The U.S. Department of War released a new batch of declassified files on Aug. 7, and Colorado Springs figures prominently in the records. The release covers two potential unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) spotted in Colorado Springs in 2023 and is part of the fifth release of declassified and historical UAP files under the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, known as PURSUE. Officials described the materials as unresolved cases where the government was "unable to make a definitive determination on the nature of the observed phenomena."
The first incident involved a former Department of War employee. The sighting occurred in October 2023, when the former employee reported seeing a "dark translucent triangle," according to the documents. Officials created image renderings of the UAP based on the witness's description.
The second sighting, also from 2023, was documented through a witness interview conducted later. A witness, interviewed in October 2025, reported seeing a "large triangle with red lights" overhead. In the interview, the witness was described as someone who "frequently watches aircraft, military, commercial and civilian fly in the airspace above and around Colorado Springs." According to the documents, the witness reported seeing a bright star in the sky between 8:00 and 9:30 p.m., followed by a "dark-gray colored cloud phasing into his sight" that was stationary and appeared distorted or pixelated, before he observed a constant red light on the bottom of a black, triangular-shaped object.
The witness estimated the UAP was roughly as large as the parking lot he was standing in and between three to five stories thick, and said it was moving and banking before he lost sight of it. The witness also reported calling his wife during the encounter, and she said he sounded robotic, as though there was electronic interference. The Department of War noted that parts of the interview were redacted to protect sensitive information.
Colorado Springs has now appeared in multiple rounds of the government's UAP disclosures. This is not the first time the city has been listed in the released documents; in June, five U.S. Army service members reported seeing a "potato-shaped" object flying over Cheyenne Mountain in 2022 while near Fort Carson, according to officials. The full collection of released files is available on the Department of War's UAP webpage.
Whether either of the newly disclosed Colorado Springs sightings will be investigated further or reclassified remains to be seen as the government continues processing its UAP case backlog.