An 83-year-old Air Force pilot tasked with debunking alien sightings in the 1950s has revealed how he himself once saw a UFO.
Air Force Lt. Col. Richard French was allegedly an investigator for Project Blue Book, with the job of solving purported alien sightings.
But in a testimony in Washington DC recently, at the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure, he told six members of Congress how that work was shattered in 1952 when he himself saw something unexplainable.
French explained to the panel - and later to HuffPost US - how he travelled to Newfoundland after reports of a UFO crash off the coast of St John's.
He followed a crowd of 100 people on a nearby wharf and stared into the water - and what he saw defies his own powers of explanation.
He said:
"The first thing I saw was the UFOs, and it was apparent to me that they were doing something to the craft, and I couldn't really tell what because they were on the bottom side of it and not visible to me except when they would occasionally get over to the side where I could see them."
He added the brings were about 2 or 3 feet tall, grey and thin - and that he then watched as the craft rose out of the water, flew away at "2,500 mph" and returned.
For more of Richard French's story, head to HuffPost US and watch his testimony above.