At a U.S. test site, a large object moved slowly across the sky and vanished seconds later. No one who worked there took a photo.
A worker and two colleagues saw a large, silent object in the sky near a test site. It vanished after a few seconds. Another worker said he had seen it, too.
Heavily-redacted FBI FD-302 interview report documenting a witness's first-person account of a UAP sighting in September 2023 at a restricted U.S. test site. The witness, a contractor with approximately 15 years of experience working at the location, was driving to a test site shortly after 7:00 am when she observed a silent, cigar-shaped, metallic-bronze object with an intense diamond-white light hovering and slowly drifting east-to-west southwest of her position. The object was watched for five to ten seconds with another witness in her vehicle before disappearing; a passenger in a second vehicle reportedly also saw it. No photos or video were taken, and the witness reported a small anomaly with a remote-controlled gate immediately before the sighting.
Around 7:15-7:30 am, the witness drove to a remotely operated gate that initially failed to fully open on three attempts before opening completely on the fourth. After driving through the gate she looked up and saw a cigar-shaped object with an extremely bright light approximately 500 to 3,000 feet above the tree line, roughly one mile southwest of her position. The object was already there when she looked up, was nearly hovering, and slowly moved east-to-west. After 5-10 seconds of observation it 'just disappeared' from a clear, cloudless sky. A passenger in her vehicle and another contractor in a second vehicle also reportedly saw it.
"cigar shaped object with an extremely bright light southwest of them approximately 500 to 3000 feet above the nearest tree line"
Why it matters: Core morphology and altitude estimate.
Page 2
"The light was an intense diamond white light with what appeared to be a ring around the light and was located on the eastern end of the object."
Why it matters: Distinctive luminous feature with structured ring around it.
Page 2
"looking at it (the light) was like looking into the sun"
Why it matters: Subjective intensity comparison from a technically experienced witness.
Page 2
"metallic bronze in color"
Why it matters: Color description; notably the manifest description quotes 'metallic/gray' rather than 'metallic bronze' — discrepancy worth flagging.
Page 2
"the length of two or three Blackhawk helicopters lined up nose to tail"
Why it matters: Concrete size estimate from a witness familiar with military aircraft.
Page 2
"The object was completely silent."
Why it matters: Lack of acoustic signature for a large hovering/drifting object.
Page 2
"They watched the object for five to ten seconds and then the object just disappeared."
Why it matters: Sudden disappearance in a clear, cloudless sky.
Page 2
"did not have reported the object if she had seen it by herself. Several of her co-workers subsequently made fun of her due to her report."
[REDACTED] primary witness
Contractor / project lead who restricted airspace for upcoming tests; primary FBI interviewee · Page 1
[REDACTED] passenger in first vehicle
Co-witness riding with primary witness · Page 1
[REDACTED] passenger in second vehicle
Reported having also seen the object · Page 2
[REDACTED] supervisor
Sat in on the FBI interview · Page 1
[REDACTED] interviewing agents
FBI agents conducting the FD-302 interview · Page 1
[REDACTED U.S. test site / base], United States
Page 1
Blackhawk helicopter (used as size reference)
aircraft · Page 2
Cigar-shaped object with intense diamond-white light
ground · Page 2
Header banner / classification line at top of page 1 ('S22 Orricia, Recorp' is OCR garble of a redacted/stamped header)
Likely reason: Classification or office/stamp marking
Date stamp / time stamp at top right of page 1
Likely reason: Routine PII or internal stamp
Date of entry month redacted ('10 _/2023')
Likely reason: Specific date possibly tied to identifying timeline
Witness identity / names of interviewees and pronouns/identifiers throughout opening paragraph
Likely reason: Personal identifying information (PII) of witnesses and contractors
Specific September 2023 date of the sighting (day redacted)
Likely reason: Could narrow witness or location identification
Name/affiliation of contractors and the project ('contractors working on a special project with [REDACTED]')
Likely reason: Government contractor / program identity, possibly classified program
Location of the restricted test airspace ('She had restricted the air space in [REDACTED], [REDACTED]')
Likely reason: Location of restricted U.S. test range / facility
Type of brief received ('the bases’ standard [REDACTED] brief')
Likely reason: Specific safety/security brief name; possibly identifies the base or program
Two-page FBI FD-302 (Rev. 5-8-10) interview report, fully OCR'd (ocr_ratio 1.0). Heavily redacted: every name, the specific September 2023 day, the test-site location/road/area names, the contractor/project identity, the case file number, the FBI office/agent identity, and the specific facility name are blacked out. The redaction pattern is consistent with PII protection of contractor witnesses plus suppression of the specific U.S. military test range / restricted facility identity (and possibly the program). The catalog title labels this as 'Serial 4' but the slug/filename is 'serial-3'; the manifest pairing field points to 'Serial 4 Redacted_Redacted' — bookkeeping mismatch between war.gov title and filename. Companions per task: 158 (serial 5) and 160 (serial 4). Likely all three FD-302s document the same September 2023 incident from different witnesses (the primary witness, her front-vehicle passenger, and the second-vehicle contractor who also reported seeing the object). The aggregator should treat 158/159/160 as a corroborated multi-witness incident cluster.
The worker and two colleagues watched it together. A worker in another vehicle later said he had seen it, too.
The FBI interview record offers no explanation. There were no photos or videos that could help identify the object.
Why it matters: Witness credibility/social-cost detail; only reported because corroborated.
Page 2
"had seen most of the aircraft and drones used by the US military during her fifteen years working at"
Why it matters: Establishes witness's experience baseline — 15 years at the (redacted) facility, familiar with U.S. military aircraft and drones.
Page 2
"There were no prior operational problems with that particular gate and there were no operating issues with the gate after"
Why it matters: Notes the gate-fob anomaly is unique to that morning.
Page 1
Witness role/identifier in vehicle assignments ('first vehicle with [REDACTED]; third vehicles')
Likely reason: PII of co-workers / contractors
Road/route name traveled to the gate ('drove down [REDACTED] to a gate')
Likely reason: Specific internal road name that would identify the facility
Area beyond the gate ('part of the [REDACTED]')
Likely reason: Identifies a sub-area of the facility
Date qualifier after gate-anomaly description ('after September [REDACTED]')
Likely reason: Specific date
Investigation location field on FD-302 footer
Likely reason: Specific city/state/office of investigation
File# and 'by' (case file number and reporting agent identity) at bottom of page 1
Likely reason: Internal FBI case file number and agent name
Page header continuation block (FD-302a continuation slug, redacted subject line)
Likely reason: Case identifier / subject line
Witness pronouns / names throughout narrative ('[REDACTED] was initially annoyed', '[REDACTED] inched her vehicle forward', etc.)
Likely reason: Witness PII
Name of passenger co-witness in first vehicle
Likely reason: Co-witness PII
Name of contractor in second vehicle who also saw the object
Likely reason: Co-witness PII
Name of facility where witness worked for fifteen years ('working at [REDACTED]')
Likely reason: Facility identification
On the morning of September 1, 2023, a worker drove through a gate at a U.S. military test site. When she looked up, she saw a large, silent object in the sky, with a bright white light at one end.
She and two colleagues watched it for a few seconds. Then it vanished, leaving no photo or video behind. A worker in another vehicle later said he had seen it, too.
The worker was heading to the site with colleagues for tests scheduled that morning. A test site is a place where equipment or systems are tested. Airspace in the area had been restricted in preparation for the tests.
When they reached the gate, the workers tried to open it remotely. It opened partway and then closed again, several times. On the fourth try, it opened fully and stayed open. As she drove through, the worker noticed the object.
She told FBI investigators. The FBI is the federal agency that investigates crimes in the United States. She was driving, with two colleagues in the vehicle, and they all watched the object.
The worker described a cigar-shaped object with a metallic bronze color. At one end was a bright white light that seemed to have a ring around it. The light was so intense that she felt as though she were looking at the sun.
The object appeared almost stationary, but was moving slowly from east to west. It was as long as two or three military helicopters placed end to end, and completely silent. The worker pulled the vehicle forward a little, and she and her colleague continued watching it.
After five to ten seconds, the object vanished. The women searched the sky but did not see it again. According to the worker, the sky was clear, and the object left no trace.
Later, a worker in another vehicle said he had seen the object, too. No one who worked there took a photo. The worker said she would not have reported it if she had seen it alone. After she reported it, some of her colleagues mocked her.
It is not known what the object was or why it vanished. The FBI interview record offers no conventional explanation, and there were no photos or videos that could help identify it.
Three women watched it. Then all that remained was an empty sky.