Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said Wednesday on Newsmax's "Finnerty" that "the public has a right to know" about UFO-related information, arguing that government secrecy has gone too far and must end.
"We need full disclosure," Burchett said, adding, "the public has a right to know, dadgummit, it's your tax dollars. Let's get it out there."
Burchett, a member of the House Oversight and Foreign Affairs Committees, pointed to what he described as a troubling pattern of secrecy and unexplained incidents involving individuals tied to sensitive programs.
"There are no coincidences in this town," he said. "These folks have disappeared or died mysteriously.
"The only thing that ties them together is outer space, whether it's UFOs or nuclear secrets or missiles."
He criticized what he called entrenched bureaucratic control over information, recounting a closed-door briefing where he was told "the president is on a need-to-know basis."
Burchett said, "I think that says everything. There's an arrogance."
Describing layers of secrecy, he added: "It's just layers of the onion, you peel one off and there's another one underneath, we've got a real problem."
Burchett suggested some of the mysterious cases may be connected, dismissing the idea of coincidence. "I think overall ... there is a connection there," he said. "People just do not disappear ... not in this day and age."
While declining to directly address explosive claims from former Rep. Matt Gaetz about alleged alien-human programs, Burchett emphasized the seriousness of what he has personally been told.
"I've been briefed by just about every alphabet agency there is," he said. "If they would release the things that I've seen, you'd be up at night worrying about or thinking about it.
"We just need to disclose it all. I'm sick of it."
He revealed he recently received a classified briefing that he believes would have shocked the public. "It would have set the earth on [fire], this country would have come unglued. [Americans] would demand answers."
Burchett warned that information continues to be suppressed as key witnesses disappear. "It just keeps getting covered up and the people that know are dying or disappearing," he said.
He also called for greater presidential engagement, saying, "The president doesn't know the questions to ask ... a few of us are going to have to get with the president and tell him what he needs to ask and where he needs to look."
Reiterating his central point, Burchett concluded: "The public has a right to know."
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