Case File · FBI · AARO Disclosure Era (2022-present) Declassified June 12, 2026 · PURSUE Release 03

Orbs Over the Pond, October 2024 — FBI Video

UFO Photographic / Video Evidence

In October 2024, at approximately 1851 local time in the northeastern United States, an eyewitness observed a light source below the horizon, hovering above a pond at an estimated distance of 2,700 feet. The luminous object resembled a “plasma-like sphere” intermittently changing shape and…

October 2024
Northeastern United States

Incident Overview

October 2024, 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 October 2024, at approximately 1851 local time in the northeastern United States, an eyewitness observed a light source below the horizon, hovering above a pond at an estimated distance of 2,700 feet. The luminous object resembled a “plasma-like sphere” intermittently changing shape and luminosity. At times, the primary light source appeared to separate into smaller luminous points. A luminous point below the primary source hovered just above the water and did not appear consistent with a surface reflection. The object remained generally stationary for approximately 45 minutes before disappearing. The eyewitness did not hear any sound from the objects. This video was captured by a private citizen on an iPhone and subsequently analyzed and authenticated by the U.S. Government. To protect the individual’s privacy, the footage has been cropped. Apart from this privacy-protective measure, no edits, enhancements, or alterations have been made to the visual content.

The description above is derived from statements provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by an 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