FBI-UAP-D040: FD-302 - The Second Witness: Red Lights That Appeared to Sync Up, Western United States, 2026
Source file: FBI-UAP-D040_FD-302_Multiple-Red-Lights_2026.pdf Originating agency: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Document type: FBI form FD-302 (Rev. 5-8-10), telephonic interview recorded by a Special Agent Date: 2026; the precise date range of the incidents and the date of the interview are redacted in the released pages Classification: No classification marking on the released pages; carries the standard FBI dissemination caveat Page count: 2 VIRIN: 260807-O-D0360-1160 PURSUE Release: 5
Summary
This document is the other half of one of the most interesting witness pairings in the fifth PURSUE release. FBI-UAP-D037 records an in-person interview, conducted by two Special Agents, with one of the two people present at the events; the present document records a telephonic interview, conducted by a single Special Agent, with the other.
The official war.gov description states this plainly: a second individual who was present during the incidents at the time also provided an interview, recorded in the collection as FBI-UAP-D037. The FBI, in other words, itself links the two documents as the testimony of two people who were present together.
The record is short, only two pages, and contains one continuous account of an observation of a succession of red lights in the western United States. Its distinctive contribution to the collection is a single behavioral detail that does not appear in FBI-UAP-D037: multiple lights, six to ten in number, that appeared to "sync up" with a previously observed light and travelled together to the east or southeast.
One limitation of the released text should be stated clearly: the detailed description of the lights breaks off mid-sentence at the foot of the first page, and its continuation is not available in the pages we hold.
Research Article
The telephonic interview, the gate and the rain
Unlike FBI-UAP-D037, which records a direct interview conducted by two Special Agents, this document opens by recording that the interviewee was "interviewed telephonically by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent (SA) [redacted]." After being advised of the identity of the interviewing agent, he provided the following information. The difference is not trivial: a telephonic interview by a single agent is a lighter form of documentation than an in-person interview by two, and that bears on the document's relative weight.
The document's internal heading refers to a range of dates in 2026, that is, "on [redacted], 2026 to [redacted], 2026," with both dates redacted. This too is worth noting: the document does not necessarily record a single evening.
According to the account, the interviewee and another individual arrived at a gate at approximately 2100, with the intention of conducting area reconnaissance. When they arrived at the gate it was raining heavily, so they waited for the rain to subside, which it did shortly thereafter. They then unlocked the gate and began driving north. The rainy conditions match what was recorded in FBI-UAP-D037, where the weather is described as rainy with significant cloud cover.
The first light on the crest, and the altitude estimate
At approximately 2200, after they had gone approximately 25 miles, the interviewee noticed a red light at the crest of the mountain range to their west and pulled over to investigate. His initial reaction is honestly recorded: at first he thought the light was something on the mountain itself. Then it began to move to the east.
From here comes the analytically most significant passage in the document, because it presents an altitude estimate grounded in geometry rather than impression: because the mountain range stands at approximately 5,000 feet and the cloud cover was at approximately 7,000 feet, the interviewee stated he believed the light was travelling somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 feet above ground level (AGL).
This is a recognized and in principle valid method of estimation: if an object is seen above the ridgeline but below the cloud base, its altitude can be bracketed between the two values. It does not turn the estimate into a measurement, since it rests on an assessment of the height of the range and of the cloud base at that moment, but it is a considerable improvement on an unreasoned assertion.
The sync-up: six to ten more lights
After approximately 15 minutes of watching the first light, more lights appeared, approximately six to ten of them, directly over their position. These, along with the first-observed light, appeared to "sync up" and travelled to the east or southeast.
The word the interviewee chose, and which the agent took care to preserve in quotation marks, is the key one: "sync up." It describes coordinated behavior among several objects rather than the incidental motion of unrelated bodies. The agent did not paraphrase the expression and did not gloss it, but left it as spoken.
During this time, one of the lights descended rapidly, an estimated approximately 1,000 feet, and then disappeared. The other lights continued east or southeast and disappeared as well.
This is the element that does not appear in FBI-UAP-D037. There the account describes single lights or pairs, including lights at very low elevation and one that descended into a dry wash. Here we have a larger group, in common motion, with one of them dropping sharply.
The truncated description
The last part of the available text is also the technically most important, and unfortunately it is cut off.
The interviewee described the lights as red in color, and stated that at first glance, as well as when observed through Night Optical Devices (NODs), they appeared as a single point of light, however upon closer observation -- and there the first page ends and the text breaks off.
The completion of that observation is not available in the released pages we hold. This is a genuine gap, because the difference between what was seen at first glance and what was seen on closer observation was precisely the most significant detail in FBI-UAP-D037, where the first witness reported that lights appearing "dash-shaped" to the naked eye appeared orb-like and haloed through the night vision optics. It is possible the second witness was about to describe something similar, but that is speculation only, and the document does not support it.
It is important not to fill that gap with a guess. So far as the available text goes, the document ends with the words "however upon closer observation."
The relationship to FBI-UAP-D037: what the documents do and do not establish
This is the part that requires precision.
What the documents do establish: the official war.gov description of both documents states expressly that they record two interviewees who were present together. The wording in FBI-UAP-D040 is "A second individual who was present during the incidents at the time also provided an interview, recorded in this collection as 'FBI-UAP-D037.'" The FBI catalogued the two documents together, gave both the same internal title, "Multiple Red Lights, 2026," and prepared a pair of digital renderings for each.
What the documents do not establish from their own visible text: the released text does not allow independent confirmation that this is exactly the same evening. The dates are redacted in both. The recorded times do not align precisely: in FBI-UAP-D037 the two set out at about 7:45 PM and the first sighting occurs at about 8:00 to 8:30 PM, whereas here arrival at the gate is at approximately 2100 and the first light is seen at approximately 2200 after a drive of some 25 miles. The official description of FBI-UAP-D037 speaks of three incidents within a five-hour period, whereas this document concerns two incidents, and its internal heading refers to a span of two dates.
The careful reading is this: we have two accounts by two people whom the FBI states were present together at the events, describing red lights in the western United States in 2026 in mutually consistent terms, but the timing details of the sequences described cannot be fully reconciled on the basis of the released pages alone. They may refer to different evenings within the same series, and the redactions and ordinary variation in recollection may equally explain the discrepancy. The documents do not settle it.
The corroborative value of the two accounts survives this, and is arguably strengthened by the mismatch: two interviewees questioned separately, by different methods, giving similar but not identical descriptions, is a pattern more characteristic of authentic testimony than two perfectly identical statements would be.
Two digital renderings accompany this document. FBI-UAP-D041 shows a person in a desert landscape at night with several red light sources; FBI-UAP-D042 shows a streak of light over a mountainous landscape as seen through binoculars. Both are artist reconstructions prepared from the observers' descriptions, not photographs of the event.
Significance
This is a corroborating document rather than a standalone one, and it should be assessed as such. It is short, it is partial, and it rests on a telephonic interview with a single agent. It does not contain the strongest details of its companion account: there is no watch anomaly, no lights six feet off the ground, and no thermal verification attempt.
It nevertheless contributes three real things.
First, its very existence: it turns the observation from the testimony of one person into the testimony of two, questioned separately and by different methods.
Second, the altitude estimate: bracketing the light between 5,000 and 7,000 feet above ground level on the basis of the ridgeline height and the cloud base is among the better-reasoned estimates one finds in eyewitness testimony of this kind, and it at least permits a quantitative discussion.
Third, the sync-up: a group of six to ten lights moving in concert with a previously observed light, one of which drops approximately 1,000 feet and disappears. Coordinated motion among multiple objects is a fundamentally different observation from a single light, and it is the unique element this document adds to the collection.
And as in its companion document, the caveat printed at the foot of the form itself bears repeating: the document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It makes no determination whatever as to the nature of the lights.
Key People
| Role | Identity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The interviewee | Redacted | U.S. person; interviewed by telephone; the second witness to the same series of events |
| The other individual present | Redacted | Present at the events; per the official description, interviewed separately in FBI-UAP-D037 |
| The Special Agent | Redacted | Conducted the telephonic interview; a single agent, unlike the two agents in FBI-UAP-D037 |
Locations
| Location | Details |
|---|---|
| Western United States | The only general location left visible in the released pages |
| The gate at the entrance to the area | Where they waited for the heavy rain to subside; unlocked at approximately 2100 |
| The road north from the gate | Approximately 25 miles to the observation point |
| The mountain range to the west | Estimated at approximately 5,000 feet; the first light was seen at its crest |
Incidents
| Incident | Date | Location | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrival at the gate in heavy rain; waiting for the rain to subside; unlocking the gate and driving north | 2026, approx. 2100 | Western United States | 1 |
| A red light at the crest of the mountain range to the west, judged to be between 5,000 and 7,000 feet AGL, begins moving east | 2026, approx. 2200, after about 25 miles | Western United States | 1 |
| Approximately 6 to 10 more lights appear directly overhead, appear to sync up with the first light and travel east or southeast | 2026, about 15 minutes after the first sighting | Western United States | 1 |
| One of the lights descends rapidly, an estimated 1,000 feet, and disappears; the others continue east or southeast and disappear as well | 2026, during the same period | Western United States | 1 |
Notable Quotes
"[Redacted] interviewed telephonically by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent (SA) [redacted]. After being advised of the identity of the interviewing agent, [redacted] provided the following information." -- page 1
"When they arrived at the gate to [redacted] it was raining heavily, so they waited for the rain to subside, which it [did] shortly thereafter." -- page 1
"At approximately 2200, after they had gone approximately 25 miles, [redacted] noticed a red light at the crest of the mountain range to their west and pulled over to investigate. Initially, [redacted] thought the light was something on the mountain, but it began to move to the east." -- page 1
"Due to the mountain range being approximately 5000 feet and the cloud cover being at approximately 7000 feet, [redacted] stated he believed the light was traveling somewhere between 5000 and 7000 feet above ground level (AGL)." -- page 1
"After approximately 15 minutes, as [redacted] watched this light, multiple more (approximately 6 to 10) lights appeared directly over their position. These lights, along with the first-observed light, appeared to 'sync up' and traveled to the east/southeast." -- page 1
"During this time, one of the lights descended rapidly (estimated approximately 1000 feet), then disappeared. The other lights continued east/southeast and disappeared as well." -- page 1
"[Redacted] described the lights as red in color and stated that at first glance, as well as when observed through Night Optical Devices (NODs), the lights appeared as a single point of light, however upon closer observation," -- page 1, the text breaks off at the page boundary
"This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI." -- page 1
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