Senior USIC Official USPER Narrative

The ODNI-UAP-D001, USPER Narrative, Senior USIC Official is a two-page written account produced on 2026-05-26 by an anonymous Senior U.S. Intelligence Officer (Anonymous) employed within the US intelligence community (USIC). The document was collected as part of the PURSUE collection of UAP-related records and is held by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). It narrates the officer’s direct experience during the Late 2025 test range UAP helicopter encounter, a multi-hour airborne mission over a military test range conducted in late 2025 in which the crew encountered multiple Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).

The mission originated at the Joint Operations Center (JOC), from which the officer, a colleague, and two pilots departed by helicopter during early evening daylight hours.¹ The stated purpose was to investigate loud thuds reported in the mountains that had coincided with orb-like UAP sightings over the preceding several nights,² with the team tasked specifically to search remote mountain areas for any debris or objects that might account for the sightings.³ Flying a low-altitude nap-of-the-earth route through the mountain range for several hours,⁴ the crew inspected debris fields on multiple occasions, identifying each time the remains of rockets and projectiles from years of weapons testing on the range.⁵ During this phase they also discovered a large cave entrance with no visible end; the terrain precluded a landing, so the officer directed the pilot to orbit the entrance for observation before noting the location and continuing.^6,7

After stopping at a rendezvous point to drop off the colleague⁸ and refuelling at a prepositioned tanker, the reduced crew received a tasking from the JOC to inspect a mountain for debris reported by a ground team.¹⁰ By this point the sun had set; the pilots switched to forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and night vision goggles (NVG) while the officer continued observing with the naked eye.¹¹ The mountain search yielded nothing,¹² and as the crew turned back toward the JOC, the JOC messaged that radar had detected hits several miles uprange in an area of prior UAP activity.¹³ The officer relayed the information to the pilots, the helicopter altered course to intercept, and a sequence of close UAP encounters lasting over an hour began.¹⁴

During the intercept phase, ground teams reported via radio that a UAP observed on FLIR appeared super-hot, was low to the ground, and moved east then south at high speed before splitting into two and changing direction.^15,16 As the helicopter arrived on station, the same ground team reported the object had risen from the ground, approached within approximately three metres of the helicopter, dropped below it, and then accelerated away.¹⁸ The pilots, observing through NVG, witnessed a smaller object emerge from the UAP before it departed at a speed the helicopter could not match despite a brief pursuit.^19,20 The JOC then informed the crew that fighter jets had launched on a training mission in the area and requested their assistance identifying the UAP.²¹ Directed to fresh radar detections, the helicopter took up a hovering position at approximately 210 metres above ground level (AGL),²² at which point the team observed countless orange orbs swarming in all directions against the mountain backdrop, a display that lasted several minutes before fading.²³

The closest direct observation described in the narrative occurred when two large oval-shaped orbs, orange with a white or yellow centre and emitting light in all directions, flared up stationary and just above the rotor disk to the crew’s right.^25,26 Seconds later a third orb appeared below the pair and a fourth below that, producing a formation of four or five orbs arranged in a T shape;²⁷ the orbs then dimmed in reverse order and vanished, the entire sequence lasting 10 to 15 seconds.²⁸ The officer stated that no photographs were taken, the focus having been on assessing what the objects were and whether they constituted a threat.²⁹ Shortly afterwards the team observed fighter jets entering visual range at approximately 7,000 metres AGL, identified by their navigation lights,³¹ and witnessed orbs of the same type appearing directly above the jets, flaring in a horizontal formation while matching the aircraft’s speed and heading before dimming sequentially after 10 to 15 seconds;^32,33 this pattern repeated several times until the jets landed.³³ Additional orbs flared around the helicopter, forming a triangle before disappearing.³⁵ Low on fuel, the crew returned to the JOC; the officer described the crew as virtually speechless on landing and entered the JOC for a brief debrief before departing.^36,37