2021 · Waters off Santa Catalina Island and Avalon, California

Captain Liesen's orbs off Catalina (California, 2021)

Sourced, unconfirmed

Strength C · 5/10 · 2 independent

Evidence 2/4 · Witnesses 2/3 · Backing 1/3

A named professional mariner's video, a friend who saw the lights from shore, and prosaic checks that came up empty.

Plausibility Moderate

Score 10 · 9 factors for, 0 against

A named boat captain filmed orange orbs that merged, split and went into the sea, a friend saw them from Catalina, and checks found no flares, drills or fitting launch.

See the factors ↓

Unexplained

Off Catalina, 13 September 2021: Captain Thor Liesen films orange orbs that merge, split and drop toward the sea. · Illustration for uaptrail.com

A named boat captain's video of three orange orbs that merged, split and went into the sea off Catalina; a friend saw them from shore.
No flares, no drills, and the Vandenberg launch did not fit; he also reports lights beaming up from deep water around his boat.

When13 September 2021, night

WhereWaters off Santa Catalina Island and Avalon, California

Backing2 independent

Witnesses1 named

Evidencecontext

On 13 September 2021 Dana Point sport-fishing captain Thor Liesen filmed three orange orbs off Catalina Island that changed colour, merged and split, vanished and returned, dropped to the water and came toward his boat, then seemed to go into the sea, about 10 minutes in all. A friend saw them from Catalina. Discovery Channel investigators found no flares in the Marine Casualty Database and no drills at Camp Pendleton, and ruled out a Starlink launch from Vandenberg on trajectory and timing. Liesen also describes white lights beaming up from deep water around his boat one midnight off Avalon, and an air traffic controller's story of jets scrambled after a pilot saw a light 'the size of a city' under the water.

Evidence, in date order (2)

2021Discovery Channel investigatorscontext
checked the Marine Casualty Database, Camp Pendleton and the Vandenberg launch; no explanation found
13 Sept 2021Thor Liesenwitness
video of the three orbs

How plausible · Moderate

A named boat captain filmed orange orbs that merged, split and went into the sea, a friend saw them from Catalina, and checks found no flares, drills or fitting launch.

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Access On his own boat, with the orbs coming toward him; filmed.
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Cost of speaking Named, on national TV, in a trade that depends on his reputation.
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No gain sought No product; TV appearances only.
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Restraint Does not say what they were.
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Character record A Dana Point charter captain since childhood on these waters.
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Independent convergence A friend saw the lights from Catalina, but she is not named.

Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-27.

Claims

On 13 Sep 2021 off Catalina he filmed three orange orbs in a triangle that changed colour, merged into one, split, vanished and came back, looked like 'miniature galaxies', dropped to just above the water and came toward his boat, then seemed to go into the sea; about 10 minutes in all.Catalina Island Unresolved UAP ReportsfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedThor Liesen (Dana Point sport-fishing captain)

A friend on shore saw the lights from Catalina and phoned to ask whether he was firing flares in distress.Catalina Island Unresolved UAP ReportssecondhandSourced, unconfirmedThor Liesen (Dana Point sport-fishing captain)

Discovery Channel investigators found no emergency flares in the Marine Casualty Database and no night drills at Camp Pendleton; a Vandenberg Starlink launch 155 miles north, 25 minutes earlier, does not fit the trajectory or timing. 'One of the most compelling cases that we've seen.'analysisSourced, unconfirmedDiscovery Channel investigators (as reported on Reality Check)

A large Navy exercise off the coast had ended a month before the sighting.analysisSourced, unconfirmedBen Hansen's team (via contacts)

5-7 miles off Avalon, over about 1,300 ft of water, around midnight, as his boat passed over something, white 'baseball stadium lights' beamed up all around the boat for about 50 yards across; he sat up the rest of the night with a gun. It was not phosphorescence, which he knows well and which glows green.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedThor Liesen (Dana Point sport-fishing captain)

An air traffic controller told him jets were scrambled between the coast and Catalina after a pilot saw a light under the water 'the size of a city'.Catalina Island Unresolved UAP ReportsanonymousLeadThor Liesen (Dana Point sport-fishing captain)

Captain Liesen's orbs off Catalina (California, 2021)

Evidence, in date order (2)

How plausible · Moderate

Claims

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Mentioned on (1)