Three military veterans testified Tuesday at a third congressional hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena, telling lawmakers they had seen unexplained aerial objects and alleging that elements of the U.S. intelligence community tried to suppress their reports and retaliate against them.
The witnesses — a former Air Force geospatial intelligence specialist, a former Air Force military police officer and an active-duty Navy senior chief petty officer — described multiple encounters spanning more than two decades and said their careers and livelihoods had been affected after they reported what they had seen.
Dylan Borland, a former Air Force geospatial intelligence specialist, testified that he saw a roughly 100-foot triangular object flying low over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia in 2012. Borland said the craft made no sound, interfered with his telephone, and then ascended thousands of feet in seconds. He told the committee that after reporting the incident while working in a classified Special Access Program, multiple government agencies blocked him from obtaining work, forged documents, manipulated his security clearance and otherwise retaliated. He also said intelligence officials conducted phishing attempts to determine what he had disclosed to the Intelligence Community Inspector General during a polygraph in November 2024. Borland said his reputation has suffered and he is living on unemployment assistance.
Jeffrey Nuccetelli, who served 16 years as an Air Force military police officer at Vandenberg Air Force Base, described several incidents between 2003 and 2005. He said he received reports of a glowing red square hovering over missile defense sites and that on one October night in 2003 he and others observed a rectangle-shaped object more than 100 yards long. Nuccetelli testified that a week later base patrols saw a light over the ocean that descended, hovered briefly and then vanished after guards called for assistance. He said one witness to that encounter was threatened by superiors and told to remain silent. Nuccetelli added that he and fellow officers observed a pulsing orb over his house while off duty.
Alexandro Wiggins, an active-duty U.S. Navy senior chief petty officer, recounted an encounter on Feb. 15, 2023, while aboard the USS Jackson off the Southern California coast. Wiggins said he watched a Tic-Tac-shaped object emerge from the Pacific and join three other similar objects in formation above the ship. He told the panel that all four craft accelerated away simultaneously at high speed without producing a sonic boom or visible engine trails.
Tuesday's hearing also included testimony from policy and investigative figures who emphasized the role of whistleblowers and pointed to long-running discrepancies in official accounts. Joe Spielberger, senior policy counsel at the Project On Government Oversight, spoke about the importance of protecting whistleblowers who report potential wrongdoing. Investigative reporter George Knapp highlighted a decades-long pursuit of UAP reporting and said public documentation and witness accounts have often diverged from official narratives.
Representative Anna Paulina Luna, the hearing chairwoman, accused the former head of the Pentagon's UAP investigative office, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, of being a "documented liar" who undermined investigations. Kirkpatrick has previously led the office established to study unidentified anomalous phenomena at the Defense Department.
Witnesses at the hearing used the term "unidentified anomalous phenomena," or UAPs, the nomenclature now employed by federal agencies and Congress in place of the term UFO. The panel's proceedings mark part of an ongoing congressional effort to seek more transparency about such incidents, including whether they pose risks to military operations or national security and how the government has handled reporting and investigation.
The witnesses' accounts are allegations; the committee did not present independent verification during Tuesday's session. Lawmakers pressed for documents and additional testimony, and said further oversight will be needed to assess the claims and any potential misconduct by government officials. The hearing was the third in a series by Congress to examine UAPs and whistleblower protections and to determine whether more formal mechanisms are needed to collect, analyze and disclose information about unexplained encounters.
Members of the intelligence and defense communities have previously testified in other hearings and congressional briefings about the challenges of collecting reliable data on UAPs and the balance between classified programs and public transparency. Tuesday's testimony added new, detailed firsthand accounts of encounters and new allegations of retaliation, which lawmakers said they would review as part of their oversight responsibilities.