Ring of lights over Albano Laziale: two witnesses, no footage
In the early hours of September 26, two witnesses standing in different spots saw a circular formation of white and red lights in the sky over Albano Laziale, near Rome. There is no footage, the account comes from a local UFO researcher, and no independent verification has taken place.
On October 11, Castelli Notizie, a news site covering the area around Rome, reported a sighting from the early hours of Saturday, September 26, 2026. The account was compiled by Daniele Cataldi, who has been collecting and publishing unusual sky sightings from the area for years; the site runs his material in its "Fenomeno UFO" column. According to the witnesses, the phenomenon was seen over Albano Laziale between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m.
The first witness noticed the group of lights while looking west: he saw a circular formation of white and red lights whose interior remained dark. In his estimation, it took up roughly two fingers' width of sky at arm's length, so it did not look like a single distant point of light. The formation first moved from right to left at roughly the same altitude, then changed direction and came back from left to right, partly along the same path. Later the red lights disappeared, while the white ones continued to outline the formation, which began moving upward and appeared smaller and smaller until the witness lost sight of it.
During the sighting, a second witness was also approached, who was standing about twenty meters from the first, in a different position, and according to the account saw the same phenomenon while it was still in progress. According to Cataldi, this matters because with two spatially separated observers it is more reasonable to rule out phenomena tied to a single observation point, such as reflections or individual perceptual effects.
What don't we know?
No photo or video could be taken: the first witness went to get his phone, but it showed only a blurry white light. According to the article, there is no radar data or other instrumental measurement either, so the distance, altitude, size and speed cannot be determined; Cataldi himself stresses that only the apparent increase in altitude and the decrease in angular size can be spoken of with certainty, and any numerical estimate would be guesswork. The images published with the article do not show the sighting: according to Castelli Notizie, Cataldi made them with artificial intelligence, based on the description.
Drones or something else?
The witness himself raised the possibility that it was a drone, but was unsure because of the apparent size and the movement. According to Cataldi, modern drone swarms are indeed capable of producing complex formations, multicolored lights and coordinated movement, but based on the witness statements it cannot be determined whether that is what happened. According to Cataldi, the described movement cannot be traced back to the usual astronomical phenomena: stars, planets and satellites generally do not appear to change direction, and the lights arranged in a circle and the selective disappearance of the red lights require separate attention. As Cataldi and the site emphasize, the UFO/UAP label merely means an unidentified phenomenon and does not imply extraterrestrial origin.
So we have a single source on this case: a local news site and the author it publishes, Cataldi. What the ring of lights was remains open for now, and in the absence of independent verification it may stay that way.
The sober take
According to the account, both the witness and Cataldi allow for an ordinary explanation, the possibility of a drone swarm, although based on the witness statements this can be neither confirmed nor ruled out. Without footage or instrumental data, independent verification of the case is not possible; based on the available elements, Cataldi provisionally labels it a UFO-UAP, that is, an unidentified phenomenon.