Science advisers from the Trump administration have provided standard explanations for some unusual sightings logged in President Trump’s UFO records. Yet, they maintain that one particular incident remains utterly perplexing.
Dr. Avi Loeb, who leads the UAP Scientific Advisory Board, suggests that many of the glowing orb sightings could actually be plasma, generated by artificial lasers.
“If you focus a powerful laser or have two laser beams intersecting, it can create a glowing sphere,” Loeb explained.
This unidentified anomaly was reported in 2025 by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to the All Area Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), featuring 18 seconds of video captured from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform.
“Since this phenomenon doesn’t represent a physical object, it can maneuver at supersonic speeds without generating sonic booms or fireballs, which is what you’d expect from something solid interacting with the air,” he added.
Loeb likened the situation to a cat chasing a beam of laser light.
The U.S. already employs lasers for defense purposes, particularly against drones and ballistic missiles, notably in operations against Iran.
However, Loeb clarified that these potential explanations do not apply to the sightings of an orange and red sphere observed by federal agents near a secure military site in the western U.S. back in October 2023.
“But the anomalous spheres mentioned by the AARO would necessitate lasers far more powerful than what we currently possess,” he noted.
Reported later, these spheres are distinct from other strange occurrences. The sighting in question from 2023 still lacks a credible explanation.
In a letter dated June 5, 2026, AARO Director Dr. John Koslosky detailed accounts of objects, including an orange ‘mother orb’ that shot out smaller red spheres and hovered motionless for hours—behavior that doesn’t align with laser-generated plasma, according to Loeb.
As reported by AARO, the objects displayed “varied kinematic profiles, including seemingly coordinated lateral movements and changes in altitude.”
Admiral Tim Gallaudet, who serves on the UAP Science Advisory Board, agrees that sightings of the “Mother Orb” pose significant concerns for federal investigators.
“While laser-generated plasma might explain some instances of light balls, I can’t think of a traditional explanation for AARO’s ‘orb firing,'” Gallaudet mentioned.
In a recent essay, Loeb put forth the rare phenomenon of ball lightning—electric orbs that often appear after storms—as a potential explanation for some of the sightings. However, he cautioned that the brief duration of ball lightning is starkly different from the longer-lasting observations of these significant spheres.
