White House Leaves UFO Shootdown Claims Unanswered
Written by Christopher Sharp - 26 September 2026
If the White House’s UFO disclosure effort ends here, the gatekeepers can breathe easy.
Much of the imagery released under PURSUE remains too ambiguous to settle the questions it raises, leaving plenty of room for online argument.
Many of the other documents have been seen before.
Release of any groundbreaking footage has been hindered.
Two videos allegedly showing a 100-foot triangular UFO over a Colorado military base were said to be held by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Sources gave the New York Post file numbers for the videos as IRR1669S015524 and IRR1669S005024.
However, the Pentagon says it cannot find the footage. Deputy Press Secretary Joel Valdez wrote on X:
‘After conducting a thorough records review, the Department of War did not find any footage pertaining to the alleged sighting in question.’
Since July, the Department of War has not provided a substantive answer to Liberation Times’ questions about an alleged operation to lure UFOs, otherwise known as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), at a sensitive U.S. testing facility.
Journalist Ross Coulthart went one step further.
He claimed that the Department of War had been authorized by President Trump to engage with UFOs and had downed objects in the U.S. and Juárez in Mexico - across the border from El Paso.
Liberation Times put this allegation to the Department of War. An official responded, stating:
“We refer you to the White House regarding any orders, directives, or authorization issues by President Trump.”
Liberation Times put Coulthart’s claim directly to the White House. We asked:
‘Has President Trump, as Commander-in-Chief, issued any order, directive or authorization permitting U.S. military personnel to shoot down UAP, UFOs, unidentified “orbs” or other unidentified airborne objects?’
We also asked whether the government had carried out an operation to lure UAP.
On Tuesday 22 September, the White House’s press office asked for our deadline. We set the deadline for 5pm Eastern Time on Friday 25 September. Despite follow-up emails, no response has been provided since the deadline elapsed.
This is not the only frustration, despite the White House’s pledge for transparency.
Harvard professor Avi Loeb was asked by U.S. government agencies to establish a UAP Science Advisory Council.
Its role is to advise the government on UAP research and analyse unclassified evidence.
Yet, as POLITICO reports, the council has received no meaningful data from the government. Loeb may reassess the situation if that does not change by the end of 2026.
The POLITICO article, through its sources, singles out the CIA as the agency most resistant to releasing UAP data.
An intelligence community source told Liberation Times that the agency would continue to protect its sources, collection methods and analytical tools. Those capabilities serve many intelligence missions beyond UAP analysis.
The source said relevant data could come from space-based systems or maritime platforms, with agencies including the NRO, CIA and DIA involved. In their view, the CIA is unlikely to release such data until the systems used to collect it are obsolete.
But in defense of the agency, the source claimed that the CIA has released UFO-related documents in line with declassification schedules.
Where does this leave the push for UFO disclosure?
Representatives Tim Burchett and Eric Burlison have accused federal agencies of withholding UFO records and frustrating the White House’s efforts to release them.
Yet the White House has not answered Liberation Times’ questions about the alleged luring operation or Coulthart’s claim that President Trump authorised the military to engage unidentified objects.
Several explanations remain possible.
The administration may not be committed to fuller disclosure. Any luring and shootdown activity may have led to unintended consequences. Trump may be unable to get agencies to cooperate. Or he may be holding back information for a larger announcement. Liberation Times understands that some people close to Trump believe he will become a disclosure president.
For now, the alleged UAP shootdowns remain unverified.
If U.S. forces are engaging unidentified objects, who decides what they are and whether to fire? What safeguards protect civilian aircraft?
Documented counter-drone activity and aviation incidents near El Paso and White Sands show why those questions matter.
Here is the timeline of noteworthy events connected to White Sands, El Paso and UFOs since late 2025. They paint an interesting picture:
Late 2025: At an unidentified U.S. testing facility, a senior intelligence official, helicopter crew and ground personnel reported glowing orbs near a helicopter and fighter jets. The FBI later interviewed the official. The facility has not been officially identified as White Sands, and the claim that the objects were deliberately lured there remains unconfirmed
8–10 February - sightings reported in El Paso: Enigma Labs logged three witness accounts from El Paso, south of White Sands. They described rapidly moving glowing orbs, a large hovering object and four slowly moving round objects.
10–11 February - El Paso airspace closed: The Federal Aviation Administration halted flights at El Paso International Airport, south of White Sands, initially announcing a ten-day restriction. It lifted the closure after roughly eight hours. The administration cited cartel drones, while reporting identified safety concerns over a nearby counter-drone laser
19 February 2026 - Trump announces UFO file review: President Trump said he would direct Secretary Pete Hegseth and other agencies to identify and release government files concerning UFOs, UAP and extraterrestrial life
26 February - second border airspace closure: A military counter-drone system shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone near Fort Hancock, about 50 miles southeast of El Paso and farther from White Sands. The FAA restricted flights in the area
27 February - former laser program director goes missing: Retired Air Force Major General Neil McCasland was reported missing from his home in Albuquerque. He had directed the Air Force’s Space-Based Laser program and later served as technology director at Applied Technology Associates when it unveiled LOCUST, the counter-drone laser identified in reporting on the El Paso closure. Applied Technology Associates became part of BlueHalo in 2020, and was brought under AeroVironment when it acquired BlueHalo in 2025
7–8 March - laser safety tests at White Sands: The military and FAA tested counter-drone lasers at the range
10 April - new laser agreement: Following the White Sands tests, the FAA and Pentagon announced an agreement on using counter-drone lasers along the southwest border
6 May - Fort Bliss chosen for laser pilot: Following counter-drone laser tests at White Sands, the Department of War selected Fort Bliss as one of five bases for a directed-energy counter-drone pilot program. The announcement did not specify which laser would be used at each base
8 May 2026 - PURSUE launches: The Department of War began publishing UAP records through the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), with support from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
14 May - fatal crash within White Sands GPS advisory area: A medical aircraft crashed near Ruidoso, northeast of the range, killing four people. Its crew had reported losing GPS capability while military GPS interference was active in an area centred on White Sands
19 June - sighting reported in El Paso: A single witness south of White Sands reported a bright, disc-shaped light that appeared to move rapidly and vanish
23 June – Hegseth operates LOCUST at White Sands: During a weapons demonstration at the range, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth operated a LOCUST laser and brought down a drone, according to its manufacturer
9 August 2026 - Coulthart alleges UAP shootdowns: Journalist Ross Coulthart claimed President Trump had authorised a Department of War operation to intercept unidentified objects around White Sands. He said sources told him objects had been downed in the U.S. and near Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, across the border from El Paso
2 September – Army orders more LOCUST systems: AeroVironment announced a $464.8 million Army contract to supply dozens of LOCUST X3 lasers. It said the award followed LOCUST’s tests at White Sands and the subsequent FAA–Pentagon safety agreement
6 September - El Paso sighting claim: A witness south of White Sands reported a pulsing light and said an orb had travelled towards Ciudad Juárez. Video circulated with the account, but the alleged orb was reportedly seen before the recorded segment
9–19 September - GPS interference advisory: The FAA warned pilots of scheduled testing centred on White Sands that could make GPS signals unreliable or unavailable across a wide area
Liberation Times has previously reported allegations about a program named Golden Domes. A source claimed it used electronic and laser-based systems to bring down what the source described as ‘exotic non-human vehicles’. The source said former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and his principal deputy, Stephanie O’Sullivan, oversaw the program.
O’Sullivan also chaired a CIA board that examined a documented program involving aircraft shootdowns.
A CIA inspector general’s report records several shootdowns under the U.S.-supported Airbridge Denial Program in Peru, including one on 23 March 1997. It sets out the warnings and authorisation required before firing on suspected drug-trafficking aircraft, and finds repeated failures to follow those procedures. O’Sullivan’s board later recommended administrative penalties for 16 officers.
The March 1997 shootdown occurred around the time former Marine Jonathan Weygandt claims he encountered a retrieved UFO while deployed to Peru for Operation Laser Strike, a related counter-drug effort.
The consequences of a mistaken shootdown became clear on 20 April 2001.
A Peruvian Air Force jet misidentified a civilian missionary plane as a drug-trafficking aircraft and fired on it, killing a woman and her infant daughter.
U.S. support for air interdiction operations in Peru and Colombia was suspended.
The case is a reminder that mistakes in identifying aircraft, or failures to follow safeguards, can cost innocent lives.
That is why the White House should answer whether U.S. forces have been authorised to engage unidentified objects and, if so, what safeguards protect civilian aircraft.
