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https://www.liberationtimes.com/home/exclusive-representative-eric-burlison-talks-ufo-hearings-the-disclosure-act-and-oversight-challenges
Exclusive: Representative Eric Burlison Talks UFO Hearings, the Disclosure Act, and Oversight Challenges
18 August 2025
Representative Eric Burlison of Missouri’s 7th District has emerged as one of Congress’s most active voices in the push for transparency on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
Proud of his Midwestern roots, Burlison has not only delved into the details of the issue but also taken concrete steps, most notably by hiring former senior intelligence officer and UAP whistleblower Dave Grusch to his staff.
He approaches the UAP question with pragmatism and objectivity.
While he holds no firm position on whether the phenomena may be of non-human origin, he does not dismiss the possibility.
Instead, he is focused on testing and verifying whistleblower claims - some of which he has been vocal about, though critics have at times misrepresented these remarks as his conclusions.
With a new UAP hearing expected on 9 September 2025, before the House of Representatives’ Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, where he serves as a member, Burlison told Liberation Times there could be as many as five witnesses called to testify, adding that he hopes at least four will appear:
“I got a memo from the staff about five potential witnesses we’re working on, and hopefully four of them will be at the hearing. So we’re narrowing in on the names.”
Burlison emphasised that the upcoming hearing is not just about testimony on the day itself, but about creating momentum for further action, stating:
“We have an opportunity to use this hearing to build on the conversations already happening and to get more information.
I don’t want to say too much, but there is a mechanism available to this committee that we’ll be able to lean on after the hearing to gather more.”
When asked whether the committee might also subpoena hostile witnesses, those who would otherwise refuse to testify before Congress and who may have sought to obstruct transparency efforts behind the scenes, Burlison confirmed it was possible, adding that it could happen as soon as this year, only months after the expected upcoming hearing.
“Yes, it might be within a couple of months of the hearing this year.”
The possibility of hostile witnesses reflects a broader struggle between Congress and the intelligence community over access to information.
Burlison admitted that his own experience has been eye-opening, particularly in seeing just how carefully guarded sensitive material is, commenting:
“What’s incredible to me is working with the intelligence community and seeing the level of complexity in how they protect information. It’s absolutely remarkable, and I’d say that’s been the most eye-opening part for me.
“As someone who truly believes this government belongs to the people - that the people own the government, not the other way around - it’s disturbing to see how powerful the intelligence community has become.”
Burlison’s frustration over how tightly the intelligence community guards information, and the very real possibility of facing ‘hostile’ witnesses, underscores the imperative for legislative reform.
Enter the UAP Disclosure Act (UAPDA), spearheaded in the Senate by then Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Mike Rounds in July 2023.
Modelled explicitly on the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act, the bill is designed to establish an independent review board, empowered to collect, review, and declassify government records related to UAPs, including recovered technologies and biological evidence of possible advanced non-human intelligence.
Despite bipartisan backing, the UAPDA has faced repeated setbacks for the last two years.
Its provisions were included in the Senate version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)but ultimately stripped out during conference negotiations, effectively blocking its entry into law.
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