Case File · FBI · AATIP/UAPTF Era (2017-2021) Declassified June 12, 2026 · PURSUE Release 03

Triangle Orbs,” Northeastern United States, November 2021 — FBI Video

UFO Photographic / Video Evidence

In November 2021, at approximately 0500 local time in the northeastern United States, an eyewitness observed a bright light source near the horizon at an estimated distance of 2,000 feet. The light source initially appeared as a single intense luminous object before resolving into multiple…

November 2021
Northeastern United States

Incident Overview

November 2021, in the Northeastern United States, FBI preserved a sensor video that was declassified and published on June 12, 2026 as part of the third tranche of the Department of War’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE).

What the government released

In November 2021, at approximately 0500 local time in the northeastern United States, an eyewitness observed a bright light source near the horizon at an estimated distance of 2,000 feet. The light source initially appeared as a single intense luminous object before resolving into multiple lights exhibiting erratic rotational motion relative to one another. The object slowly moved laterally from left to right during the encounter. The eyewitness captured the video with a hand-held iPhone 12 Pro, resulting in unintended camera movement. The location was well known to the eyewitness and is sparsely populated.

The description above is derived from statements provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by the eyewitness to the event. The FBI assesses the individual who reported this event as highly credible. The subject matter described in files FBI-UAP-D004 through FBI-UAP-D008 and depicted in the video footage FBI-UAP-PR001 through FBI-UAP-PR003 corresponds to reports originating from the same general area in the northeastern United States.

Status of the case

Records released under the PURSUE program are designated unresolved by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which means the federal government has not concluded the events were anomalous, has not concluded they were conventional, and has not ruled out either possibility. Where AARO has offered a likely source for an item — an infrared sensor aboard a military aircraft, a commercial camera, or a known optical effect — that attribution is the agency’s working assessment rather than a final determination. Conventional candidates such as drones, balloons, flares, satellites, parallax and forced-perspective artifacts, and ordinary aircraft remain on the table for any unresolved case absent better data than a single sensor pass or a witness recollection.

Sources