Person
Tim Burchett
Also known as Burchett
- U.S. Representative (R-TN)
Tim Burchett is a Republican U.S. Representative from Tennessee, in Congress since 2019 and before that mayor of Knox County. He is one of the most outspoken members of Congress on UAP secrecy. He frames the issue less as "little green men" than as unaccounted-for taxpayer money and an executive branch that will not answer to Congress.
At the July 2023 House Oversight hearing he put statements by George Knapp and Jeremy Corbell, and Hal Puthoff's DIA paper on metric engineering, into the record. He credited Knapp's reporting and Leslie Kean's New York Times story for what he knew, and pressed David Grusch on where recovered craft are kept. With Anna Paulina Luna and Matt Gaetz he visited Eglin Air Force Base in 2023 to see pilots' evidence and was stonewalled at first. At the November 2024 hearing he entered documents on legacy programs supplied by Corbell. He later joined Luna's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.
At the May 2025 briefing he called UAP secrecy "the biggest cover up of our lifetime". At the June 2026 press conference he said a briefer had told him the President was on a need-to-know basis, and dated the cover-up to at least 1947. He has repeated claims such as undersea bases that rest on second-hand reports, and Tim Gallaudet traces that one to a Navy email that did not use the word. He appears in The Age of Disclosure (2025).
Sources: July 26, 2023 and November 13, 2024 hearings (transcripts) · May 1, 2025 briefing · Capitol Hill press conference (June 2026) · Wikipedia
Facts and claims
- claimed One of the most vocal advocates for full military UAP disclosure. Source: UAP: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency
- documented At the July 2023 hearing he had statements by George Knapp and Jeremy Corbell, and Hal Puthoff's DIA reference document on spacetime metric engineering, entered into the record, and said Knapp's reporting on Area 51 and Leslie Kean's New York Times article were how he learned of those cases. — Tim Burchett Source: Hearing transcript: UAP — Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (House Oversight, July 26, 2023)
- documented He asked David Grusch under oath where recovered material is held, remarking that Congress keeps talking about going to Area 51 but “there is nothing there anymore anyway”; Grusch said he could not say publicly but had given the information to the intelligence committees and the Inspector General. — Tim Burchett Source: Hearing transcript: UAP — Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (House Oversight, July 26, 2023)
- claimed He joined Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Matt Gaetz on the 2023 visit to Eglin AFB after pilots alleged a UAP cover-up; Luna says they were initially denied access to information and to the pilots. — Anna Paulina Luna Source: Joe Rogan Experience #2365 - Rep. Anna Paulina Luna at 1:30
- documented At the November 2024 hearing he had documents “regarding legacy UAP programs and psychological operations”, which he said Jeremy Corbell had provided along with access to whistleblowers, entered into the record. — Tim Burchett Source: Hearing transcript: “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth”
- claimed At the May 2025 congressional briefing he said: “this is the biggest cover up of our lifetime”, and told witnesses who have stayed silent: “we believe you.” — Tim Burchett Source: Understanding UAP: Science, National Security & Innovation (House Oversight and Government Reform) at 4:50
- claimed At the June 2026 Capitol Hill press conference he said he had been told in a SCIF that the President was on a need-to-know basis, called it a cover-up dating back “at least since 1947”, and said the issue is what “millions and possibly billions of dollars” are being spent on. — Tim Burchett Source: FULL PRESSER: David Grusch & Lawmakers Call for UAP Records Declassification on Capitol Hill (9 June 2026) at 11:21
- claimed Tim Gallaudet says Burchett's remark about “undersea bases” likely came from a classified Navy email describing objects entering and leaving the ocean in five to seven areas of the world, though the email did not call them bases. — Tim Gallaudet Source: Top Navy Admiral: “The Ocean is FULL OF UFOs!” at 25:14
Connected files
Claims
- Recovered alien craft were studied at Area 51, at a site called S-4 near Groom Lake in Nevada (comments on claim)
Events
- Capitol Hill UAP declassification press conference (speaker at)
- Planned House Oversight UAP hearing (November 2026, not yet scheduled) (related to)
Documentaries
- The Age of Disclosure (appears in)
Incidents
- Eglin AFB "orb" and diamond formation (Florida, 2023) (investigated) — Burchett, Gaetz and Luna were at first refused access, then saw the image and met one crew member
Organizations
People
- Anna Paulina Luna (visited Eglin with) — Burchett visited Eglin with her and Gaetz, and later joined her declassification task force
- Jeremy Corbell (sourced from) — Burchett entered Corbell's report and documents into the hearing record, crediting him with access to whistleblowers
- Leslie Kean (statement about)
- Matt Gaetz (visited Eglin with) — Gaetz took Burchett and Luna to Eglin in 2023, where they were at first refused the images, radar data and crew
- George Knapp (credits) — He credits Knapp's reporting for what he knows, and entered Knapp's statement into the 2023 hearing record
- David Grusch (questioned) — He asked Grusch under oath where recovered material is held
- Tim Gallaudet (statements by)
Hearings & briefings
- Congressional briefing: Understanding UAP — Science, National Security & Innovation (testified at)
- UAP: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency (questioned witnesses at) — Burchett, Luna and Moskowitz pressed for more disclosure
Videos
- House holds hearing on UFOs, government transparency | full video (speaks in)
- Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth (discussed in)
- Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection (discussed in)
- FULL PRESSER: David Grusch & Lawmakers Call for UAP Records Declassification on Capitol Hill (9 June 2026) (appears in)
- Top Navy Admiral: “The Ocean is FULL OF UFOs!” (discussed in)
- Joe Rogan Experience #2365 - Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (discussed in)
Mentioned in videos
- House holds hearing on UFOs, government transparency | full video
- Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection
- FULL PRESSER: David Grusch & Lawmakers Call for UAP Records Declassification on Capitol Hill (9 June 2026)
- Joe Rogan Experience #2365 - Rep. Anna Paulina Luna