Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) argued that the U.S. government has been covering up UFO sightings since it covered up a UFO crash in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico.
“I do 100% [believe the U.S government is covering up] since 1947 Roswell, [Mexico] … the military said we’ve recovered a saucer and then the next day they dropped this poor officer out and claim he holds up a piece of a hot air balloon and says, ‘No in fact it was a hot air balloon,’ which apparently was a top secret program at the time and they’ve never would have disclosed it in any way,” Burchett said during a recent appearance on Newsmax.
According to Newsweek, an investigation was made into the “Roswell incident” in 1994 by the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force in response to an official inquiry by the General Accounting Office. The investigation reportedly was meant to determine whether the U.S. Air Force or any other federal agency retained information the alleged alien crash in 1947. The 1994 investigation concluded that the U.S. Army Air Force actually recovered debris from the MOGUL balloon-bore research project.
The 1994 report on the investigation debunked claims of “alien bodies” discovered at the site of the Roswell crash. The Air Force’s explanation for the “alien bodies” was that the bodies were Air Force members who were injured or died while they serving in the Air Force.
“The ‘unusual’ military activities in the New Mexico desert were high altitude research balloon launch and recovery operations,” the 1994 report said. “Reports of military units that always seemed to arrive shortly after the crash of a flying saucer to retrieve the saucer and ‘crew,’ were actually accurate descriptions of Air Force personnel engaged in anthropomorphic dummy recovery operations.”
A 2022 report indicated there was a total of 510 unidentified aerial objects. The number of unidentified aerial object sightings in 2022 marked an increase of 366 sightings from prior years. While most of the sightings were described as “balloon-like entities” or labeled “clutter,” some of the sightings “appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities and require further analysis,” a report indicated.
“We’ve been covering this up since the 40s,” Burchett told News Nation. Burchett said he does not trust the government’s reports, claiming that there is an “arrogance” to the government’s actions surrounding alleged UFO sightings.
“I think the American public can handle it,” he added.
