Restricted test range (location redacted)

In September 2023, FBI special agents interviewed a witness — a supervisor at a U.S. military installation — in connection with a UAP sighting that occurred during active restricted-airspace test operations. The witness had personally restricted the airspace for scheduled tests that morning. At approximately 7:02 a.m., she and a group of contractors departed in three vehicles toward the test site. Between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m., while driving through a base access gate that malfunctioned on three attempts before opening on the fourth (with no prior or subsequent mechanical issues), the primary witness looked up and observed a cigar-shaped, metallic bronze object positioned southwest of her location, approximately 500 to 3,000 feet above a tree line roughly one mile to the southwest. The object was almost hovering and moving slowly from east to west. It displayed an extremely bright, diamond-white light on its eastern end, encircled by a ring, pointing southeast — described as being like looking directly into the sun. The object's length was estimated at two to three Blackhawk helicopters nose-to-tail; its width approximately one and a half Blackhawks, though the intense light may have obscured part of the body. The object was completely silent. The witness initially assumed it was an unauthorized aircraft violating her restricted airspace, but quickly concluded it was neither an aircraft nor a drone. She inched her vehicle forward while she and the front-seat passenger watched the object for five to ten seconds, after which it simply disappeared. The sky was clear with no clouds, and no contrails were left. No photos or video were taken. A passenger in the second vehicle independently reported seeing the object as well. The witness stated she would not have reported the sighting had she been alone, and noted that several coworkers subsequently mocked her for doing so. She had fifteen years of experience working at the installation and had been exposed to most U.S. military aircraft and drones, and had never seen anything like it. No vehicle interference was noted during the observation.