A candidate for a Florida congressional seat claims she was visited by aliens and has communicated with them several times throughout her life.



Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera said in a 2009 television appearance that she went up into the spaceship when she was 7 years old, according to McClatchy.



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“I went in. There were some round seats that were there, and some quartz rocks that controlled the ship — not like airplanes,” Rodriguez Aguilera said in the interview, a video of which was posted to YouTube and first reported on by McClatchy.She said she was visited by three large, blonde beings at the time. One was male and two were female.“For years, people — including presidents like Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter and astronauts — have publicly claimed to have seen unidentified flying objects and scientists like Stephen Hawking and institutions like the Vatican have stated that there are billions of galaxies in the universe and we are probably not alone,” Rodriguez Aguilera told The Miami Herald on Friday.“I personally am a Christian and have a strong belief in God. I join the majority of Americans who believe that there must be intelligent life in the billions of planets and galaxies in the universe," she said.

Rodriguez Aguilera didn't directly address her experiences during her interview with the newspaper.



Rodriguez Aguilera is running as a Republican for Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s (R-Fla.) seat. Ros-Lehtinen, who has represented Miami since 1989, announced in April that she would not run for reelection in 2018.

The seat will be tough for Republicans to retain in the blue-tilting district — Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonJeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Warning signs flash for Lindsey Graham in South Carolina MORE won the district by 20 points in November after then-President Obama won it by 7 points in 2012. Rodriguez Aguilera, who has served as a Doral city councilwoman, will be running in a crowded field that includes two higher-profile candidates, Bruno Barreiro and Raquel Regalado.

Rodriguez Aguilera's son-in-law is Vice President Mike Pence Michael (Mike) Richard PenceMomentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Sunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election McConnell urges GOP senators to 'keep your powder dry' on Supreme Court vacancy MORE’s deputy chief of staff, and her daughter is a former Hispanic outreach director for the Republican National Committee.

-- Ben Kamisar contributed to this report, which was updated at 10:36 a.m.