Rep. Tim Burchett on UFOs: ‘Yeah, I think there’s a cover up’

Following a classified briefing on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), more commonly known as UFOs, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) suggested Wednesday that the U.S. government may be intentionally concealing information on these objects from the American public.

“I think there’s a cover up,” Burchett told Blake Burman on NewsNation’s “The Hill.”

“There are tens of millions of dollars that we’ve spent investigating these things. We’ve had departments tell us that they have recovery units, but they won’t release full reports. Everything’s covered up,” Burchett added. 

This is not the first time Burchett has accused the Pentagon of withholding information from Congress that would prove the existence of extraterrestrial life. 

After a series of explosive hearings last summer in which several whistleblowers alleged that the government was hiding intel on an ultra-high-tech craft of foreign or even extraterrestrial origin, Burchett requested that the inspector general of the intelligence community investigate these claims further.

The Tennessee Republican is among a group of bipartisan lawmakers who have continued to push for greater transparency from military officials on what the government knows about Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, leading an effort last fall to launch the House UAP Caucus.

When asked why he suspected a “cover up”, Burchett pointed to the vast financial and technological gains that could be made, should evidence of extraterrestrial life become public, asserting that the American people would be able to “handle” such knowledge. 

“It might be the fact that it’s just plain arrogance—they don’t think we deserve it,” Burchett said. 

“I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with high-ranking officials that have told me that America really can’t handle this stuff. It’s not their position to tell me who or what I can handle. We’re Americans, we ought to be able to take it, give it to us,” Burchett continued.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.