Tennessee congressmen lead push for UFO transparency
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Two Tennessee members of Congress have been leading the push for transparency about the federal government's knowledge of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), commonly referred to as UFOs.
Why it matters: Republican U.S. Reps. Tim Burchett and Andy Ogles' effort comes after a former intelligence official told Congress last year the government was in possession of "nonhuman biologics" from a recovered UAP.
Driving the news: A classified briefing about UAPs has been scheduled for next week. News of the meeting was first reported by Axios.
Context: The meeting comes after Burchett of Knoxville led a group of lawmakers in sending a letter in August to the Intelligence Community's inspector general, demanding more information about these phenomena.
- The same group of lawmakers formed the UAP Caucus, which includes Ogles, who represents a large portion of Nashville.
What they're saying: Burchett tells Axios that House members have "a lot of questions." The classified briefing will be for members of the House Oversight Committee.
- "If we are paying millions of dollars to investigate (UAPs), we should be able to see the results," he said in a statement earlier this week.
Flashback: At a press conference last year, a group of lawmakers called for the strongest possible access to information about UAPs.
- "Whether it's little green men, American technology or worse — technology from the [Chinese Communist Party] — we need to know," Ogles said.