not move during this time, and all lights were gone from every orb in about 10 seconds.p.2
There was intermittent radio, but when we had radio, we could hear other teams, but after reconvening on ■■ October, found out that other teams could not hear us when we were responding.p.2
Around 0430, I notice two lights in the distance about 2-3ft above the ground.p.2
It began moving at the same speed, 15-20 mph, and I could not see it for more than a second or two before I lost track of it.p.3
This gave the perception of trying to evade being noticed, or blend into the stars as it was now more than 20 ft in the air.p.3
The sharp cut in the dirt was symmetrical and round, but did not always make a full circle.p.4
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UNCLASS IFIED OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY OF WAR 5000 DEFENSE PENTAGON WASH INGTON , DC 20301-5000 INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY 02 JUNE2026 MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD SUBJECT: Nairntive from Witness 5 - Western U.S . Event References: (a) https://www.war .gov/ufo/#Westem-US-Event,VIRIN : 260508-D-D0360-1052, 08-MAY 2026. 1. Executive Summa1 y. This memorandum presents the first-hand naiTative from Witness 5 provided to the All domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Witness 5 was one of several United States (U.S.) federal law enforcement special agents who reported observing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023 in the western United States. 2. Witness Na1rntive. In response to AARO 's request to provide a free-fo1m nairntive of the sequence of events exactly as they remember them, Witness 5 submitted the following text: '■ October 2023 1. SA - and myself, headed for the-Gate ai·ound 1630. 2. We headed south on I and took note of two males (20s) car and plate - I sedan; plate: - after we asked if they had car trouble. They responded with something like "Thank you for your concern, but we are just taking a few pictures." 3. There was a Trailer and white minivan to the left of the road sho1tly after as well. 4. We found our tum off towai·ds 1111 I just before the sign' Wildlife National park" (?name). The road was unpaved and rough. There were signs saying to not sleep in vehicle when we entered. About two miles into this road, there was a trailer, a white jeep wrangler, and an old red volkswagon van. I think I saw a screen on inside the trailer. 5. The sun was setting, but there was still sunlight to see the mountain fo1mations. On this road, ahead and slightly to our right, at 1858, we noticed a lai·ge orange light. Upon closer look, the orange light appeared to be placed on something, although nothing could be identified to be holding it up. It seemed to be hovering with zero resistance or movement, or to be suspended just over a distinctive peak in the ridge line. I think the light lasted less than or about a minute, but it was longer than just a flash of light. 1 UNCLASSIFIED
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■ - ■ ■ I - UNCLASSIFIED 5.1. ■■ October 2023, looking at google maps of location, SA and I believe this orange light was at coordinates ■■■■■■ 6. We could not travel much farther in the vehicle, parked, and continued on foot around 1910. 7. Around 1918 we saw a large red orb at a further distance, facing North and slightly West, past the peak of . I am certain I saw two red, smaller orbs release from the larger one going west, towards . One released at a steady speed and horizontally. I also saw another small red orb go up, but it may have had a slight angle. This orb was fainter, than the horizontal one identified. They were simultaneously released, moving away from the larger orb. The larger orb did not move during this time, and all lights were gone from every orb in about 10 seconds. Either while the lights were on, or shortly after they were out of sight, we saw a white flash of light in the sky to the West. 8. We continued to hike west up the road and saw the large orb again, at 1937, but to our left - in front of . I don't recall if this had any smaller released, and the large orb lasted about 10 seconds again. There was a similar white flash of light in the sky more southwest. 9. Approximately 3 miles from where we parked the vehicle, we set up a camera in hopes to catch photos if anything returned to sight. 9.1. There was intermittent radio, but when we had radio, we could hear other teams, but after reconvening on ■■ October, found out that other teams could not hear us when we were responding. 10. We had heard the other teams leave around 2330, and started to pack our gear to hike back to the vehicle. ■■ October 2023 1. We made it to our vehicle around 0130. We made our way down the mountain and got turned around in the wildlife area on our way out. We made it back to Highway ■ about 0330 and to the-gate about 0415. 2. We were driving around- lake, headed towards- base. Around 0430, I notice two lights in the distance about 2-3ft above the ground. The lights stayed on the far side of the road, but directly over the pavement. One was white and square, the second was round and red. The red light was diagonally to the left above the white lite. I watched it and wondered if someone decided to take a bike ride. 3. Another vehicle started approaching from the opposite traffic side as we were approaching the red and white light pair. I started to notice the pair drifting into the sand, off the side of the road. I pointed out to SA ■■■ I that the lights seemed odd and asked if he could see it. We were quickly approaching the lights and started to slow down, maybe 100 ft or so in front of us. The lights made it hard to see what would have been displaying the lights themselves. It appeared that the lights may have been directly facing us. 2 UNCLASSIFIED
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Image 3 UNCLASSIFIED Jon T. Kosloski Director, AARO 5 UNCLASSIFIED
Concatenated page-by-page transcript. Born-digital pages came through pdf.js; scanned pages were transcribed by Claude vision OCR. Pages marked unreadable failed multiple OCR retries (heavy redaction, microfilm artifacts, or blank separators) and are kept in place for audit.
UNCLASS IFIED OFFICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY OF WAR 5000 DEFENSE PENTAGON WASH INGTON , DC 20301-5000 INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY 02 JUNE2026 MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD SUBJECT: Nairntive from Witness 5 - Western U.S . Event References: (a) https://www.war .gov/ufo/#Westem-US-Event,VIRIN : 260508-D-D0360-1052, 08-MAY 2026. 1. Executive Summa1 y. This memorandum presents the first-hand naiTative from Witness 5 provided to the All domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Witness 5 was one of several United States (U.S.) federal law enforcement special agents who reported observing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023 in the western United States. 2. Witness Na1rntive. In response to AARO 's request to provide a free-fo1m nairntive of the sequence of events exactly as they remember them, Witness 5 submitted the following text: '■ October 2023 1. SA - and myself, headed for the-Gate ai·ound 1630. 2. We headed south on I and took note of two males (20s) car and plate - I sedan; plate: - after we asked if they had car trouble. They responded with something like "Thank you for your concern, but we are just taking a few pictures." 3. There was a Trailer and white minivan to the left of the road sho1tly after as well. 4. We found our tum off towai·ds 1111 I just before the sign' Wildlife National park" (?name). The road was unpaved and rough. There were signs saying to not sleep in vehicle when we entered. About two miles into this road, there was a trailer, a white jeep wrangler, and an old red volkswagon van. I think I saw a screen on inside the trailer. 5. The sun was setting, but there was still sunlight to see the mountain fo1mations. On this road, ahead and slightly to our right, at 1858, we noticed a lai·ge orange light. Upon closer look, the orange light appeared to be placed on something, although nothing could be identified to be holding it up. It seemed to be hovering with zero resistance or movement, or to be suspended just over a distinctive peak in the ridge line. I think the light lasted less than or about a minute, but it was longer than just a flash of light. 1 UNCLASSIFIED
■ - ■ ■ I - UNCLASSIFIED 5.1. ■■ October 2023, looking at google maps of location, SA and I believe this orange light was at coordinates ■■■■■■ 6. We could not travel much farther in the vehicle, parked, and continued on foot around 1910. 7. Around 1918 we saw a large red orb at a further distance, facing North and slightly West, past the peak of . I am certain I saw two red, smaller orbs release from the larger one going west, towards . One released at a steady speed and horizontally. I also saw another small red orb go up, but it may have had a slight angle. This orb was fainter, than the horizontal one identified. They were simultaneously released, moving away from the larger orb. The larger orb did not move during this time, and all lights were gone from every orb in about 10 seconds. Either while the lights were on, or shortly after they were out of sight, we saw a white flash of light in the sky to the West. 8. We continued to hike west up the road and saw the large orb again, at 1937, but to our left - in front of . I don't recall if this had any smaller released, and the large orb lasted about 10 seconds again. There was a similar white flash of light in the sky more southwest. 9. Approximately 3 miles from where we parked the vehicle, we set up a camera in hopes to catch photos if anything returned to sight. 9.1. There was intermittent radio, but when we had radio, we could hear other teams, but after reconvening on ■■ October, found out that other teams could not hear us when we were responding. 10. We had heard the other teams leave around 2330, and started to pack our gear to hike back to the vehicle. ■■ October 2023 1. We made it to our vehicle around 0130. We made our way down the mountain and got turned around in the wildlife area on our way out. We made it back to Highway ■ about 0330 and to the-gate about 0415. 2. We were driving around- lake, headed towards- base. Around 0430, I notice two lights in the distance about 2-3ft above the ground. The lights stayed on the far side of the road, but directly over the pavement. One was white and square, the second was round and red. The red light was diagonally to the left above the white lite. I watched it and wondered if someone decided to take a bike ride. 3. Another vehicle started approaching from the opposite traffic side as we were approaching the red and white light pair. I started to notice the pair drifting into the sand, off the side of the road. I pointed out to SA ■■■ I that the lights seemed odd and asked if he could see it. We were quickly approaching the lights and started to slow down, maybe 100 ft or so in front of us. The lights made it hard to see what would have been displaying the lights themselves. It appeared that the lights may have been directly facing us. 2 UNCLASSIFIED
I - - - ■ - UNCLASSIFIED 4. As we were slowing our vehicle, and the opposite traffic vehicle quickly approached, the red and white light pair hovered, with zero resistance, or change in height, over the bushes to the right at about 15-20 mph. The light pair stopped just as we stopped our vehicle and I pulled out the Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) to take a look. I saw the light pair for a split second in the NVGs before the lights turned off and I saw a very thin line remain, maybe 4 ft wide, horizontal to the earth (See Image 1). It began moving at the same speed, 15-20 mph, and I could not see it for more than a second or two before I lost track of it. It also seemed to move up in height with this movement, but remained a flat line. 5. SA ■ notified- of the location and activity.- said it was clear. 6. We drove to building. to notify and inquire. They did not see it at the time, but said they would look into it and notified us ■■■ I had left 7. SA ■■■ I told him what we saw and .. volunteered to return to our sighting location and search. 8. We returned to our sighting location and maneuvered the vehicle around trying to shine the headlights to stir something. We also looked through NVG and ■■■■ looked through the thermal binoculars. He found a few "cold" spots to search, but they turned out to be ■ --. 9. It may have been about 0530 when SA-was using the NVG and said "I see it!" and added something about a cobweb that made me notice a cobweb. There was an identical cob web floating nearby, but floating and flowing down towards the earth. The second was moving up, but not with a natural flow. That's when I could see a shape, not perfectly outlined, but faint lights in a perfect formation that moved together (See Image 2). While SA ■■■■ was watching it in the NVG at the same time I saw it with my naked eye. It seemed to be moving up and slightly side to side. This gave the perception of trying to evade being noticed, or blend into the stars as it was now more than 20 ft in the air. I could not judge how far away. I tried to look at a reference point to describe it and looked at a bright light in the distance, which cause my eyes to adjust differently and I lost the formation of faint lights. When my eyes readjusted, a few seconds later, I saw the exact formation of faint lights again but at the opposite angle and at the same height and location (See Image 3). I could not see it much longer as the lights grew fainter. 10. We continued to test maneuvering the truck and shining lights to see any movement, but we could not identify anything. We drove around for a short time while the sun was approaching sunrise, and drove up the road and hill on the opposite side that the initial sighting was near. 11. Here we noticed the truck location parked by-and the- as a marker for more investigation at a later time (placed earlier that morning around 0345 at their speculated sighting). I noted that the tire tracks of this truck led back to the road and location that we saw the red and white pair of lights at about 0430. 12. I rested from 0700-1030 and then returned to the field ·of the 0430 sighting with the other agents to look for anomalies. 3 UNCLASSIFIED
Image 1 I lmage2 I White light Ourllne was not deAnlM. but location of nahts mvecf In eltaCt formadon. UNCLASSIFIED 13. We noted odd scrapes in the ground around a certain plant. This appeared to show that the particular plant was susceptible to wind, but it was not windy the night before and the dirt movement looked very sharp and very fresh. The sharp cut in the dirt was symmetrical and round, but did not always make a full circle. At other times, this exact plant did not have any similar markings, regardless of size.” 4 UNCLASSIFIED
Image 3 UNCLASSIFIED Jon T. Kosloski Director, AARO 5 UNCLASSIFIED