Who?
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) — Member, Congressional UAP Caucus & US House Oversight Committee
LISTEN: Laslo & Burlison
Ask a Pol asks:
How did the AARO SCIF meeting go?
Key Burlison:
“I was surprised at their desire to be candid about information. I think that the goal is to demystify, because what we don't want to see happen is that programs that are secure — that were designed, that have nothing to do with extraterrestrials or anything like that — you don't want those, the activity in those programs, they don't want them to be exposed,” Rep. Eric Burlison exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “My skepticism was probably validated. I went into the hearing, wanting to confirm to the extent of which they investigated. How far did they go? And I feel we got some good answers.”
THROWBACK: Remember when Burlison told us…
Caught our ear:
“They absolutely want to be transparent,” Burlison tells us. “And one of the things that I think I can say is that really, the only thing that’s classified is things that are our military or the US government uses that might have collected any information. And that's why what ends up becoming classified. But they said that, you know, if there's an — if somebody has footage on an iPhone of a UFO or outside of the military has evidence of something there, that is not classified at all. So if they do find, you know, extraterrestrial beings or crafts, it is not classified. It would be released.”
Follow-up:
Does this mean this is our foreign adversaries in the US airspace?
“I don't know if I can say,” Burlison replies. “I think it's safe to say that China — that's not the first thing that they ever did. They have been doing — they are pervasive in their espionage in the United States. And they're very creative in how they — they’re clearly creative about getting information.”
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Wrapping up:
Did you trust AARO interim Director Timothy Phillips? Like, is he asking the right questions?
“Yes, I think so,” Burlison tells Ask a Pol. “That's what I really wanted to lean in and press on is to make sure that their process was thorough, and I feel like it is. They basically research every report until they come to a conclusion, which is good.”
Are public hearings still needed?
“We might need to have like — I think that getting them to present, while it might be frustrating,” Burlison tells us. “I think that the UFO community is not gonna be happy with what they say, but if it's the truth, they need to talk about it. They need to dispel misinformation.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO), slightly edited for clarity.
ICYMI — UAP Caucus Co-Chairs Luna & Burchett (& Ogles) post-SCIF briefing "nothing burger”
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Eric Burlison
SCENE: As usual, Burlison was the last UAP Caucus member to leave the SCIF briefing. Upon exiting the classified briefing, he initially speaks to NewsNation’s crew before Ask a Pol walks back to his office with him.
Matt Laslo: “How'd it go in there?”
Female Reporter: “Yeah, how'd it go?”
ICYMI — VIDEO (of first minute of Burlison post-SCIF)
Eric Burlison: “I think that the — you have people that are there to serve the country. I was surprised at their desire to be candid about information. I think that the goal is to demystify, because what we don't want to see happen is that programs that are secure — that were designed, that have nothing to do with extraterrestrials or anything like that — you don't want those, the activity in those programs, they don't want them to be exposed. And so they want, because of that, they want if there is any confusion or doubt, I um — again, my worldview has been very skeptical that this is extraterrestrial and that remains. There's nothing that I learned today that — in fact, probably had more validated today but, my worldview’s probably more validated today.”
ML: “Your skepticism?”
EB: “Yeah, my skepticism was probably validated. I went into the hearing, wanting to confirm to the extent of which they investigated. How far did they go? Did they — and I feel we got some good answers.”
Female Reporter: “Okay, any next steps that you think will be taken after this?”
EB: “We'll see, I think, that they're gonna continue to produce a report from activity used to produce the historical report, and then they're gonna produce more things going forward and I’ll stay in communication with them.”
Female Reporter: “Okay, cool. Great. Well, thank you so much.”
EB: “Thank you.”
ML: “Has it been frustrating that they haven’t had that historical report yet? Because that was mandated like…”
EB: “I think they did produce it.”
ML: “Oh, yeah? Up to your standards?”
EB: “We — (inaudible) was.”
ML: “Yeah?”
EB: “Because they made — they said, ‘We've researched this and this was the conclusion.’ I wanted to know, what did you use to research that?”
ML: “Yeah?”
EB: “Like – because you just telling us that, ‘We looked into it, and that program doesn't exist.’ How far did you go? For example, things like…”
ML: “So does it feel now like they've talked to some of the people who [UFO whistleblower David] Grusch had talked to and maybe he hadn't — or through the game of telephone…?”
Burlison nods.
ML: “Yeah? Do you still have more questions for Grusch or…”
Burlison turns to aide trying to maneuver out of the Capitol Visitors Center where the SCIF is. .
EB: “Are we going up one more?”
Aide: “Yeah we go up one more.”
EB: “I get lost.”
ML: “Yeah.”
EB: “I do, and I'll reach back out to Grusch and talk to him. You know, one of the things that was brought up in the meeting is that, you know, David [Grusch] — some of the accusations that David made publicly, you know the over-compartmentalization, the withholding information from Congress and all of that was verified by the Office of Inspector General. And yet so, I feel that they — I think they adequately, to me, addressed how that can be true, while at the same time, it's true that he misread some activities. And some of the programs that they numerated to us and what they actually did, one can — I was able to see why, if you didn't dig into the program, you would assume that it was research.”
ML: “Did you have time to look at that Kona Blue declassified report?”
EB: “Not yet.”
ML: “Probably not, yeah?”
EB: “It just came out, didn’t it?”
ML: “Yeah. Yeah. I just read it last night, or breezed over it. So from that declassification, is that a good signal to you that they're…?”
EB: “Yes. That they — they absolutely want to be transparent. And one of the things that I think I can say is that really, the only thing that’s classified is things that are our military or the US government uses that might have collected any information. And that's why what ends up becoming classified. But they said that, you know, if there's an — if somebody has footage on an iPhone of a UFO or outside of the military has evidence of something there, that is not classified at all. So if they do find, you know, extraterrestrial beings or crafts, it is not classified. It would be released.”
ML: “Yeah? So it's interesting because over on the Senate side, Sen. [Tim] Kaine brought up the incursions over Langley. Sen. [Mark] Kelly just brought them up to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a hearing about the incursions over Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. [Sen. Kirsten] Gillibrand was just complaining about it after a classified trip out to Nevada, about a persistent incursion above defensive US sites. So does this mean this is our foreign adversaries in the US airspace?”
EB: “I don't know if I can say.”
ML: “Yeah? But, I mean, it's almost more terrifying for the public if this is our foreign adversaries?”
EB: “But we saw the Chinese spy balloon, right?”
ML: “Yeah?”
EB: “I think it's safe to say that China — that's not the first thing that they ever did. They have been doing — they are pervasive in their espionage in the United States. And they're very creative in how they — they’re clearly creative about getting information.”
ML: “Did you — like, what have you made of Kirkpatrick, his complaints that this is like a cabal inside, you know, that certain people are — both in the government and then in Congress — are…”
EB: “They've made that kinda public, that they're saying that there’s a groupthink happening, where you have people that are basically repeating what they've heard. But there's no original source of information.”
ML: “Yeah? Are you guys gonna be able to get to those original sources? Would you like to? Even if just to you all in a classified setting, because they probably couldn't talk publicly?”
EB: “Yeah. I feel like we got quite a bit of information...”
ML: “Yeah? That's interesting, because [Rep. Tim] Burchett and [Rep Anna Paulina] Luna left frustrated.”
Burlison strains to hear.
ML: “Burchett and Luna left frustrated with [Rep. Andy] Ogles and them.”
EB: “Of course.”
ML: “I know.”
EB: “Of course, I think that they like , generally I guess — it’s like, look, my worldview, as I said, is it's likely not. And so, it's not frustrating to me. I found out, you know, I didn’t — I was told 8 or 10 percent. I can imagine if your worldview is that you — if you decided that it is, that what exists are extraterrestrial, then you’re gonna be frustrated.”
ML: “Do you feel like they're asking the right questions? Like, did you — [AARO Deputy Director] Timothy Phillips was in there?”
EB: “Uh-huh.”
ML: “Did you trust him? Like, is he asking the right questions?”
EB: “Yes, I think so. That's what I really wanted to lean in and press on is to make sure that their process was thorough, and I feel like — I feel like it is. They basically research every report until they come to a conclusion, which is good.”
ML: “We'll just see. Last question — next steps? Public hearing’s still needed or…?”
EB: “We might need to have like — I think that getting them to present, while it might be frustrating. I think that the UFO community is not gonna be happy with what they say, but if it's the truth, they need to talk about it. They need to dispel misinformation.
Male voice: “Because AARO, they never testify publicly?”
EB: “I thought it was in the Senate wasn’t it, didn’t he testify in the Senate? Over a year ago?.”
ML: “Senate doesn’t count. Have a good one, sir. Preciate ya.”
ICYMI — Live Q&A subscriber-only session w/ Rep. Burlison
Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, new media prof. & founder of Ask a Pol — a new, people-powered press corps.
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