In an image from video provided by the Department of Defense labelled Gimbal, from 2015, an unexplained object is seen at center as it is tracked as it soars high along the clouds, traveling against the wind. (U.S. Department of Defense)

The White House released its third tranche of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena files on Friday, including first-hand accounts from government agents claiming to have observed mysterious flying objects.

The files feature a memo detailing a federal law enforcement agent’s account of seeing “a large glowing ball to our right 90 degrees from where we were.” The agent claimed to have observed the phenomenon in October 2023 in the western United States, according to the memo.

“While it was lit, it appeared three red lights flew out of and away from it. They seemed evenly spaced apart and moved pretty fast, quickly disappearing from sight. At the same time the orange light lit up, there appeared to be a flash from over the horizon to the left. The flash lit up the sky pretty well, though very briefly,” the agent’s account says.

About 20 minutes later, the official said the experience repeated, but with an orange ball.

“This time, however, the red lights appeared to leave in a different pattern as one flew straight out, one appeared to fly up horizontally, and another flew down horizontally, appearing to fly away in a vertical alignment of three lights,” the official said.

The files state that some of the UAP sightings occurred near sensitive government facilities. The tranche also includes videos, filmed by individuals and deemed credible by the FBI, appearing to show orbs emitting red and yellow light. The orbs appear to split apart before joining back together.

In July 2025, an eyewitness in a sparsely populated location in the northeast observed an intensely bright light in their backyard.

“The center of the red sphere appeared to be a white plasma ‘sun’ about the size of a basketball,” the report says. “The orb slowly rose and moved to the left, and both eyewitnesses observed a second, identical orb, hovering above the other orb.”

“The witnesses described the orbs’ motion as silent and smooth, and as moving in tandem as though they were flying in formation or tethered together. As the orbs moved out of sight, both eyewitnesses saw them appear to merge,” the report continued. The eyewitnesses estimated that the orbs moved from their initial position before disappearing from view at an estimated distance of 75 yards.” Their account was deemed credible by the FBI.

A sighting of “orbs over the pond” occurred in a similar location on October 2024, according to the files. An eyewitness reported seeing a “luminous object” that looked like a “plasma-like sphere” which was “intermittently changing shape and luminosity.”

“At times, the primary light source appeared to separate into smaller luminous points,” the report says. “A luminous point below the primary source hovered just above the water and did not appear consistent with a surface reflection.”

The files also feature a rendering of a sparkly balloon-like oval floating above the mountains of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The records draw no conclusions or theories to explain the orb sightings.

When asked about the UFO files by the Daily Signal in April, President Donald Trump said pilots reported things “that you wouldn’t believe.”

“So, you’re going to be reading about it,” he said.

🚨@POTUS tells @DailySignal he will release “as much as we can in the near future” of the UFO files.🛸

“I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people.”

“I’ve interviewed people my first term, primarily, but I interviewed some pilots, very solid people, and they… pic.twitter.com/9SXgceQN7b

— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) April 29, 2026

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]