According to a document released under the FBI’s PURSUE program, a senior U.S. intelligence official and a mixed team of federal and state personnel were involved in a daylight aerial search that turned into a chase of an unidentified “super‑hot” orb. The incident occurred in late 2025 at a U.S. military installation situated in a mountainous region. The official, identified only by the initials USPER, was aboard a helicopter bearing the call sign [CALL SIGN 1]. After leaving an operations center, the crew began a search of the mountain range following earlier eyewitness reports of luminous objects.
At 21:49 hours, the helicopter crew received a possible sighting report and moved to intercept the target. What they observed on the horizon was later described in the report as an orb hovering close to the ground, emitting a thermal signature the investigators called “super‑hot.” The object moved rapidly, prompting the helicopter to give chase.
Using Forward‑Looking Infrared (FLIR) and Night Vision Goggles (NVG), the crew pursued the orb for roughly 20 miles in a southeast direction. At 22:07 hours, the Joint Operations Center logged that five military aircraft were operating in the same airspace, conducting a training mission. The record does not specify the type of aircraft—whether fighters, transports, or helicopters—nor does it indicate whether the training flight was aware of the helicopter’s pursuit.
During the chase, the orb reportedly broke into multiple pieces before disappearing, eluding further detection by the FLIR and NVG equipment. The document does not state whether the object presented a collision risk to the military aircraft or the pursuing helicopter.
Key facts from the FBI filing include: The lack of documented coordination raises safety concerns, as the overlapping operations placed a helicopter and five military aircraft in close proximity to an unidentified, thermally intense object. The report does not clarify whether the training aircraft were aware of the chase, nor does it identify the nature of the orb beyond its thermal characteristics and maneuverability. The PURSUE program, which gathers reports from credible witnesses, classifies USPER as a senior intelligence official rather than a civilian observer, lending additional weight to the account.
The FBI document, titled “USPER Statement about UAP Sighting,” serves as the primary source for these details and underscores a procedural gap in airspace management during the event. While the orb’s ultimate fate remains unknown, the record highlights a scenario where a high‑temperature, fast‑moving unidentified object intersected with both a government‑led aerial pursuit and a concurrent military training exercise, presenting a tangible risk that, according to the filing, was not formally mitigated.
