File 178 · August 2026
White orb over New Castle, Colorado
New Castle, Colorado, United States
Opened 9/4/2026
Ledger illustration of the file — not a photograph of the object. Ledger illustration of the report: a white orb over the ridges. — Night Ledger illustration of the file
Standing
Unidentified
On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.
Glowing white shape-shifting orb hovers for hours over New Castle.
What was claimed
A mountain-town post described a glowing white orb that hung for hours and seemed to change shape.
What is on the record
This file is a working record — a report, not a verdict. Official paper, if any, is linked where we have it.
A report from New Castle, in the Colorado River valley, described a glowing white orb that stayed in the sky for a long time — hours, the writer said — and appeared to change shape. It was placed over the dark ridges, not over the highway lamps.
Venus, a distant lantern, and a balloon have all been offered for long-duration mountain lights. The file keeps the duration and the shape-change as written. Not a photograph of the object.
Could this have been ours?
The known sky, that night.
The station, the trains, and the rest of the known sky were already there. Hold the claim next to them.
1998 —
International Space Station
A bright, steady moving star. A few minutes to cross. No strobe. Occupied since 2000. NASA publishes the pass times. Not unidentified.
2019 —
Starlink trains
A line of equally spaced lights after a launch. The most common string of orbs in current reports. A satellite deployment, not a formation of craft.
Always
Venus and the bright planets
A fixed brilliant point. Does not streak. Does not hover over a street then leave. Often the first misread light in a rural report.
Always
Aircraft, balloons, meteors
Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.
Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.
Sources
- Public web and X posts
Related files
Same craft, same place, same years. A neighbor in the catalogue — not a conclusion.

Same craft · Same country · Same year · Weekend of 30 August 2026
Orb swarm over Nevada
Nevada · United States
Identified
A sped-up public clip circulated on X as a swarm of orbs crossing a Nevada night sky.

Same craft · Same country · Same year · Late August 2026 (last Wednesday before Sep 2)
Eerie Orb Maneuvers Erratically While Woman Walks Dog in Blakely
Blakely, Pennsylvania · United States
Unidentified
A woman walking her neighbor's dog observed a bright orb that hovered, then performed rapid up, down, left, and right movements at high speed before disappearing. She captured video of the event.

Same craft · Same country · Same year · August 2026
Whitish orbs over Portland
Portland, Oregon · United States
Unidentified
Posts described several whitish orbs that darted, stopped, and restarted over the river.

Same craft · Same country · Same year · August 2026
Three orange orbs, Guntersville
Guntersville, Alabama · United States
Unidentified
Witnesses over the lake town described three orange orbs moving at different speeds.

Same craft · Same country · Same year · August 2026
Daytime metallic orb, Coloma
Coloma, California · United States
Unidentified
A daylight post from gold-country hills described a metallic orb floating close, the surface seeming to morph.

Same craft · Same country · Same year · August 2026
Orb over Blakely, Pennsylvania
Blakely, Pennsylvania · United States
Unidentified
A small-town post described a pale orb low over the street while a woman walked a dog.
