Documents / Official release
USPER Narrative, Senior USIC Official
This firsthand account from a senior U.S. intelligence officer was published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in its PURSUE collection of UAP-related records. It was posted on May 22, 2026 and corrected on May 26, 2026. The officer says that in late 2025 they flew a helicopter over a mountain test range to investigate loud thuds and orb sightings. Over more than an hour they saw objects split in two, swarms of orange orbs, and orbs flaring near the helicopter and above fighter jets.
From the source: Release of 2026-05-22 Incident: 2025, Western United States. This document is a first-hand account written by a currently serving (May 2026) senior U.S. intelligence official. The official was part of a team investigating reports of unusual noises and sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena in and near a sensitive U.S. military facility in late 2025. From the official’s vantage point as a helicopter passenger, the official recounts encountering unidentified “glowing orbs” both at close range and at a distance. The account describes an apparent high-speed object moving low to the ground, which appeared to split in two and accelerate away in two different directions. It also describes numerous higher-altitude “orbs,” some of which the official assessed to be in close proximity to the helicopter. This account is accompanied by infrared imagery taken during the same exercise by other federal officials from the ground, originally released on war.gov/UFO on May 8, 2026. May 26, 2026, correction: The document originally posted to the PURSUE collection of UAP-related records on May 22, 2026, under the name “ODNI-UAP-D001, USPER Narrative, Senior USIC Official,” contained a typographic error in the second paragraph, describing a helicopter flight profile as “map-of-the-earth.” The correct military aviation term for this profile is “nap-of-the-earth.” This document has been updated to reflect this correction.
accelerated out of sight. We briefly pursued but broke off, unable to match its speed. At one point, the JOC informed us that several fighter jets had launched on a training mission in our operating area and requested their assistance in identifying the UAP. Minutes later, the JOC directed us to nearby radar detections. We took up a hovering position at approximately 700 feet above ground level (AGL). In the distance, we saw countless orange orbs swarming in all directions against the backdrop of the mountain. The display lasted several minutes before fading. The JOC then redirected us to our previous position based on fresh radar hits. I provided coordinates to the pilots, and we moved to intercept, hovering again at 700 feet AGL. Through NVGx, the pilots and I (using the naked eye) observed two large orbs flare up side-by-side, close to the helicopter – stationary and just above the rotor disk to our right. They were oval-shaped, orange with a white or yellow center, and emitted light in all directions. After a few seconds, a third orb flared up below the pair, followed by a fourth below that, forming a total of four or five in a “T” formation under the original two. Moments later, they dimmed in reverse order, remaining stationary until they vanished from view. The entire event lasted 10-15 seconds. I didn’t take photos, as I was focused on assessing what it was and whether it posed a threat. After this encounter, the pilots briefly considered landing due to the objects’ proximity but opted to remain hovering at 700 feet AGL for further observation. We then spotted the fighter jets entering visual range at about 23,00 feet AGL, identifiable by their blinking navigation lights. As watched from afar, the same type of orbs appeared directly above the fighters. They flared up one at a time in a horizontal formation, matching the jets’ speed and flight path. After 10-15 seconds, they dimmed sequentially and disappeared. This repeated several times as the jets transited the airspace and eventually landed. I remarked to the pilots that it seemed the same orbs we had encountered were now “chasing” the fighters. We also observed orange orbs flaring up and down around us for several minutes, forming a distinct triangle before vanishing. Low on fuel, the pilots decided to return to the JOC. After landing, I briefly spoke with them – mostly to express thanks. We were virtually speechless after these observations. I then entered the JOC for a quick debrief before driving home.
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 2 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.