US Intelligence Witnesses to 2025 UFO Orb Incident Could Testify Before Congress, Lawmaker Says

US intelligence officials who reported seeing orange orbs near an undisclosed West Coast military base in late 2025 could be invited to testify publicly before Congress, Republican Representative Eric Burlison has said.

The Missouri congressman told the New York Post he would explore whether the witnesses could speak publicly about an encounter they described as multiple orange lights flying alongside a helicopter while smaller objects moved erratically nearby.

The account appears in an FBI interview report made public in May 2026 as part of the Trump administration's release of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) records. The report documents witness accounts; it does not identify the objects or establish that they were extraterrestrial.

Why Burlison Is Considering Public Testimony

Burlison said some witnesses had already met members of Congress behind closed doors but had not shared all the video footage reportedly collected during the mission.

He told the New York Post that bringing intelligence personnel into public view could expose sensitive information.

'There's some people that are working for the agency that having them come forward publicly may expose other things,' Burlison said. 'And so that's a good place to explore and I'm happy to look into that to see if that's a possibility.'

One witness was described as a career official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who is not publicly known. Burlison did not identify the other witnesses or disclose the military base's location.

No hearing has been announced, and no witnesses have been confirmed for public testimony. Burlison is considering the possibility rather than announcing a scheduled congressional event.

What Witnesses Reported Seeing

According to the FBI report, the encounter took place during a mission near the base in late 2025. The witnesses said several orange orbs appeared to travel alongside their helicopter, while smaller lights moved in different directions against a mountain backdrop.

The report described an oval-shaped object, said to be orange, white and yellow, that approached the helicopter and appeared to split into two. Another account referred to smaller objects emerging from a larger orb described as a 'mothership'.

Those terms reflect witness descriptions, not verified findings about the objects' origin or technology. The publicly released material does not independently establish their distance, speed or physical characteristics, and the encounter remains unidentified in the available account.

Avi Loeb Wants Access to the Footage

Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who leads the UAP Scientific Advisory Council, told the New York Post that he had not seen the footage reportedly gathered during the mission. The council had not interviewed the witnesses, he said, but would welcome the opportunity.

Loeb argued that protections linked to President Donald Trump's UAP disclosure initiative could cover information about alleged non-human technology. He said the main concern for witnesses should be the disclosure of classified information relevant to national security.

However, Loeb's interpretation should not be treated as a blanket legal exemption. The administration's UAP disclosure initiative provides for the review and release of records, while a Department of War waiver announced in October 2026 established a protected channel for certain personnel to provide UAP-related national defence information to designated representatives. That does not, by itself, establish that all classified information can be disclosed publicly or during a congressional hearing.

Loeb said access to the footage and the encounter's location could allow scientists to collect better data.

'If we are informed of the location and other details of this unusual encounter, we can go there and obtain high quality data,' he told the New York Post. He has described confirmation of technology of non-human origin as potentially the biggest discovery in human history.

What the Report Does Not Prove

The encounter remains unexplained in the publicly available material, but an unexplained sighting is not proof of extraterrestrial technology. Establishing what an object is would require reliable records, useful measurements, known distances and independent analysis.

The footage could help clarify the objects' movement and appearance, although video alone might not establish their identity or origin. Its value would depend on image quality, context and whether investigators could compare it with other records from the mission.

The case also highlights a recurring challenge in UAP investigations: witness descriptions can be important leads, but they do not replace corroborating data. Without access to the recordings and supporting information, outside researchers cannot independently assess the account in full.

Burlison has said only that he is willing to explore whether the witnesses can testify publicly. Until a hearing is announced and more evidence becomes available, the key questions remain what the witnesses saw, what the footage shows and whether it can be examined without compromising national security.