Many of us have stories of things we saw in the sky that were difficult to explain.
“It didn’t really look like a conventional aircraft,” Daniel Scholz said. "It didn't have identifiable wings or tails or anything like that."
“It was a red, it almost looked like flames in the sky, and it was spiraling," Jacob Schall said.
But questions about whether we're alone or if there is someone else out there used to be just for conspiracy theories. Now, whistleblowers have the attention of the U.S. Congress.
The House Oversight Committee, including Arizona congressman Andy Biggs, heard from whistleblowers.
One man, a former Pentagon intelligence officer, said under oath the government has proof of UFOs which they refuse to release to the public.
Arizona is no stranger to UFO sightings.
Thousands of people reported the Phoenix Lights in 1997.
Then-Governor Fife Symington called what ended up being a fake press conference, dressing up one of his staff members as an alien and joking they were responsible.
Despite the ruse, the governor later said he believed the lights were not from Earth.
“When I saw it, I thought this is definitely a UFO," Symington said. "I had never seen anything like it in my life.”
Now in 2024, the case remains unsolved.
Shane Hurd is the Arizona representative for MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network. He investigates reports of UFOs in Arizona.
“Arizona is a hot spot in the country — we get almost 300 cases a year," Hurd said. "So you’re talking almost one per day.”
He says congressional hearings on UFOs further legitimize what his community has been saying for years: that UFOs are real.
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"I know UFOs exist — they're proven to exist," Hurd said.
Some of that proof exists in videos released by the Pentagon, which show pilots tracking aircraft moving through the sky.
While the aircraft remain unidentified, the Pentagon has said they don't see proof they came from outside of Earth.
Hurd believes more transparency can help us understand what’s really out there.
“Who they are, what they are, and what their intentions are, that’s still up for grabs," Hurd said.
You can watch the full House Oversight Committee here.
