Former scientific advisers to the Trump administration on Tuesday, July 18, 2026, offered conventional interpretations for several sightings of mysterious orbs of light, according to the administration’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) records. However, they claim that one incident in particular remains entirely unexplained.
Dr. Avi Loeb, who chairs the UAP Scientific Advisory Board, has suggested that many of the reported sightings of glowing orbs may actually be plasma, a byproduct of human-made lasers.
As Loeb explained, “a luminous sphere has the potential to be created at the focal point of a powerful laser or where two laser beams intersect.”
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An infrared image of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP), captured by a United States military platform, was released as part of the file.
The United States Indo-Pacific Command forwarded this anomalous phenomenon, consisting of 18 seconds of video from an infrared sensor aboard a military platform in 2025, to the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).
He detailed that, “as this point does not constitute a physical object, it can move through the air at supersonic speed without producing a sonic boom or a fireball, effects expected from friction with a solid body.”
Loeb compared the situation with cats chasing laser points.
These lasers are already used by the United States, including for defense purposes against drones or ballistic missiles, such as those used in military bases in conflict with Iran.
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However, according to Loeb’s analysis, these potential conventional causes would not be enough to explain the sighting of orange and red orbs in October 2023, observed by federal intelligence agents near a high-security military installation in the western United States.
He added that “the anomalous orbits reported by the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) at the Pentagon would require lasers of much higher power than those currently available.”
One image displayed two intense red orbs in a dark sky, representing a distinct phenomenon.
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These spheres differed from the strange event recorded in the western United States in 2023, which still does not have a clear explanation.
Loeb detailed the 2023 incident, citing a letter from AARO Director Dr. Jon Kosloski dated June 5, 2026. The document describes reports of the objects including an orange “mother orb” releasing smaller red orbs, which remained stationary for several hours, a behavior incompatible with laser-generated plasma.
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb was photographed and his appointment to head the Trump administration’s UAP Scientific Advisory Board was confirmed the previous month.
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According to the AARO report, these objects showed “varied kinematic profiles, including apparently coordinated horizontal movement and apparent altitude changes.”
Admiral Tim Gallaudet, also a member of the UAP Scientific Advisory Board, agrees that the sighting of “mother orbs” is a major concern for federal investigators.
Gallaudet expressed that “spherical illumination and laser-produced plasmas are possible explanations in some cases. But in the case of AARO’s ‘spheres throwing spheres,’ I can think of no conventional explanation.”
In an essay released this week, Loeb further suggested that the mysterious and rare phenomenon of ball lightning – spheres of electricity that appear most frequently after thunderstorms – could be an explanation for some of the sightings.