WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say they have identified a site in the Northeast where mysterious glowing orbs have repeatedly appeared in the night sky, bringing them closer to explaining a UFO case that has lingered for years.
The existence of the location is being revealed Friday in a third batch of UFO-related files made public under President Trump’s February declassification order. Authorities, however, are still withholding the exact site.
The sightings date back to 2021 and have surfaced sporadically since then. What makes Friday’s disclosure especially notable is the account of a local resident who contacted the FBI in October 2024. Investigators consider the witness credible, and the person also captured cellphone video showing the orbs — including footage in which they appear to multiply.
According to the newly released material, the witness turned over four videos to the FBI, and those recordings are included in the latest document release.
Before moving forward, officials reviewed the files to determine they were not part of a hoax. FBI agents then traveled to the area identified by the witness and, according to the release, observed the glowing orbs firsthand during their visit.
After receiving the video files, which were inspected to ensure they were not part of a hoax, FBI agents undertook a site visit and saw the orbs themselves.
The earliest video, from 2021, shows a single bright but distant orb appearing to replicate into at least three orbs over the course of about two minutes.
A 2022 video of similar duration shows two orbs of a more reddish hue appearing to hover in proximity to each other.
A 2024 video, lasting more than four minutes, shows a single brightly colored orb seeming to change size.
The final video from the area, lasting under a minute, is from 2025 and again shows a pair of reddish orbs hovering together.
The informant “observed these objects in the vicinity of and sometimes as close as 200 yards from [his] residence. These objects have been observed hovering in a static position, and moving. They are sometimes observed above the horizon, as well as close to the ground, within the trees, and in or near the water,” a declassified FBI file says.
“[He] has privately consulted with multiple people regarding [the] observations, and has set up trail cameras and other sensors to collect data from [the] property [and has] seen spikes in Gamma radiation that correlate with times [he] has observed the objects, and additional unusual effects on electronics and GPS data from devices.”
The tipster further reported that a neighbor also had seen the orbs.
An FBI file from November 2024 said that two agents visited the man’s home, described as being on a secluded pond, and found an array of unexplained lights.
A “white light” was observed that “danced around [for] less than ten seconds, moving side to side, and then disappeared.”
Agents then saw that “within the tree line to the west of [the informant’s] home, there were other lights observed by Agents. On multiple occasions, [a special agent] observed white lights appear at the top of the tree line. These lights would pulse and flash” with a “white/blue hue and then disappear.”
The same file says agents saw “plumes of broad light appearing for several seconds before a flash of light, either red or white appeared, and moved erratically before disappearing” and that a “bright white light above a bright red light at the far end of the pond hovered at a approximately tree-top height, moved quickly from right to left, disappeared, then re-appeared simultaneously where it had first appeared, moved quickly from right to left and disappeared again. Both Agents observed this activity.”
The FBI team took five blurry photos during that visit, according to the files, and deemed drones or other aircraft improbable explanations for what they witnessed.
Authorities do not yet know the nature of the orbs, and are not speculating about their origin pending further study.
The pinpointing of a geographic location where orbs are frequently seen is significant because the videos are similar to descriptions supplied by eyewitnesses from other areas.
Earlier releases of the UFO files have included reports of orb isightings in the western US, including by officials deep in a restricted mountain range just last year.
An intelligence officer present during that episode, which was detailed in a May release of files, described orbs of similar appearance emerging in close proximity to his helicopter. Fighter jets were called to investigate. That officer reported being “virtually speechless,” noting the orbs appeared to “chase” the jets.
Other locations have been the sites of fleeting reports that do not allow for the deployment of scientific equipment that could more deeply analyze the phenomena.
Trump and his senior officials have not commented on the possible causes of unexplained aerial phenomena, and records released to date have varied in corroboration.
The president has said that he is skeptical about the existence of alien life, but ordered the release of UFO files after former President Barack Obama said of aliens during a Feburary interview: “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them.”
