Stationary Light Over Test Site, September 2023

Brief

Two or more vehicles of witnesses approached a gated test site when at least one occupant noticed a bright, constant-intensity light of fixed apparent size on the horizon. A female witness was annoyed on first sighting because the airspace had been restricted for scheduled drone tests; an occupant of a second vehicle attempted but failed to observe the object. That night the primary male witness experienced television outages at his hotel, checked all TVs in the building to confirm it was not isolated, and reported disturbed sleep and unusual dreams for two nights following the encounter.

Metadata

Agency

FBI

Release

5/8/26

Incident

9/1/23

Location

United States

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

2 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED

Tags

bright light, stationary, horizon, US test site, restricted airspace, drone exercise, eyewitness, multi-witness, 2023

Key points

• The object maintained constant apparent size and constant light intensity for the full duration of observation, suggesting no movement toward or away from the witnesses.p.2
• The witnesses first saw the object only after passing through the gate at a small bridge, not on approach — indicating the gate structure blocked the line of sight until that moment.p.2
• No electromagnetic interference with vehicles was noted by the witnesses.p.2
• The airspace had been officially restricted for drone testing at the time of the sighting, making the object's identity as a known drone operationally significant.p.2
• A witness in a second vehicle tried to observe the object independently but was unsuccessful.p.2
• The primary witness experienced a strong psychological aftereffect: he verified TV outages throughout the hotel, had trouble sleeping, and reported unusual dreams for the first two nights after the encounter.p.2

Verbatim

• The object stayed the same size and kept the same light intensity during the time observed it.

  p.2

• did not notice any interference with their vehicles

  p.2

• was annoyed when she first saw the object because the air space had been restricted for the drone tests they were going to conduct.

  p.2

• in the second vehicle tried to get to see the object but was unsuccessful.

  p.2

• That night a storm came through and the TV went out in hotel room.

  p.2

• He was still freaked out and went downstairs to make sure all the TVs were out in the hotel and not just his.

  p.2

• had weird dreams and had trouble sleeping for the first two nights after he saw the object.

  p.2

Most interesting

• The sighting occurred inside restricted airspace during an active drone test window, which would normally explain any aerial anomaly — yet the object remained noteworthy enough to warrant an FBI 302 interview.
• The witness's post-event behavior — walking through the hotel to audit every television set — reflects an acute stress response consistent with the literature on close-encounter psychological sequelae.
• The object was not visible on approach to the gate; the small bridge structure at the entry point acted as an unintentional occluder, meaning observation time was bounded at both ends.
• Page 1 of the two-page 302 is not extractable, meaning the initial description of the object, witness identifiers, and interview preamble are either image-only or redacted in the released version.
• The redaction of the day within 'On 09/ /2023' suggests the precise date carries operational sensitivity, possibly because it would identify which scheduled test was underway.