Without providing details, Capitol Hill whistleblower says UFOs real
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., alleged that the Pentagon and intelligence branches of the government are hiding information about the flying phenomena but then seemed to blame it on another entity.
"The devil has been in our way," he said.
Oversight committee chair Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wisc., said the Chinese spy balloon shot down over U.S. territory this year is an example of the government not being fully prepared for confronting the reality of unidentified objects flying in U.S. airspace.
David Grusch, a former intelligence official, made several claims about government cover-ups of UFO incidents but provided no detailed evidence of it. He said he couldn't reveal the details in public.
Both lawmakers and witnesses stressed the need to continue investigating the aerial encounters as a possible national security threat.
In a report released in January, the director of National Intelligence said more than 350 new reports of the "unidentified aerial phenomena" had been received since March 2021.
Pentagon officials told a House panel in May 2022 that reports of UFO sightings were becoming more frequent. While many remain unexplained, some had been identified as classified experimental technology by the military, civilian assets such a drones, or previously unknown technology used by adversaries.
A U.S. government report on UFO sightings in June of last year concluded there's not enough data to fully explain them and didn't rule out they may be extraterrestrial.
