Crash Retrievals of Non-Human Origin — Burlison’s Plea to the President
In a video circulating widely on August 19, 2026, Missouri Congressman Eric Burlison delivers a direct and unambiguous message: credible reports of crash retrievals and reverse-engineering programs involving objects of non-human origin continue to reach Congress, and the time has come for the President to protect the whistleblowers who bring those reports forward.
The clip, shared by documentary filmmaker James Fox, shows Burlison speaking from a formal setting with American flags behind him. Identifying himself as a Republican member of the task force on the declassification of federal secrets, he states:
“We continue to receive credible claims of recovered craft of non-human origin and reverse engineering programs that may have operated for decades outside of any government oversight. Those claims point to specific facilities, contractors, records, and people. We continue to depend on whistleblowers to provide this critical information, but these whistleblowers are being terrorized.
Mr. President, I’m asking for you to directly restore what many of these brave whistleblowers have already lost, their pensions, their clearances, and other benefits. Provide immunity for anyone and everyone who has already come forward and for those who will come forward. And now we ask that you open the doors and let them speak, not only to Congress, but to the public.
This is the moment. Use the authority that you have been given because the American people are behind you on this and the time is now.”
The remarks originated at a June 9, 2026 bipartisan press conference on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Burlison appeared alongside Representatives Tim Burchett, Anna Paulina Luna, and Jared Moskowitz, as well as whistleblower David Grusch. The event, hosted by journalist Leslie Kean and filmmaker James Fox, focused on accelerating declassification, advancing the UAP Disclosure Act, and securing statutory protections for witnesses.
Burlison has become one of the most persistent and methodical voices in Congress on the UAP issue. A Missouri Republican serving on the House Oversight Committee and the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, he has repeatedly pressed agencies and private contractors for records, site access, and briefings. His approach is deliberate: rather than relying solely on broad calls for transparency, he targets specific historical cases that may contain verifiable paper trails, flight logs, and interagency communications.
One clear example is his recent formal letters to CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel demanding a full accounting of any U.S. government records related to the January 1996 Varginha and Campinas, Brazil UAP incident. In those letters, Burlison requests searches across records systems, preservation of materials, assessments of possible U.S. flights or material transfers, and briefings on any involvement by U.S. personnel or contractors. He carefully frames the request not as an endorsement of every public claim, but as a demand for accountability on a case that has drawn nearly three decades of witness testimony, documentary investigation, and, more recently, public affirmation by former Brazilian Defense Minister Aldo Rebelo that a craft and non-human beings were recovered. Burlison’s focus on Varginha illustrates a consistent pattern: follow the specific facilities, contractors, records, and people that credible sources keep identifying.
This latest video of Burlison fits into a broader campaign by James Fox, who has released a series of short clips in which multiple whistleblowers and witnesses appeal directly to President Trump for immunity so they can discuss evidence already provided behind closed doors. The renewed circulation of the June statement on August 19 keeps the pressure focused on executive action at a moment many observers describe as a narrowing political window.
Whether the administration responds with formal immunity, restored benefits, expanded declassification, or facilitated access remains an open question. What Burlison’s statement makes plain is the current assessment of at least some members of Congress: credible reports of non-human origin craft recovery and reverse-engineering programs exist, the people who bring those reports forward face real professional and personal costs, and the moment to protect them and allow them to speak publicly has arrived.
The choice now rests with the President. The facilities, contractors, records, and people have been pointed to. The whistleblowers are waiting. The time, as Burlison put it, is now.
