Leland Vittert
PersonJournalistLeland Vittert
PersonJournalistLeland Vittert is NewsNation's chief Washington anchor and host of On Balance, a former Fox News correspondent whose show covers UAP from a skeptical, politics-first angle.
Leland Vittert is NewsNation's chief Washington anchor and host of On Balance, a former Fox News correspondent whose show covers UAP from a skeptical, politics-first angle.
Leland Vittert is an American journalist and NewsNation's chief Washington anchor, host of the weeknight program On Balance with Leland Vittert. A former Fox News foreign correspondent and anchor, he joined NewsNation in 2021. His connection to unidentified anomalous phenomena is through his show's coverage, which in 2026 hosted officials, witnesses, and researchers in the disclosure debate from a generally skeptical, politics-first angle.
Born in 1982, Vittert studied at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and spent a year at the London School of Economics before working at local television stations in Wisconsin, Arkansas, Florida, and Colorado. He joined Fox News in 2010 as a Jerusalem-based correspondent, reporting on the Arab Spring from Cairo's Tahrir Square in 2011, the war in Libya, the 2012 conflict between Israel and Hamas, and the fighting in eastern Ukraine in 2014. From 2015 he anchored Fox's weekend America's News Headquarters. In 2020 he and his crew were assaulted while covering protests near the White House, and he left Fox in 2021.
At NewsNation, On Balance debuted in July 2021 and moved to the network's 9 p.m. slot in February 2025. Vittert also moderated the panel program The Hill. In his 2025 memoir Born Lucky he disclosed for the first time that he is autistic, and in April 2026 he signed a multi-year contract extension, reportedly after interest from CBS News.
His UAP segments in 2026 tended to press guests on evidence. He hosted former Pentagon official Lue Elizondo and former FBI official Chris Swecker on the deaths and disappearances of scientists, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, who said after a June press conference by David Grusch that such claims required hard proof. Other segments examined faith and extraterrestrial life, a fighter pilot's reported drone swarm over Iran, whistleblower protections, and Rep. Nancy Mace's complaint that agencies were still withholding files. UAP advocates sometimes criticized the tone; researcher Joe Murgia called one segment among the worst he had seen on the network.
Vittert's significance in the UAP record is as a skeptical counterweight within NewsNation, the cable network most closely associated with the subject. His program brought disclosure claims before a political audience while pressing officials and witnesses for proof.
Video clip from NewsNation's On Balance with Leland Vittert featuring Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) on government transparency regarding UFOs/UAPs. Mace states that she believes some federal agencies or "deep state" elements may be hiding UFO-related information from the public and elected officials. She references military encounters and the need for greater disclosure amid recent file releases. Vittert presses her with skepticism, questioning whether agencies could realistically maintain such secr...
How serious are Iran’s threats to Trump? | On Balance Full Show
UFO files: Nancy Mace says agencies may be HIDING files from Trump | On Balance
What protections could shield UAP whistleblowers? | On Balance
I'm just a little disappointed in Skafish - @heterology, and I'll explain in my comments in ( ). Vittert - @LelandVittert: "What the pilot is describing. Does the [reported jellyfish formation] match any of the videos that we've been seeing over the past couple of years." Skafish: "It doesn't match any of the videos I know of, with the exception of one that I think is so dubious that I wouldn't wanna comment on that." (Dubious? I assume he's talking about the Jellyfish video obtained and rele...
Extraterrestrial being or national security risk? | On Balance
A U.S. Representative has claimed that David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer, told him in private that the nation has been in contact with aliens. NewsNation host Leland Vittert interviewed Representative Suhas Subramanyam about UFO whistleblower David Grusch on June 9, 2026, following the Capitol Hill press conference where lawmakers and whistleblowers demanded UFO transparency. Vittert played a clip of the conference where Grusch was asked how many alien races are there. He...
NewsNation host Leland Vittert interviewed Representative Suhas Subramanyam about UFO whistleblower David Grusch on June 9, 2026, following the Capitol Hill press conference where lawmakers and whistleblowers demanded UFO transparency. Vittert played a clip of the conference where Grusch was asked how many alien races are there. He said, "It's a continuum from corporeal bipedal-type life to what I would consider sentient plasmid life, but there are several that the US government is aware of."...
When Has This EVER Worked?!? | On Balance Full Show
(One of the worst segments I've seen on @NewsNation. Embarrassing. Long post ahead.) "There are several [non-human lifeforms] that the U.S. government is aware of." ~Grusch "I've gotten that briefing from [Grusch], directly. I think if you're gonna make that kind of claim, you need some really hard proof." ~Congressman Subramanyam ~~~ @LelandVittert: "Joining us now, Democratic Virginia congressman, member of the House Oversight Committee, Suhas Subramanyam (@RepSuhas) [and] Republican Georgi...
