This is my true story of actual events. The book documents my experiences, and this website supports that record through dated and location-stamped videos, photographs, and ongoing documentation of what continues to unfold.
“I cannot identify or exactly name what appears; I'm simply the observer.”From the prologue
In chapter 1, “The Tamarisk Trees,” I recount an earlier experience of an object overhead, waking beneath trees, and missing time—decades before the Orb recordings began in Wales.
“The question remains, was this the first time I had lost physical time from an abduction? I can’t say with any certainty what exactly took place.”From The Orb, chapter 1
That earlier account is part of the memoir. The film diary begins much later, in 2022; the films are not recordings of the earlier event.
The Orb is my personal account of experiences I have struggled to explain. The story reaches back to an earlier experience in Indio, California, and follows the Orb recordings that began in Wales in 2022. Family memories, photographs and accounts of what I saw belong to the same story, even where questions remain unanswered.
In my filmed introduction, I return to the house in Wales and describe how the story began. My grandsons were playing football in the yard when we noticed a silver, bullet-shaped object above the house. We initially thought it was a drone. I recall it coming closer, hovering briefly and moving away quickly.
I also describe looking from the bedroom window with my grandsons and seeing a quiet orange light above a tree. It appeared orange and white, with what I describe as blue as well, and moved from one side of the tree to the other.
The first recording in the diary is labeled August 6, 2022, at 3 a.m., in Pembroke Dock. Chapter 9, “The Day My Life Changed Forever,” connects readers to that film and a photograph of the back garden.
Back home in California
After returning to California, I continued recording. The October 3, 2022 account describes being awake early, seeing a light above a palm tree and asking my husband to come outside and film with me. That Palm Springs recording is the website reference for chapter 10, “The Orb Follows Me.”
Later accounts continue around La Quinta and other places in California. On February 27, 2023, I made three recordings in one evening: above the roof at 7:05 p.m., by a smaller palm tree at 7:08 p.m., and from the golf cart at 7:24 p.m. You can watch them in that order in chapter 12’s companion and read the account accompanying each one.
The recordings extend beyond Wales and California. The archive includes accounts from Cabo San Lucas and Cancun in Mexico, Guanacaste in Costa Rica, Kauai, Sedona, St. George and the Bahamas. There is also a recording made through a plane window over the Atlantic between London and New York.
Each film has its own place in the diary. Some describe a single moment; others belong to a sequence, such as the two Woodland Hills recordings from March 4, 2023, or two films from the same early morning in the Bahamas in August 2025. The dates, locations and accompanying words let you follow those connections.
The people who were there
“The voices in the videos are my family who are seeing these events with me.”From The Orb, chapter 9
My family and friends are featured in these videos and, with their support, I offer them here. In the Lamphey recording from October 2023, I describe being at my daughter’s house and hearing my grandson in the background. Other accounts include my husband and friends watching or filming alongside me. Their reactions form part of the record I am sharing.
I’m Trisha Woolen, writing as P. Avila. I filmed the videos and photographs with my iPhone and began Project Tagalong to share the ongoing diary. You can read more about me and find the project’s official channels.
Follow the book, one reference at a time
The free companion helps you find the films and photographs referred to in your copy of The Orb. Choose a chapter or appendix, open its references, and move between the related images and recordings. Printed page numbers and the original website groupings help you find your place.
The companion contains 12 sections with media references: nine chapters, two appendices and the photo gallery. These are the sections with linked material, not the book’s complete table of contents. Together they contain 43 film and photograph references, including recordings mentioned in more than one section.
Reading and listening
Is The Orb available as an audiobook?
Yes. The Orb: The Truth That Follows Me is available as an audiobook as well as in paperback. Check the book’s retailer listing for the formats offered in your region.
Do I need the book to watch the films?
No. The film archive and photographs are open to explore. The book tells the fuller personal story; its companion is there to help you find the referenced material while you read or listen.
Where does the story take place?
The memoir reaches back to an account in Indio, California, in 1976. The filmed diary begins in Pembroke Dock, Wales, in August 2022, and continues at home in California and in the places I traveled to afterward.
