AARO memo on western US orbs: what it records, what it doesn’t

An AARO summary memo, dated 5 June, covers a western US case in which federal agents reported seeing “orbs launching other orbs” near a sensitive national security site over two days in October 2023.^{1, 2} The AOL article, which describes the memo’s contents, is the source of that quote, and the phrase is the memo’s own description of what the agents saw.^{1, 2} EarthSky reports that the document, signed by Jon Kosloski, head of the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), states that the case is still unresolved.^{1, 2} We could not fetch the memo itself, so both accounts rest on news reports.^{1, 2}

What the witnesses reported

The New York Post quotes the memo as describing a luminous orange “mother orb” that appeared for one or two seconds. It released a cluster of two to four red orbs and disappeared. The pattern repeated over several hours.¹

According to the memo as quoted by the Post, the reporters (the witnesses) characterised the red orbs’ behaviour as anomalous, describing seemingly coordinated horizontal motion and apparent changes in altitude.¹ The Post’s own account adds that the orbs stayed silent and that one reportedly hovered over a ridgeline for hours.¹

The Post also reports that later FBI interviews placed the incident over Cheyenne Mountain, near Colorado Springs, Colorado.¹ Two observers described one red sphere as about one meter in diameter, with a centre like a basketball-sized “white plasma sun”.¹ These are witness estimates, and the location comes from a single outlet.¹

What was not recorded

According to the Post’s reading of the memo, the agents did not collect video, photographic imagery or other technical data during the incident.¹ The case therefore rests on witness narratives.¹ Nothing in the claims we have points to radar, infrared or other sensor data.

The images are recreations

EarthSky also reports that the ten images tied to the western US incidents are artist recreations, not photographs. The video of the western event is likewise described as an artistic recreation based on eyewitness reports.² One recreation shows five reddish orbs in a V-shaped formation and two pairs of white orbs.² These visuals illustrate testimony. They are not a record of the event.

Ordinary explanations the memo addresses

The Post reports the following, drawn from the memo.¹ The table sets them beside the evidence type behind each item.

Item	What is reported	Basis	Source
Memo and status	AARO summary memo dated 5 June 2026; two news outlets report it calls the case unresolved	News reports of the memo	1, 2
Witnesses	Six federal law enforcement agents, two days in October 2023, western US	Witness reports	1, 2
Reported behaviour	Orange “mother orb” appeared for one or two seconds, released two to four red orbs, vanished; repeated over several hours	Witness account, quoted by NY Post	1
Sensor data	No video, photographic imagery or other technical data collected; case rests on witness narratives	NY Post reading of memo	1
Flares from military aircraft	Listed as plausible; accounts “align with those of certain US military technologies”	NY Post, from memo	1
Aircraft exhaust	Ruled out	NY Post, from memo	1
Drone	Discounted because of the orbs’ loitering	NY Post, from memo	1
Foreign intelligence; weather, atmospheric, space-based	Foreign activity highly unlikely; the other causes unlikely	NY Post, from memo	1
Location and size	FBI interviews placed it over Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs; one red sphere about one meter across, per two observers	Witness estimates; one outlet	1
Public images and video	Ten images are artist recreations, not photographs; the western event video is also a recreation	EarthSky	2

In the Post’s account, military aircraft dispensing flares was listed as plausible. The memo also says the accounts “align with those of certain US military technologies”.¹ Aircraft exhaust was ruled out.¹ A drone, meaning an unmanned aerial vehicle, was discounted because of the orbs’ loitering.¹ Foreign intelligence activity was considered highly unlikely.¹ Meteorological, atmospheric and space-based anomalies were considered unlikely.¹

The reports do not say how each explanation was ruled out or discounted, what data was used, or who made the call.¹ Without the memo, we cannot say whether an explanation was tested against measurements or judged from the witness descriptions alone. Given that no technical data was collected, the second looks more likely, but that is an inference, not something the sources state.¹

Where the evidence stops

Two points stay open. The first is a tension in the explanations as quoted. Flares are called plausible and the accounts are said to align with certain US military technologies, yet the case is still described as unresolved.^{1, 2} The quoted summary does not reconcile these. A plausible explanation is not a confirmed one, and “unresolved” is not evidence of anything exotic.

The second is sourcing. The witness behaviour, the ordinary explanations and the Cheyenne Mountain location each rest on one outlet’s quotation of the memo.¹ The file count and the description of the images rest on a single EarthSky report.² The description of the case as unresolved also comes from EarthSky alone, and that report is not the memo.^{1, 2}

What to watch next

The next step is to read the memo itself, in the Pentagon’s third release of UAP files, and compare it with the quotations above.² Points to check are the exact wording on flares and “certain US military technologies”, the basis for discounting a drone, and whether any instrument data exists that the news reports did not mention.¹ Until then, the safest reading is narrow: federal law enforcement agents reported something they could not identify, no technical data was collected, and the memo, as reported, leaves the case open.^{1, 2}

This article was researched and drafted with the help of AI tools, then fact-checked against its sources and edited by a human before publication. Every source is linked below. If you spot an error, please tell us and we will correct it.

Sources

1. Feds left baffled by sighting of ‘orbs launching other orbs’ in western US, new UFO files reveal – AOL — aol.com, accessed 2026-10-03
2. 3rd batch of Pentagon UAP files: Orbs and more — earthsky.org, accessed 2026-10-03