(NewsNation) — Unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) have gone from what some considered a far-out conversation to the halls of Congress. Some lawmakers, including Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., are pushing for more transparency around unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
In Congress’ annual defense bill, lawmakers included a provision requiring the disclosure of classified records relating to UFOs. But key parts of the measure were stripped away.
Burlison called the language that’s left “a joke” but says he’s not laughing about it.
“I don’t think the American people should be happy. If anything, I hope everyone is as disappointed as I am,” Burlison told NewsNation host Elizabeth Vargas. “But I want the American people to know that it doesn’t mean that we’re not going to keep trying this.”
Burlison plans to work toward improving the language in the bill next year. Two key pieces of the UAP measure that were cut from the spending bill include a provision that would have created a panel to sort through which UFO records would be disclosed and a section that would’ve given the government full possession of all recovered “non-human technology” kept by private entities like defense contractors.
According to NewsNation sources, those parts of the measure were reportedly stripped out after influence from the House Intelligence Committee due to national security concerns.
“There certainly is pushback from the intel community against us having access to this information,” Burlison said.
The push for more transparency comes after whistleblower David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer, made headlines when he claimed the U.S. government is covering up a UFO retrieval program.
Grusch has called the pared-down measure “the greatest legislative failure in American history.”
“Whether you believe my allegations or not, this is a government transparency issue at large,” Grusch told Vargas.
Burlison is one of four original members of the “UAP Caucus.” He would like to call another public hearing with more testimony from Grusch, who has said he has “firsthand” information to share.
“Hopefully, we can learn some new things from him. And frankly, Elizabeth, what’s nice is the more that we’re involved in this, the more that we are looking into this, the more educated our questions are, and the more we can narrow in the questions that we need to ask,” Burlison told Vargas.
Grusch first went public with his claims earlier this year in an exclusive NewsNation interview with investigative journalist Ross Coulthart.