Military whistleblowers tell Congress they saw UAPs and allege government retaliation

Three military veterans testified before a House panel Tuesday, saying they witnessed multiple types of unidentified anomalous phenomena and alleging that elements of the U.S. intelligence community retaliated against or tried to silence those who reported encounters.

In opening statements at the third congressional hearing on UAPs — the newer term for UFOs — former and current service members described encounters ranging from Tic‑Tac‑shaped objects to giant triangular and cube‑like craft. They also told legislators that after reporting incidents they faced professional obstacles, threats to remain quiet and, in at least one case, what the witness said were attempts to manipulate his security credentials.

Dylan Borland, a former Air Force geospatial intelligence specialist, said in his opening statement that he observed a 100-foot triangular object flying low over Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, in 2012. He told the committee the large craft interfered with his telephone, made no audible sound and then rapidly ascended thousands of feet in seconds. Borland said that after he filed a complaint with the Intelligence Community Inspector General in August 2023 and underwent a polygraph in November 2024, multiple government agencies blocked him from obtaining work, forged documents and manipulated his security clearance. He also said colleagues within a classified Special Access Program told him they too had faced retaliation after reporting UAP encounters.

Jeffrey Nuccetelli, a former Air Force military police officer, recounted multiple unexplained incidents at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California between 2003 and 2005. Nuccetelli said he received reports of a glowing red square hovering over missile defense sites and witnessed on one night in October 2003 what he described as a rectangle‑shaped ship more than 100 yards long. He said that a week later base patrols saw a strange light over the ocean that descended, hovered briefly and then vanished, and that a witness to that event was subsequently told by superiors to remain silent. Nuccetelli also described an off‑duty sighting in which he and two other officers saw an orb with pulsing lights move above his house.

Active duty Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins spoke about a 2023 incident aboard the littoral combat ship USS Jackson off Southern California. Wiggins said a Tic‑Tac‑shaped object emerged from the Pacific and joined three other similar objects in formation above the ship. He said all of the objects accelerated simultaneously to high speeds without producing sonic booms or visible engine trails.

Other witnesses included Joe Spielberger, senior policy counsel at the Project On Government Oversight, who emphasized the importance of whistleblowers in exposing potential wrongdoing, and investigative reporter George Knapp of KLAS‑TV, who recounted a decades‑long reporting effort into UAPs and noted discrepancies between some official accounts and witness testimony.

Lawmakers convened the hearing to gather first‑hand accounts and to press for more transparent procedures for reporting and investigating UAPs. The three veterans’ testimony followed prior congressional sessions and public Pentagon reports that acknowledged unexplained air and sea incidents but provided limited public explanations.

Witnesses at the hearing framed their statements as calls for better internal protections and clearer investigative pathways. Several testified they believed a culture of secrecy and informal pressure had discouraged reporting and hindered thorough investigations.

Officials from Defense Department offices charged with tracking and investigating UAPs were not among the veterans testifying in the opening statements covered here. Congressional members have previously pressed government offices for access to data, clearer reporting mechanisms and explanations for what is known versus what remains unexplained.

The hearing continues, and committee members signaled they will pursue additional testimony and documentation. Legislators said they intend to use the testimony to assess whether existing reporting channels and protections for servicemembers are adequate and whether statutory or administrative changes are required to improve transparency and accountability in UAP investigations.