Testimony and several reports have exposed unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings across the country amid the national attention on apparent drone observations over recent weeks. Luiz Elizondo, the former head of the Defense Department's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, and other witnesses testified before Congress last month about an alleged government group "hid[ing] the fact that we are not alone in the cosmos." "I believe that we as Americans can handle the truth. And I also believe the world deserves the truth," Elizondo said, urging Congress to enact legislation protecting whistleblowers too afraid to come forward. This UFO was photographed when it hovered for 15 minutes near the Holloman Air Development Center in Alamogordo, N.M., on Dec. 16, 1957. The hearing was part of a larger effort by lawmakers to investigate UFOs, or unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAPs), and determine whether elements within the government are unlawfully withholding evidence from Congress.

As drone sightings over New Jersey continue to raise questions, a new tool could bring answers about the source of these flying vehicles -- if the government could get it off the ground. Earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began requiring all unmanned aircraft systems to be equipped with Remote ID technology, which makes every equipped drone uniquely identifiable to authorities, like a license plate on a car. The FAA announced that it would provide a database that could be accessed by local law enforcement, but nearly one year later, local authorities still can't get into it themselves. "The FAA is working on developing Remote ID data sharing capabilities for law enforcement so they can have access to FAA registration information," the agency said in a statement to Fox News Digital. A sign marks the entrance to the FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 7. (J.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., said after the House Intelligence Committee's classified briefing on New Jersey drones, she's not concerned about any threat and it's irresponsible to scare the public. Drones spotted flying over Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Southern California over the past week posed no threat to operations at the installation, according to reports. James C. Sartain told The Warzone that between Dec. 9 and 15, "there were six instances of unmanned aerial systems (UAS)" seen entering the airspace over Camp Pendleton. Sartain also said the UAS did not pose any threat to installation operations. The publication also learned from base personnel that countermeasures to take out the drones were not necessary as air and ground operations were not impacted.

NASA has chosen two students as winners of the Lunabotics Junior Contest, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the agency's Artemis missions. Contestants were charged with designing a robot that can dig and move lunar soil, or regolith, from one area of the lunar South Pole to a holding container near a future Artemis Moon base. Fifteen-year-old Shriya Sawant of Cumming, Ga., was the winner from grades 6-12 with her RAD: Regolith Accretion Device design. Nine-year-old Lucia Grisanti from Toms River, N.J., won for grades K-5 with her design of Olympus. Each robot successfully accomplished the task of collecting and transporting regolith across rugged lunar terrain.