U.S. Air Force veteran Jeffrey Nuccetelli, U.S. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins, journalist George Knapp, U.S. Air Force veteran Dylan Borland and Project On Government Oversight senior policy counsel Joe Spielberger are sworn in to testify at a U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on "Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection" on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Sept. 9, 2025 (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
"There were four lights in total," recalled former Air Force intelligence officer Dylan Borland before a House panel investigating UFOs Tuesday. "I immediately could feel static electricity all over my body."
"Chaos ensued over the radio as the object approached rapidly. I heard my friend screaming, ‘It's coming right at us! It's coming right for us!’" testified retired Air Force officer Jeffrey Nuccetelli.
"There is something out there, and we should know what it is," recounted U.S. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins.
Shocking eyewitness testimony came this week to Congress about close encounters, especially since the testimony came from whistleblowers who served in the military.
"It stopped about 100 feet in front of me and approximately 100 feet above me. My telephone got extremely hot. Completely froze," said Borland about his experience.
Quite the space oddities.
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"I’ve not jumped to the conclusion that I believe that there are aliens coming from another planet," said Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., during the hearing. "But I'm open to that."
Burlison may not be all in on little green men. But the testimony was enough to convince at least one lawmaker about UFOs who was a skeptic.
KLAS-TV journalist George Knapp, of Las Vegas, takes his seat for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets Subcommittee hearing in the Capitol Visitor Center on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Here’s another issue: How in the world (or another world) is Congress ever going to get to the bottom of these mysteries if lawmakers can’t even agree on the nomenclature?
"UAPs or UFOs?" asked Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.
UAPs is the term that gained currency in recent years, short for "unidentified aerial phenomena."
Sanitized. Anodyne. Washington-speak.
But "UFOs" are code: "Unidentified flying objects."
When you hear "UFOs," you can practically see people fleeing apartment buildings after the Martians landed in Grovers Mill, New Jersey, during "The War of the Worlds."
"UFOs" implies conspiracy. Cover-ups. Peculiar visitors from another galaxy. All garnished with a dash of Roswell and Project Blue Book.
This is why Congress, the military and the aviation industry have looked askance at UFO claims for decades.
Rep. Lauren Boebert chats with reporters after leaving the floor of the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on June 21, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Astronauts aboard the Apollo missions to the moon successfully navigated the Van Allen radiation hazards. But radiation elsewhere in deep space presents a challenging problem for humans.
Regardless, lawmakers believe the witnesses at the hearing were credible because of their positions in the military.
"The narrative has changed. It [would be] politically convenient for the government if you all weren't military folks in suits. It would be much better if you pulled up in Winnebagos and were wearing [tinfoil] hats," said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
Burchett flagged his legislation to safeguard UAP whistleblowers. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who called the hearing, believes these types of whistleblowers are a special class and deserve extra protection.
"For most of our whistleblowers that come forward, the first thing that goes is their security clearance," said Luna. "The security clearance is their livelihood."
"If I say the wrong word, technically I can be charged with espionage," said Borland.
So lawmakers find themselves in the same posture as members of Congress in the 1950s and 1960s. Lots of questions. Few answers. But in the social media era, there are competing influences to simultaneously fuel skepticism and inhibit the ability of government to cover things up.
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U.S. Capitol Building at sunset on Jan. 30, 2025. (Fox News Digital)
"I think it's clear from the hearing that there's advanced technology taking place in our airspace. The question is, is it ours or is it otherworldly?" asked Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn.
"I don’t really know what is true," said Moskowitz. "But I do know when we’re being lied to."
"This is not science fiction or creating speculation. This is about national security," said Luna.
That means the U.S. is again in a space race. It’s competing against China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and perhaps others to determine who can solve the UAP mystery first.
And getting to the truth would be one giant leap for mankind.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/reporters-notebook-military-whistleblowers-testify-congress-about-unexplained-ufo-encounters