Incident period: September 2015, near Pantex outside Amarillo, Texas, United States. The report body and release catalogue give 1 September; the report cover and covering letter refer to 2 September. Original material released in May and July 2026; UKPX reference added 6 November 2026.
An unidentified object moving slowly across the Pantex area prompted a response from plant security personnel in September 2015. According to the incident report, radar detections were followed by ground observations, binocular views and camera tracking. Staff followed it for several miles before losing sight of it. Their descriptions included a rounded diamond shape, no audible sound and conflicting colours.
The surviving record is unusually useful because it brings several observation methods together while also showing where the evidence runs short. The report describes the object as non-threatening, says it stayed away from sensitive assets, and acknowledges that the recorded tower imagery offers little detail. It does not supply a final identification.
The documents and their dates
The principal source is DOE-UAP-D005, Pantex Unidentified Object Incident Report, 2015. This seven-page release contains a covering letter, a six-page contractor report, a radar-track illustration, a tower image and enhanced images attributed to Sandia National Laboratories. The Department of Energy released it through PURSUE on 10 July 2026.
Two image pages had already appeared on 22 May 2026 as DOE-UAP-D001, Enhanced Pantex Imagery. The official catalogue explicitly links the two files and explains that the earlier copy was more heavily redacted. They are two releases of material about the same occurrence, rather than separate sightings or independent confirmations.
The dating needs care. The narrative begins on 1 September 2015 at approximately 07:10, and its more detailed chronology starts at about 07:08. The title page is dated 2 September, while the covering letter of 9 September describes an occurrence on 2 September. UKPX retains that discrepancy. The incident year is securely 2015; the document does not justify silently replacing every date with a single day.
Radar detection and the ground response
The report was prepared under the Pantex branding of Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC, the plant contractor. It says the ground-surveillance radar detected an unknown object west of the facilities, initially travelling north at approximately 10–15 mph. Further radar hits followed as it moved north-northwest. Protective Force personnel were sent to observe it, and the plant took precautionary security measures.
A lieutenant and a Security Police Officer saw the object and followed it by vehicle. When they stopped and got out, they reported hearing no sound. Using binoculars, they could not identify a propulsion system. Their stationary observation lasted roughly one or two minutes before the object continued north offsite. They followed it for several miles, eventually losing it when the available roads no longer allowed them to continue.
The narrative says the object seemed to increase speed and change direction while being followed, with its last reported direction east-northeast. No measured acceleration or later speed accompanies that statement. The initial radar speed and the later observers’ impressions should therefore remain separate pieces of evidence.
The Carson County Sheriff’s Office was contacted. A deputy met the plant personnel near the place where they had last seen the object and offered to search. The report specifically says the deputy had not seen it. His involvement records a response to the incident, not another eyewitness sighting.
Camera views and differing descriptions
A second group of Security Police Officers tracked the object with a camera fitted to their vehicle’s remotely operated system. They estimated its height at 100–200 feet above ground and reported tracking it for three to five minutes. The report places those officers approximately 75–100 metres from the object. These figures are reported estimates, not a published reconstruction of its three-dimensional flight path.
The lieutenant and accompanying officer described a diamond-like shape with a more rounded top. Other personnel, including an officer using binoculars, estimated a height of about four feet and a width of two feet at the bottom, narrowing towards the top. Some described it as black; others reported silver, red and blue. The document acknowledges those colour differences rather than resolving them.
A video from a ground-surveillance radar tower was sent to Sandia for further study. A still reproduced in the report shows a small dark mark, highlighted by a circle, above the landscape. The next page presents enlarged, blurred silhouettes labelled as enhanced images. They are processed views of the recorded object, not additional encounters. The report itself says distance limited the detail in the tower video.
What the report concludes—and leaves open
The contractor states that the object did not appear threatening, did not approach sensitive assets closely, and remained above open, unpopulated areas before leaving the site. Statements, video and other incident evidence were passed to an FBI agent. This released bundle does not contain a subsequent FBI finding or a final Sandia identification.
Its strongest contribution is the documented sequence: radar detection, several ground observers, camera tracking and a contemporary written review. The missing pieces include the full analytical work behind the enhanced images, a complete published video analysis and a demonstrated identification. Silence and an unseen propulsion system describe what the observers could detect; they do not establish a propulsion technology.
Sources, imagery and map location
PURSUE original report: DOE-UAP-D005 — all seven PDF pages read, including its cover letter and illustrations. Earlier enhanced-imagery release: DOE-UAP-D001 — both pages compared with the fuller report. Source catalogue and originals checked 6 November 2026.
The contractor report and Sandia-attributed imagery are linked at their official source. UKPX has not assumed that public release grants unrestricted photographic or contractor-document reuse, and has not mirrored these images as site artwork.
The map uses the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2025 Amarillo place reference as a broad regional marker. It does not mark the object’s track, a plant security position or a place to visit. The incident described in the source took place in the Pantex area outside the city.