Donald Trump has been urged to use a future spell in the White House to 'peel back the layers' on secret US government UFO files, with Republican Congressman Tim Burchett warning that full disclosure could be so shocking that 'this country would've come unglued.'
The Tennessee lawmaker said on US television that Trump is, in his view, the only politician disruptive enough to declassify what Washington knows about unidentified aerial phenomena.
UFOs and their rebranded cousin UAPs have shifted from sci‑fi fringe material to a recurring political topic in the US. Former presidents have been quizzed about aliens, the Pentagon has acknowledged investigating unexplained sightings, and Congressional hearings have tried, with mixed success, to prise information from wary officials. Into that fog of half‑answers steps Burchett, a conservative firebrand who has made government transparency on UFOs one of his signature causes.
Speaking on Fox News' The Big Weekend Show, Burchett said he has personally pressed Trump to order a sweeping declassification of UFO records if he returns to the Oval Office. 'Just tell the American public,' he said. 'It's like I told President Trump, peel back the layers of that onion, let America decide if we can handle it. I think we can handle it.'
Burchett says his urgency comes not from internet rumours, but from highly classified briefings he has already received in Congress. Those sessions, he suggested, left him rattled. 'I have some ideas about what it is, I've been briefed on some things and, yeah, they're pretty wild,' he said. 'And I think America needs to know that stuff and we need to know what the heck we're spending the money on to study.'
Tim Burchett's Pitch To Donald Trump On UFO Secrecy
In Burchett's telling, the UFO debate is less about 'little green men' and 'dadgum flying saucers' and more about who controls information and how public money is used. The Congressman has repeatedly argued that intelligence and defence agencies are tying themselves in knots over the issue, with one arm of government denying any concern about UAPs while another quietly investigates them.
He has been openly scornful of those so‑called 'alphabet agencies,' accusing them of hiding behind classification stamps and inconsistent briefings. The lack of a coherent narrative from officials has allowed Burchett to frame himself as a straight‑talking sceptic of the security establishment, even as he leans into some of its most mysterious subject matter.
When he took his message to Stephen A. Smith's Straight Shooter podcast, Burchett cast Trump as the only figure likely to smash that wall of secrecy. 'If anybody will do it, if anybody's a disruptor, it's Donald J. Trump, and he will disrupt with this,' he said. He added that he had been in touch with people at the White House 'just about that,' and hinted, without providing evidence, that 'hopefully some things will be coming out soon.'
Nothing in Burchett's public comments so far has been accompanied by documentary proof, independently verifiable details of the briefings he cites, or specific examples of the alleged cover‑up.
Until and unless that material appears, his more dramatic claims remain unconfirmed.
Donald Trump, UFO Files And A Nervous Public
If the Congressman is right about the contents of those files, though, he believes the shock would be profound. Earlier this month, he told conservative channel Newsmax that Americans would be rattled by what he has heard behind closed doors. 'This country would've come unglued if they had heard all that I heard,' he said. 'They would demand answers.'
That suggestion of a public on the verge of panic has become part of the modern UFO script, even as former officials edge closer to acknowledging that at least some incidents defy easy explanation. Former president Barack Obama once appeared to nod towards that ambiguity, telling an interviewer that there were objects in the sky that behaved in ways military experts could not fully account for. He later rowed back on those remarks, but not before Trump accused him of flirting with 'classified information.'
Trump himself has oscillated between mockery and tantalising hints. As president, he occasionally teased that he knew 'interesting' things about Roswell, the New Mexico town synonymous with UFO lore, before quickly changing the subject.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump has promised to push the Pentagon and other federal agencies to release what they hold on 'unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)' and 'unidentified flying objects (UFOs).' The wording was vague, and he did not set out any timetable or legal route for doing so, but for campaign supporters keen on disclosure, it was a clear nod.
