Rep. Tim Burchett is once again pressing for transparency from the federal government on unidentified flying objects, adding his voice to a growing group of lawmakers who say the public deserves answers about what has long remained shrouded in secrecy.
Speaking Tuesday on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” Burchett told host Elizabeth Vargas that reports of unexplained aerial phenomena cannot simply be dismissed. “These people are seeing something out there,” he said, pointing to accounts from military personnel and others who claim to have witnessed objects behaving in ways that defy conventional understanding.
Burchett went further, noting that he has personally reviewed images and video that, in his view, challenge known explanations. While skeptics have often attributed such sightings to advanced technology from foreign adversaries or classified U.S. programs, the Tennessee Republican pushed back on those theories.
“If it’s the Chinese, they would own us. If it was the Russians, they wouldn’t be bogged down in Ukraine,” Burchett said, dismissing the idea that rival nations are behind the sightings. At the same time, he questioned whether the objects could belong to the United States, arguing that the military would not risk putting service members in danger by testing such capabilities alongside active operations.
Instead, Burchett described objects that appear capable of hovering for extended periods, accelerating rapidly, and maneuvering at unusual angles—characteristics that, he suggested, do not align with any known technology.
He also recounted a conversation with a military admiral, who described detecting a massive object underwater via sonar. According to Burchett, the object was nearly the size of a football field and traveling at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour beneath the surface. “We don’t have anything of that capability or that size,” he said.
The renewed focus on UFOs comes as President Donald Trump has indicated that the first wave of government documents on the subject could soon be made public. Speaking at a Turning Point USA event last week, Trump said releases would begin “very, very soon,” following a directive earlier this year ordering the Department of Defense to disclose files related to extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena, and UFOs.
That directive followed comments from former President Barack Obama, who told commentator Brian Tyler Cohen that aliens are “real,” though he clarified his statement was based on the vastness of the universe and maintained that the U.S. government is not concealing such information. Trump, however, suggested those remarks amounted to revealing classified material.
Burchett, for his part, made clear that his priority is not speculation, but disclosure. He urged the government to release whatever information it has and allow the public to draw its own conclusions.
“Just put it out there and let people decide,” he said. While acknowledging he has his own theories, Burchett emphasized that Americans are capable of handling the truth. He also expressed skepticism toward Washington’s reluctance to share information, describing it as rooted in “power” and “control.”
As anticipation builds around the promised document release, the debate reflects a broader tension between national security and public transparency. For many, the issue is not just what might be out there, but whether the government is being fully open about what it knows—an ongoing question in a capital where secrecy and authority often go hand in hand.
[READ MORE: Ukraine Considers Naming Area After Donald Trump]
