Case study · CASE-016 · Military ground eyewitness report / official analytic assessment
Cheyenne Mountain / Fort Carson reported object (Caison Best)
Not assessedWhere Fort Carson and Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, USAWhen 2022-02-15; public interviews 2025–2026
Case
- Overview
- Five U.S. Army personnel reportedly observed an angular or irregular, light-colored stationary object near Cheyenne Mountain. Caison Best later described the incident publicly. A released intelligence-community assessment considered sunlight backscattering possible with low confidence.
- Investigative phases
- 2022 witness observation; subsequent witness submission and interviews; released IC assessment and related records
- Reported phenomena
- Reported hovering, unusual shape and disappearance or loss of visibility; dimensions and distance estimated by witnesses
- Public evidence status
- Named witness account, ASA report and publicly accessible government analytic document; no independently verified anomalous sensor data identified
- Alternative explanations / caveats
- IC analysis proposes sunlight backscattering with low confidence; precise geometry, weather, snow cover and viewing angles uncertain; official report time differs from witness-submitted timing
- Next research tasks
- Obtain original interviews, contemporaneous reports, meteorology, sun angle, georeferenced viewpoints and independent statements from remaining witnesses
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-29
Assessment
Not yet in the Case Assessment Matrix.
Evidence (6)
- Five service members reportedly observe irregular pale object above Cheyenne Mountain Unverified
- Intelligence-community analysis ICA-UAP-D001: sunlight backscattering possible, low confidence Claim unverified
- Ross Coulthart interviews Caison Best about the reported encounter Claim unverified
- ASA report MIL-2022-104 documents witness-submitted description Reported
- Official IC analysis proposes low-confidence sunlight backscattering explanation for five-soldier Cheyenne Mountain observation ReportedSecondhand
- Caison Best and four other soldiers report stationary irregular object near Cheyenne Mountain Claim unverifiedFirsthand
Documents gathered (6 lines of evidence)
- Five service members reportedly observe irregular pale object above Cheyenne Mountain Primary record linked
- Intelligence-community analysis ICA-UAP-D001: sunlight backscattering possible, low confidence Readable here
- Ross Coulthart interviews Caison Best about the reported encounter Primary record linked
- ASA report MIL-2022-104 documents witness-submitted description Primary record linked
- Official IC analysis proposes low-confidence sunlight backscattering explanation for five-soldier Cheyenne Mountain observation Readable here
- Caison Best and four other soldiers report stationary irregular object near Cheyenne Mountain Primary record linked
On the timeline (2)
- 2022-02-15 Five Army personnel reportedly see unusual object above Cheyenne Mountain Claim unverified
- 2026 (release) Intelligence-community analysis considers sunlight backscattering possible Documented