NYT: What Is Out There? The Findings So Far of a Trump-Backed U.F.O. Panel.

jdog

Senior Member.
The New York Times reports on the Trump administration's UAP advisory panel featuring Avi Loeb, Tim Gallaudet, Garry Nolan. (This should be a gift link that lets anyone see the story without a subscription, though you need a free NYT account.)
External Quote:

The alien hunters are in charge now.

Or at least President Trump has stocked a new advisory council on U.F.O.s with a number of scientists who embrace the idea that alien technology may be lurking among us.

The new panel was created this summer amid the administration's rollout of government records about "unidentified anomalous phenomena," or U.A.P.s, as they are now officially called. It's tasked with helping unlock the mysteries of such objects.
I figured this story was worth sharing given the NYT's history of mainstreaming UFO culture, particularly with their Elizondo-driven 2017 article about the military videos.
The story hook is "As the council dives into its work, The Times took a look at the six tranches of files released this year and asked the panel and its detractors for their takes."

"What have they found?" seems like an early question to ask at this point; the answer boils down to "not much, check back later." There are a few skeptical takes on the whole effort.

There are a few paragraphs about an Oct. 2023 "fiery orb" sighting by investigators that doesn't sound familiar to me.
 
a few paragraphs about an Oct. 2023 "fiery orb" sighting by investigators that doesn't sound familiar to me.
I can;t get the article to open, but I wonder if it is it's this one:

https://www.metabunk.org/threads/war-gov-ufo-department-of-war-releases-uap-files-2026-release-3.14949/

Note: When I try to enclose the following as from an external source, it truncates it, so I have not done so. Apologies.

1. Western US Event, October 2023 — the case file


DOW-UAP-D077, AARO Unresolved Case Analysis Update: Western United States Event
AARO Case Analysis Update memo, signed Jon T. Kosloski, Director, AARO, dated 05 June 2026. Six federal law enforcement special agents (three teams of two), two days in October 2023, dusk, near a "sensitive national security site" in the western US. Pattern: an orange "mother orb" appears 1-2 s, releases 2-4 red "orbs," disappears; in one account a red orb stayed "stationary above a ridgeline for several hours." No video, photos, or sensor data — narrative only.

AARO's own disposition: flight logs confirm military aircraft were dispensing IR countermeasure flares in the area as part of a standard exercise, and radar/ADS-B correlation "strongly aligns" with ~60% of the reported activity. The residual ~40% is carried as "Unrecognized Technology (Pending)" — explicitly exclusion-based and "unsubstantiated by technical data or physical evidence." Celestial misidentification is rated "more plausible, though still unlikely" for the stationary-loitering subset. The Blue Force section notes the described characteristics "align with those of certain U.S. military technologies," with records "inconclusive" on presence.

DOW-UAP-D078, Notional Map: Western United States Event

Notional overhead map of four incidents "over a period of several days" (the D077 memo says two days): 1 "Orbs Launching Orbs," 2 "Fiery Orb" (~1,000 yd, against a ridgeline), 3 "Dark Kite" (thin dark kite-shaped object, one red and one white light, close range), 4 "Translucent Kite" (close range). genai.mil disclosure bottom-right.

Witness narrative statements (each a first-person memo to AARO):

  • DOW-UAP-D079, Narrative Statement 1, Western United States Event, 2023 (Western United States, October, 2023) — This memorandum presents the first-hand narrative from Witness 1 provided to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Witness 1 was one of several United States (U.S.) federal law enforcement special agents who reported observing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023 in the western United States. Note: also describes "thick spider web looking material" floating in the air — classic "angel hair," and October is peak ballooning-spider season.
  • DOW-UAP-D080, Narrative Statement 2, Western United States Event, 2023 (Western United States, October, 2023) — This memorandum presents the first-hand narrative from Witness 2 provided to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Witness 2 was one of several United States (U.S.) federal law enforcement special agents who reported observing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023 in the western United States. Note: includes car headlights "morphing" into an orb-like light and an "orb-like-disc" gliding to the roadside that was gone when they reached it; compares the experience to "portals."
  • DOW-UAP-D081, Narrative Statement 3, Western United States Event, 2023 (Western United States, October, 2023) — This memorandum presents the first-hand narrative from Witness 3 provided to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Witness 3 was one of several United States (U.S.) federal law enforcement special agents who reported observing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023 in the western United States. Note: NVG-equipped; orange orb crossed ~20° of sky in 3-5 s, expelled three red orbs "mechanical[ly]" "like grapes being expelled from a basketball," red orbs ran south in a line at ~1 s spacing; orbs were gone when a nearby vehicle left.
  • DOW-UAP-D082, Narrative Statement 4, Western United States Event, 2023 (Western United States, October, 2023) — This memorandum presents the first-hand narrative from Witness 4 provided to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Witness 4 was one of several United States (U.S.) federal law enforcement special agents who reported observing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023 in the western United States.
  • DOW-UAP-D083, Narrative Statement 5, Western United States Event, 2023 (Western United States, October, 2023) (redacted) — This memorandum presents the first-hand narrative from Witness 5 provided to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Witness 5 was one of several United States (U.S.) federal law enforcement special agents who reported observing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) over a period of two days in October 2023 in the western United States. Note: two red orbs released simultaneously, one steady and horizontal; all lights out in ~10 s — consistent with sequential flare burn-out.
AI renderings (FBI-prepared, genai.mil): FBI-UAP-D014/D015/D021 illustrate D079 (Incident 1); D016-D020/D022/D023 illustrate D080 (Incident 2). Links:

FBI-UAP-PR005, Digital Recreation, Narrative Statement 3-1, Western United States Event, 2023
 
That's it!
The NYT story has that map and this description:
External Quote:

Highlights From the New Files

Two federal agents were tasked in 2023 with investigating drone activity around sensitive sites in the western United States. On a clear October night, they came across a series of fast-moving lights. The agents turned off their headlights and sped toward the illuminated cluster, guided by night-vision equipment.

As they got closer, the lights converged into "one bright white/orange orb-like light with a halo-like glow," one of the agents reported in a recently declassified document. They got within 50 yards, then the object moved rapidly in a different direction and then shifted again when they tried following, before disappearing.

The agents pulled over. The orb reappeared. This time, it spawned a collection of orange and purple lights that whizzed over "four miles of rugged terrain." The fruitless pursuit resumed. One of the agents likened it to chasing "the flying car from the Harry Potter book series."

They were among half a dozen agents who "reported observing 'orbs launching other orbs'" over a two-day period, according to a recent Pentagon memorandum.
[map]
Whatever the origin, such enigmatic episodes are understandably tantalizing....
 
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