Witness 2 Narrative: The Western U.S. Event, October 2023

Source file: DoW-UAP-D080_Narrative-2_Western-US-Event.pdf Originating agency: Office of the Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security — All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) Document type: Memorandum for Record — first-hand witness narrative Signatory: Jon T. Kosloski, Director, AARO Date: 02 June 2026 (incident October 2023) Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Page count: 4 (all read) VIRIN: 260508-D-D0360-1062 Companion renderings: FBI-UAP-D016–D020, D022, D023 (Incident 2) PURSUE Release: 3

Summary

This is the longest and most detailed first-hand narrative in the Western U.S. Event cluster. Witness 2 — a federal law enforcement special agent who, with a partner, had been "tasked to survey an area for individuals launching drones" — recounts three separate incidents over October 2023. Together they form the most complete single account of the "orbs launching orbs" phenomenon and the close-range, vehicle-mimicking objects.

Witness 2 describes a bright "orb-like" light that "expelled three or four red lights" which "accelerated instantly and maneuvered with perfect, smooth coordination," repeating roughly five times; objects that flashed their "headlights," accelerated "at least one mile south in less than a minute across the rugged terrain," and transformed into a "box truck" of orange and purple lights; and a final object that "toyed" with the agents on a highway, transitioning between a single bright orb and a "single red taillight." The agent reaches for several analogies — the 1990s Phoenix Lights, the flying car from Harry Potter, and, most arrestingly, "the opening and closing of a portal" — while explicitly cautioning that these are descriptions, not claims. The narrative is signed by AARO Director Jon T. Kosloski.

Research Article

Incident 1 — the mother orb and the "portal"

Positioned in a valley at dusk, Witness 2 observed at about 1900 "a bright circular orb-like light approximately 35-45 degrees above the northern/northeastern horizon," which "had a smaller red orb-like light within it. As the bright orb-like light grew larger, it expelled three or four red lights from it. The red lights accelerated instantly and maneuvered with perfect, smooth coordination into a horizontal formation." The red lights were "less luminescent and appeared to be more like artificial lights (e.g., taillights)." The process "repeat[ed] approximately five times" between 1900 and 1930, and — importantly for corroboration — "our teams confirmed they observed the same objects." A grouping of red lights then hovered above the southern horizon from roughly 1930 until 2300, periodically dipping below the horizon and rising again. There were "no acoustics, interreference or physiological effects."

Reaching for a description, Witness 2 wrote that the behavior "looked like a mix of mechanical deployment and biological division," then offered the analogy that gives this narrative its notoriety: "I find the characterization of portals oddly comparable to the event I witnessed... not dissimilar to the opening and closing of a portal through which objects travel and deploy forward. I am not saying or suggesting that was what we observed but rather offering that as a similar/applicable description."

Incident 2 — the chase and the "box truck"

On another night, after spotting what looked like vehicle headlights to the south and "a row of red lights" that "appeared to cover the area of a football field" and "floated with an impossible, eerie stillness," the agents gave chase with headlights off, on night vision, reaching about 70 mph. As they closed, "the headlights morphed into one bright white/orange orb-like light with a halo-like glow." At roughly 50 yards, "the object then accelerated instantly to the south, traveling at least one mile south in less than a minute across the rugged terrain... the object appeared to hover and floated smoothly across rugged terrain." It later "transformed into a group of orange and purple lights in the shape of a box (not dissimilar to a semi-truck)," covering "approximately four miles of rugged terrain within approximately one minute." Witness 2's summary judgment: the objects "appeared highly reactive to our interaction," "all the objects did appear significantly technologically advanced, and their behavior was inconsistent with physics," and "the triangle/red lights over the horizon were reminiscent of the Phoenix lights event/incident in the 1990s."

Incident 3 — the object that "toyed" with them

Between 2100 and 2300, the agents found "an orb-like light we saw sitting on the road at the crest of a hill." When they drove toward it, "the object began to travel west on the road as if it were a vehicle," hovering above the lane with a single center light. "On several occasions the bright orb-like light dimmed out and transitioned to what appeared to be a single red taillight but then transitioned back." Traveling about 80 mph, "we... could not catch up to it." Near the end it "abruptly transition[ed] into an orange light/orb-like-disk with a halo glow" before a "semi-truck came around the corner" — and the orb-like-disc was gone. "It felt like it was drawing us in and had control to disappear instantly. The video footage captures some of it, but more valuable is the audio of our reactions."

Significance

Witness 2's testimony is the spine of the Western U.S. Event. It is the most detailed and the most explicitly corroborated — other teams "confirmed they observed the same objects" — and it independently reproduces every key feature AARO highlights: the orange "mother orb" expelling coordinated red lights, the "impossible, eerie stillness," motion the witness calls "inconsistent with physics," and reactive behavior at close range. The agent's reflexive reaching for cultural touchstones (Phoenix Lights, Harry Potter, "a portal") reads as an honest struggle to describe something outside ordinary experience, repeatedly hedged. Notably, this narrative is the only one to reference recorded media — "video footage" and "audio of our reactions" — though no such recordings are included in this release, and AARO's case analysis (DOW-UAP-D077) states no technical data was collected.

Key People

Locations

Incidents

Notable Quotes

"As the bright orb-like light grew larger, it expelled three or four red lights from it. The red lights accelerated instantly and maneuvered with perfect, smooth coordination into a horizontal formation." — page 1

"I find the characterization of portals oddly comparable to the event I witnessed... not dissimilar to the opening and closing of a portal through which objects travel and deploy forward. I am not saying or suggesting that was what we observed but rather offering that as a similar/applicable description." — page 2

"All the objects did appear significantly technologically advanced, and their behavior was inconsistent with physics. The triangle/red lights over the horizon were reminiscent of the Phoenix lights event/incident in the 1990s." — page 3

"It felt like it was drawing us in and had control to disappear instantly. The video footage captures some of it, but more valuable is the audio of our reactions." — page 4