U.S. Conducted Successful UFO “Luring Operation,” Advocate Claims, as Government Files Detail Orb Encounters
Written by Christopher Sharp - 12 July 2026
A UFO advocacy figure has claimed that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence conducted a successful operation designed to attract unidentified objects over a sensitive U.S. government testing facility.
Jordan Flowers, executive director of the Disclosure Foundation, made the claim during an appearance on CBS News.
The Disclosure Foundation is an advocacy group focused on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAP.
Flowers said the incident could be understood by bringing together recently released government documents and statements made publicly by members of Congress.
He said:
“When we combine that information and synthesise it with some of the comments members of Congress are making about the classified briefings they are receiving, we end up reaching some astounding conclusions based solely on information that is publicly available.
“For instance, during the December 2025 incursion in the southwestern United States over a sensitive military facility, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was conducting a UAP-luring operation. That operation was wildly successful.
“It produced FLIR [forward-looking infrared] video and photographs of the orbs encountered as part of the operation. It resulted in an FBI 302 interview, as well as a personal statement from a senior intelligence official at ODNI, and precipitated a classified briefing for members of Congress, including [House Majority Leader Steve] Scalise and Representatives [Eric] Burlison and [Tim] Burchett.
“This event was described as incontrovertible proof that there is a real phenomenon here and as a core reason why transparency efforts have accelerated over the past few months.
“What is really interesting is that, when you synthesise that with Congressman Burlison’s public comments and the information provided, it suggests not only that AARO—the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office—and ODNI know this is a real phenomenon, but that they already have the technology and methods, with a proven track record, to lure and attract these things.
“So, suffice it to say, we need to synthesise what members of Congress are saying in addition to the data releases here. When you do that, you are able to reach some astounding conclusions using publicly available information.”
The event described by Flowers appears to be the same incident recorded in two government documents released under President Trump’s UAP disclosure initiative.
One was released in the first tranche of files and the other in the second.
The first document, titled USPER Statement about UAP Sighting, is described by the Department of War as an FBI 302 interview with a senior U.S. intelligence official who witnessed the encounter. An FBI 302 is the written record agents produce after interviewing a witness.
The second document, titled ODNI-UAP-D001, USPER Narrative, Senior USIC Official, was released in the second tranche. The Department of War describes it as a firsthand account written by a currently serving senior U.S. intelligence official who witnessed the encounters. The official was a passenger in the helicopter and described seeing glowing orbs both at close range and in the distance while a government team investigated unusual noises and UAP sightings in and around a sensitive military facility.
Together, the documents describe a series of encounters at a sensitive government testing site in the western United States in late 2025.
Although Flowers placed the event in the southwestern United States and said it occurred in December, the released records do not give the exact date or location.
The name of the facility, nearby towns, mountain range and coordinates remain hidden.
A Search for Orbs
According to the Department of War, the senior intelligence official was a passenger in a helicopter that left a Joint Operations Center with another official and two pilots.
The team was investigating unusual noises and reports of glowing orbs in and around the military facility. The objects had reportedly been seen over several previous nights, while personnel had also heard loud thuds in the surrounding mountains.
This led the crew to search for debris or other objects that might explain the sightings.
The helicopter flew low through the mountain range for several hours.
The crew examined several pieces of debris, but each was found to be part of old rockets or other projectiles left behind by years of weapons testing.
During the search, they also discovered a large cave entrance with no visible end.
There was nowhere safe to land, so the pilot circled the area before the crew recorded its location and continued the mission.
After dropping off one member of the team and refuelling, the helicopter was directed towards another area where ground personnel believed they had spotted debris.
By then, it was dark.
The pilots used night-vision goggles and the helicopter’s infrared camera, while the intelligence official watched with the naked eye.
The initial search found nothing.
As the helicopter began returning to base, however, the Joint Operations Center reported fresh detections in an area where UAP had previously been seen.
The intelligence official wrote:
‘What followed was a series of close UAP encounters lasting over an hour.’
A Super-Hot Orb
Ground observers using infrared equipment reported seeing a ‘super-hot’ orb hovering close to the ground.
It then moved away at high speed and appeared to split into two objects, which accelerated off in different directions.
According to the Department of War’s summary of the FBI interview, the orb travelled for around 20 miles and moved too quickly for the helicopter to keep up.
The ground team then reported that the object had risen from the ground and came within approximately ten feet of the helicopter.
The pilots saw the object through night-vision goggles.
They also reported seeing something smaller emerge from the two objects before travelling away in a different direction at high speed.
The helicopter attempted to follow but could not match its speed.
Swarms of Lights
The Joint Operations Center then told the crew that five military aircraft were flying in the area as part of a training mission.
The intelligence official described them as fighter jets.
A short time later, the helicopter crew saw what the official described as countless orange lights moving in different directions against the mountains.
The display lasted several minutes before fading.
The helicopter was then directed towards further detections and hovered around 700 feet above the ground.
Two large orbs appeared close to the helicopter, just above the rotor blades.
The intelligence official described them as oval-shaped and orange, with white or yellow centres.
He said they appeared to remain still while shining light in every direction.
More orbs then appeared underneath the original pair.
The official wrote:
‘After a few seconds, a third orb flared up below the pair, followed by a fourth below that, forming a total of four or five in a ‘T’ formation under the original two.’
The objects remained visible for around 10 to 15 seconds before fading in reverse order.
The pilots briefly considered landing because the objects were so close, but instead remained in the air.
Similar formations were then seen above the military aircraft.
According to the official, the orbs appeared one by one in a horizontal line and seemed to match the aircraft’s speed and direction.
They then faded and disappeared.
This happened several times as the military aircraft moved through the area and later descended to land.
The intelligence official said it appeared as though the orbs were ‘chasing’ the aircraft.
The other government record similarly states:
‘The orbs appeared to break off from [the helicopter] and pursue the [military aircraft].’
The documents describe more sightings over the next half-hour, including swarms of lights, horizontal formations and three orbs arranged in a triangle.
After returning to the Joint Operations Center, the intelligence official wrote:
‘We were virtually speechless after these observations.’
Photographs From the Same Encounters
The Department of War lists 24 images under the ‘Related Media’ section alongside the government records. Six of those images are reproduced further below.
The Department of War directly connects the images to the same exercise described by the senior intelligence official.
Its description states that the official’s account is accompanied by infrared imagery taken during the exercise by other federal personnel observing from the ground.
The images were originally released on 8 May 2026, as part of the first tranche of files published under President Trump’s UAP disclosure initiative.
A separate description on the Department of War website says:
‘The photos of UAP underneath the helicopter are from this same set of observations, taken through night vision devices by ground-based personnel.’
The black-and-white images show dark, circular objects that the Department of War says were photographed beneath the helicopter by personnel on the ground.
Above: Images of the UAP, released by the Department of War
The government says the people operating the equipment could not identify what the objects were.
The images were provided to the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office by the FBI.
Some details were removed to protect the identities of witnesses, the location of the facility and other sensitive information unrelated to UAP.
The Department of War says nothing was removed that would alter what the images show about the objects themselves.
The documents also state that the helicopter pilots were recording during the encounter.
The Redacted ‘Successful Test’
The documents do not openly describe the mission as an attempt to lure or attract UAP.
However, the previously classified operational record contains one potentially important detail.
It says that, earlier that day, a government office had completed a ‘successful test’ at the same facility.
The name of the office and the type of test are redacted.
The Department of War also describes the encounters as taking place during an ‘exercise,’ but does not explain what the exercise involved.
The released documents therefore support some of Flowers’ claims.
They confirm that the event led to an FBI interview with a senior intelligence official.
They confirm that photographs were taken during the same series of encounters.
They also confirm that several government witnesses and sensors observed the objects.
Burlison: “This Is When the Whole Conversation Changed”
Flowers’ account closely matches comments made by Republican Representative Eric Burlison during an interview with Annie Frey two months earlier.
Burlison said:
“I was briefed on an event that occurred where they basically tried to set up a perfect-case scenario that would cause UAP to come in, and then to capture them—or to try to document or record them.
“And it was very successful. This only happened a few months ago, and this is when the whole conversation changed, because that event was one that no one could deny.”
Burlison continued:
“There were so many people who witnessed these things, and they were all credible people working in our top intelligence sector.
“They brought me in to brief me on this within a few days or weeks after the event happened. I felt that was nice that they did that; they knew I was researching this topic.”
He added:
“That briefing is the one everybody wants.
“Yes, other members of Congress have heard about this. Leader Scalise got the briefing along with a couple of other members.
“I had only told Leader Scalise about this, and now everybody wants this briefing.”
Scalise Confirms “Eye-Opening” Briefing
Burlison’s claim that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise received a briefing was later supported by Scalise himself.
However, Scalise did not publicly confirm that the briefing concerned the same incident.
On 28 April, journalist Matt Laslo asked him:
“Hey, what’s this we hear from Congressman Burlison—that you were in a UFO or UAP briefing you had asked to attend?”
Scalise replied:
“Well, we had a classified briefing that some of us went to.”
Laslo asked:
“Was it eye-opening for you?”
Scalise said:
“Well, you know, whenever you go to a briefing like that, there are some things you see that are eye-opening—and that’s about as far as I’ll go.”
Liberation Times has requested comment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of War.
