The 2025 helicopter orb file: what the public record actually shows

The short version

The Sol Foundation has returned to one of the denser files in PURSUE Release 02: a late-2025 helicopter encounter described in ODNI-UAP-D001.

In a May 26 discussion with Dr. Peter Skafish, analyst Marik von Rennenkampff focused on the way the case is built in the public record. It is not just a clip. It is a witness narrative, an FBI interview statement, and a set of still images that war.gov lists as related media.

There is no public video of the helicopter encounter. The public material is thinner than a full evidence package, but more structured than a loose sighting story.

What the Sol discussion added

Von Rennenkampff described the case as involving two senior U.S. intelligence officials, two pilots, and additional intelligence, law-enforcement, or military personnel on a helicopter at a military testing range in the western United States.

He pointed to the public pairing between the written accounts and the still imagery. On the war.gov record pages, the ODNI narrative, the FBI statement, and the FBI Photo B-series are listed as related records for the same late-2025 western U.S. incident set.

His useful point was narrow: this is one of the Release 02 cases where the public trail has more than one document. The stills do not solve the case. They do make the source chain easier to follow.

What ODNI-UAP-D001 says

The ODNI narrative says a senior U.S. intelligence officer, a colleague, and two pilots left a Joint Operations Center by helicopter in late 2025. The stated mission was to investigate loud thuds in mountains on a test range after several nights of reported orb-like sightings.

The crew first found ordinary range debris: remnants from rockets and other projectiles from years of weapons testing. Later, after sunset, the Joint Operations Center directed the helicopter toward radar detections in an area where prior UAP activity had been reported.

Ground teams then reported a “super-hot” object on FLIR, low to the ground, moving east and then south at high speed. The narrative says the object split into two and changed direction. A ground team later radioed that an object rose from the ground, came within roughly ten feet of the helicopter, dropped below it, and sped away.

The pilots reportedly saw the object through night vision goggles and saw a smaller object emerge before it accelerated out of sight.

The orange-orb sequence

The second page of the ODNI narrative describes the helicopter hovering at about 700 feet above ground level after new radar direction from the Joint Operations Center.

The officer says the crew saw “countless orange orbs” moving in different directions against the mountain backdrop. Later, two larger orange-white orbs reportedly appeared near the helicopter, stationary and just above rotor-disk height to the right.

A third orb then appeared below the pair, followed by another below that, forming a short T-shaped arrangement. The officer says the formation lasted roughly 10 to 15 seconds before dimming in reverse order.

The same account also describes orange orbs appearing above fighter aircraft in the area, matching the jets’ speed and path for brief intervals before dimming.

What the FBI statement adds

The FBI statement gives the case a more granular timeline. It lists a helicopter departure around 1700 hours, a cavern observation at 1751, a refuel sequence after 2050, a search near an observation post around 2141, and radar-related tasking around 2149.

The statement repeats the core elements: a hot orb reported by ground observers, a high-speed movement, a split into two objects, a reported close pass near the helicopter, and later multiple orb formations seen by the helicopter crew.

It also includes one practical detail for the video question. The statement says the pilots indicated they were recording, but many sightings were above the helicopter and outside the helicopter’s FLIR camera angle.

What the images show

The related FBI Photo B-series consists of still images, not released video files. The war.gov descriptions say they are still images derived from a U.S. military system in 2025, altered with redactions before submission to AARO.

The public thumbnails are low-detail monochrome sensor frames. Some show a small dark point or pair of points near a reticle. The feature image above uses FBI Photo B014 and B024 with enlarged center crops so the small dark features can be seen without pretending they are clearer than they are.

The public record says the date visible in the images is incorrect because the system date and time had not been set.

Current public status

The case has three public pillars: the ODNI first-person narrative, the FBI statement, and the related FBI still images.

It does not currently have a released cockpit video, FLIR video, NVG video, radar track, exact coordinates, aircraft identifiers, or unredacted mission package.

That is the source trail as of now: a structured official account, linked still imagery, and an analyst discussion drawing attention to how those pieces fit together.

Sources

• The Sol Foundation: Breaking Down the New UAP Release and a Major 2025 Encounter | Marik von Rennenkampff, published May 26, 2026.
• ODNI-UAP-D001, USPER Narrative, Senior USIC Official, PURSUE Release 02.
• USPER Statement about UAP Sighting, FBI, PURSUE public record.
• war.gov/UFO PURSUE public record portal, accessed May 26, 2026.