Red orbs are among the most persistent yet least understood categories of unidentified aerial phenomena. Across military encounters, law enforcement investigations, and civilian reports, witnesses repeatedly describe glowing crimson or orange-red spheres that move silently, hover for extended periods, accelerate abruptly, or split into multiple objects.

In its June 2026 release of declassified UAP files, the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) disclosed one of its most compelling unresolved cases: federal law enforcement officers reported watching a large "mother orb" release multiple smaller red orbs during a two-day encounter at a sensitive U.S. site.

Former AATIP director Luis Elizondo has described six test pilots at an Alabama military facility allegedly pursued by red orbs , military aviators have reported similar encounters in flight with objects zooming off and going into the ocean , and we have seen red orb sightings reported all around the world, including places like Sudan - seen here on X .

Across these accounts, witnesses consistently describe a glowing red object, typically moving silently, prolonged hovering or slow drifting, sudden bursts of acceleration, and, in some cases, splitting into multiple orbs.

Historical Context

WWII Foo Fighters (1942–1945): Foo fighters were glowing, fast-moving orbs, red, orange, or white, that trailed Allied and Axis aircraft on both fronts, matching every turn a plane made yet never attacking. Wartime investigators ruled out flares, exhaust flames, weather balloons, and St. Elmo's fire; the phenomenon was never conclusively explained.

• Direct-Fire Encounters: A Polish bomber pilot serving in the RAF fired tracer rounds at one “Foo Fighter” during a 1942 return flight from a raid over Germany. The rounds passed straight through with no deflection or damage; the object repositioned to the aircraft's other wing and held station at close range. One of the few documented attempts to physically engage a foo fighter, and its outcome ruled out flares, flak, and other conventional explanations considered at the time.
• Documented Squadron Sightings : The 415th Night Fighter Squadron near Strasbourg logged the first official sighting in November 1944. Reports spread quickly across both Allied and Axis crews, with similar objects seen over Europe, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands through the end of the war.

Cold War Space Age (1965–1969): As the U.S. space program pushed into orbit and beyond, astronauts became a new class of witness, describing unidentified objects and lights on live mission audio and film that mission control could never fully account for.

• Gemini 7 Mission : Astronauts reported an unidentified "bogey at 10 o'clock high" to mission control, later clarified as not a threat.

• Apollo 12 : NASA archival photographs showed unidentified objects above the lunar horizon.

PURSUE Declassification Era (2026): Under the Pentagon's PURSUE transparency initiative, the U.S. government released federal law enforcement, FBI, and civilian case files on red orb encounters from the past several years, several of which AARO and the FBI separately assessed as among their most credible and compelling current holdings.

• The "Mother Orb" Launch : Federal law enforcement officers near a sensitive U.S. site reported a sphere appearing to release smaller red orbs on repeated occasions over two days, part of AARO's ongoing unresolved-case file.

• The Backyard Twin Spheres: Two witnesses in the northeastern U.S. described a brilliant red sphere, roughly a meter wide with a white "plasma sun" core, hovering 25 feet off the ground before a second identical orb appeared and both moved off together in silence.

• Red Orb Rotation : A witness in the northeastern U.S. reported two bright red lights near the horizon roughly 2,500 feet away, largely stationary except for the lower light slowly shifting position relative to the upper one, with no sound heard.

Red orbs exhibit the same behaviors across decades and continents. They also recur near military installations and critical infrastructure. That repeatability is what separates red orbs from ordinary objects.

Theories

Red orb sightings have drawn a range of explanations across the decades, none of which cover the full spread of reported behavior.

• Deployable drone or munition system: Some researchers point to the AARO "mother orb" case as evidence of this, given the observed launch behavior.

• Atmospheric causes (ball lightning, re-entry debris): Both can produce a reddish glow, and are commonly cited to explain red orb reports.

• Conventional light sources: Skeptics argue that flares, lanterns, and distant aircraft lights explain a meaningful share of reports.

None of the above fully account for cases involving silent hovering (commercial drones are not silent), splitting, or sudden high-speed departure. Despite official acknowledgment and competing theories, the origin of most red orb reports remains undetermined.

Enigma Data & Insights

We identified 365 approved sightings describing a red, reddish, or crimson orb, sphere, or circular light.

Where Red Orb Sightings Occur

• California (38 sightings)
• Florida (26 sightings)
• England (26 sightings)

Object Characteristics

Nearly half of witnesses describe the object hovering in place. 39% describe rapid or sudden movement, and 20% describe silent, soundless motion. Roughly 28% describe the object suddenly disappearing or vanishing rather than flying off, and 33% explicitly note no visible means of propulsion, no wings, rotors, or exhaust plume.

When Sightings Happen

Nearly 38% of red orb sightings with a recorded time occurred between 5 and 8 AM, a narrower and earlier window than Enigma's broader dataset, where most sightings cluster in the evening.

Sightings Near Critical Infrastructure

8 sightings within a 20-mile distance of Orlando’s Army Research Lab, including:

• #306194: A bright red orb moved west to south across the sky, visible for about two minutes before passing out of view. Altamonte Springs, FL (Dec 22, 2024)

• #312990 : A red orb with two parts fused together appeared while the witness was walking a dog, then took off rapidly upward. Orlando, FL (May 2, 2025)

• #325838 : Several red and white flashing lights, initially mistaken for drones, spread out over 5 to 10 miles. Apopka, FL (Dec 11, 2025)

7 sightings fall within 20 miles of Buckley Air Force Base, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, and Rocky Flats Plant, including:

• #285568 : Large object emerges and drops four pulsating red/orange orbs, maneuvering independently. Denver, CO (Nov 19, 2023)

• #333943 : A red orb appeared in the sky, stayed stationary for roughly 20 minutes, then vanished. Denver, CO (Jun 27, 2026)

• #278340 : Red light moved slowly and steadily across the sky; witness checked a star-map app and ruled out any known celestial object. Thornton, CO (Jun 27, 2023)

Other sightings that mention proximity to critical infrastructure:

• #333488 : Three red orbs seen from a college campus; near PAX River Naval Base. St. Mary's City, MD (Jun 14, 2026)
• #325980 : Numerous red orbs moving in odd patterns near Canadian Forces Base Suffield. Medicine Hat, Alberta (Dec 13, 2025)
• #322038 : Steady red orb seen from a plane window; witness later heard it may have been a military launch. Yucca Valley, CA (Oct 8, 2025)
• #313494 : Silent red orb descending, moving along the coastline toward Esquimalt Naval Base. Victoria, BC (Nov 5, 2022)
• #275076 : Red glowing object that shot out two more red orbs before all three merged back together and vanished near White Sands Missile Range. Capitan, NM (Feb 16, 2023)

Most of these encounters are witnessed by civilians and never enter an official record, even when they occur near a sensitive site. Enigma consolidates thousands of individual accounts into one searchable picture of where red orbs appear, when, and how often they recur near facilities of interest, turning what would otherwise be scattered, isolated reports into a documented pattern to be used for investigation.