On September 9, 2025, the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets — chaired by Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) — held what may be the most consequential UAP hearing to date. Titled "Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection," the hearing featured five witnesses who collectively painted a damning picture of government secrecy, witness retaliation, and unexplainable phenomena.
The Witnesses
Jeffrey Nuccetelli — Vandenberg's Red Square
Jeffrey Nuccetelli, a 16-year Air Force veteran who served as a military police officer, provided startling testimony about repeated UAP incursions at Vandenberg Air Force Base (now Space Force Base) between 2003 and 2005 — a facility central to the National Missile Defense Project and National Reconnaissance Office launches.
Nuccetelli described an event on October 3, 2003, when Boeing contractors reported a "massive glowing red square silently hovering" above two missile defense sites. He testified that at least five distinct UAP events occurred at Vandenberg during this period, each witnessed by multiple personnel. "The American people have both the right and the need to know the truth about unidentified aerial phenomena," Nuccetelli said. "That truth remains hidden, classified, and silenced by fear, retaliation, stigma, and confusion."
He further alleged that the Air Force destroyed records relating to his UAP encounters — a claim that directly raises obstruction of congressional oversight concerns.
Chief Alexandro Wiggins — Active-Duty Testimony
For the first time in history, an active-duty U.S. Navy service member testified publicly about a UAP encounter. Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins, with 23 years of service, described a 2023 incident aboard the USS Jackson — a "Tic Tac" object similar to the 2004 Nimitz encounter, but witnessed a generation later with modern sensor technology.
Wiggins' testimony was particularly powerful because, as an active-duty service member, he faced potential repercussions that civilian witnesses do not. His appearance before Congress sent an unmistakable signal that the stigma around UAP reporting — long cited as the primary barrier to gathering data — was finally cracking at the highest levels.
Adding to the intrigue, Wiggins noted that his father had worked at Area 51, the Air Force base long associated with classified aerospace testing and UAP lore.
Dylan Borland — Langley and Retaliation
Dylan Borland, a former 1N1 geospatial intelligence specialist for the Air Force, testified about a 2012 UAP encounter at Langley Air Force Base and the severe retaliation he faced after coming forward. Borland's intelligence background — working with video, radar, and advanced electro-optical imagery — gave him unique technical credibility.
Borland accused the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) of "manipulation of public perception" and failing to pursue legitimate investigations. He testified that after David Grusch's 2023 testimony, he was asked to speak with the Intelligence Community Inspector General but found "the objective was to solely assess how much I know and not move forward with an investigation."
George Knapp — The Journalist's Perspective
Award-winning investigative journalist George Knapp — a 38-year veteran of UAP reporting — delivered what he estimated would require four and a half hours to fully present. In his condensed oral testimony, Knapp covered decades of UAP history, including:
- The Bigelow-Lockheed Deal: Knapp testified that Robert Bigelow negotiated with Lockheed Martin senior executives to obtain "a quantity of unusual material that had been stashed away and protected at a facility in California. That material was not made here."
- Soviet UFO Programs: Knapp revealed that the USSR launched "almost certainly the largest UFO/UAP investigation in the world," with a military-wide order for all units to report sightings, and a subsequent analysis program called "Thread III" that attempted to replicate observed technology. He provided the committee with Soviet documents he obtained directly from Russian defense officials.
- The AAWSAP Program: Knapp detailed the DIA's Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program — "the largest acknowledged UFO program ever funded by the U.S. Government" — noting that 95% of its material remains unreleased.
- Personal Witness: Knapp described being shown a tour of a UFO by a colleague, and the extra-legal retaliation faced by whistleblowers like David Grusch.
Joe Spielberger — Policy Perspective
Joe Spielberger, Senior Policy Counsel at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), provided the structural and legal context for the other witnesses' testimony. He called for Congress to continue its push for investigations and legislation, emphasizing that the whistleblower protection framework remains inadequate for UAP-related disclosures.
The Orb Video
A significant moment came when Representative Eric Burlison played a video taken on October 30, 2024, showing an MQ-9 drone tracking an orb off the coast of Yemen. In the footage, the orb survives a direct Hellfire missile strike — an extraordinary claim that, if verified, demonstrates technology far beyond known countermeasures. Burlison has described classified videos of "glowing, intelligently controlled plasma orbs" exhibiting "incredible speeds, playful behavior, and advanced maneuvering."
What Changed
The 2025 hearing marked a strategic escalation. Where the 2023 hearing established credibility with senior officers (Grusch, Fravor) and the 2024 hearing brought establishment figures (Gallaudet, Gold), this hearing broadened the witness pool to include enlisted veterans and active-duty personnel. This demonstrated that the UAP reporting problem affects the entire chain of command — from admirals to junior enlisted — and reframed the issue as one of "force protection" and "troop welfare."
Representative Luna's creation of a dedicated Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets signaled that UAP transparency had become an institutional priority within the House, with a formal mandate to examine secrecy and whistleblower protection.