Congressman Eric Burlison Demands U.S. Records on 1996 Varginha Brazil UAP Incident
Congressman Eric Burlison, a Republican from Missouri and member of the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, has sent formal letters to CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel requesting detailed accountability regarding U.S. government records and potential investigative equities tied to the January 1996 Varginha and Campinas, Brazil unidentified anomalous phenomena incident.
In his letter to Director Patel, Congressman Burlison explicitly requests that the FBI conduct an appropriate investigative assessment, preserve relevant records, and provide a congressional briefing concerning potential U.S. government, U.S. person, or federal-contractor involvement in the events. This request references the same subject matter as CIA FOIA Reference No. F-2023-00442, which sought records on U.S. government flights, transfers of materials, and coordination with Brazilian authorities from January 14 through January 28, 1996, in or near Campinas, São Paulo State. Burlison highlights the CIA’s Glomar response from January 10, 2025, and notes that such a reply does not resolve FBI equities or congressional oversight needs.
A Glomar response (also called a “Glomar reply” or “neither confirm nor deny” response) is a specific type of reply that government agencies, particularly the CIA, use when responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. It originates from a 1970s court case involving the CIA’s attempt to keep secret the existence of the Glomar Explorer submarine recovery ship (Project Azorian). The agency neither confirmed nor denied the existence of records, arguing that even acknowledging whether records existed would reveal classified information.
The letter makes clear that it does not ask the FBI to validate disputed public claims or assume any allegation is true. Instead, it directs the Bureau to determine whether facts, records, witnesses, flight data, interagency communications, liaison reporting, or contractor activity exist that would warrant further action or production to Congress. It underscores the nearly three-decade public interest in the Varginha incident, including press inquiry, witness testimony, and documentary investigations, and stresses credible questions about U.S. records on relevant dates, locations, aircraft activity, coordination, and material transfers.
Burlison references recent transparency commitments, including President Trump’s February 2026 direction on additional UAP-related records. He outlines potential federal investigative equities that could arise, such as false statements, obstruction of proceedings, unlawful concealment or destruction of government records, unauthorized retention or transmission of classified information, theft or conversion of government property, conspiracy, or violations related to import/export, customs, or biological/technical material handling. Relevant statutes cited include 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 641, 793, 1001, 1505, 1519, 1924, and 2071, among others.
Specific actions requested of the FBI include opening or explaining the decision on an investigative assessment or preliminary inquiry, conducting fresh searches across all components and systems such as the Central Records System, Sentinel, legal attaché files, Counterintelligence Division, International Operations, Laboratory Division, and any compartmented repositories. The Bureau must preserve all records in any format, including emails, cables, FD-302s, reports of investigation, source reporting, flight records, chain-of-custody documents, and interagency correspondence.
Additional requests cover determining FBI-generated records through its legal attaché program or personnel in Brazil, assessing use of any U.S. or contracted aircraft or transportation mechanisms for material transfers from Brazilian custody, evaluating whether any U.S. persons, contractors, labs, or entities handled materials, biological remains, forensic samples, or related records, and checking for any destruction, misindexing, concealment, or improper withholding of documents. The FBI is also asked to coordinate with the Department of Justice, CIA, ODNI, Department of Defense, Department of State, National Archives, and other entities as appropriate.
This focus on the FBI aligns with broader recognition of the Bureau’s longstanding and deep involvement in UAP investigations. Former UAP Task Force Director Jay Stratton publicly affirmed in 2025 that the FBI has been a key partner since the early days of the modern UAP effort, providing active support for classified briefings to Congress and demonstrating serious, professional commitment to the issue. This builds on historical FBI documents, such as the 1950 Hottel memo referencing recovered flying saucers and humanoid bodies, underscoring that the Bureau’s engagement with these matters spans decades rather than being a recent development.
Congressman Burlison seeks a classified briefing with an unclassified summary detailing the search methodology, holdings, assessment, coordination, and recommendations. He requests production of non-privileged responsive records within 30 days, with itemized justifications for withholdings, and asks whether the FBI has previously opened, closed, or declined any assessment or investigation related to the incident or alleged U.S. involvement. If no records exist, a clear statement and description of searches conducted is required.
The parallel letter to CIA Director Ratcliffe requests a fresh search of all CIA components and systems for records responsive to the same FOIA reference, preservation of materials, and detailed descriptions of any holdings on U.S. flights, material transfers, Brazilian coordination, and subsequent analyses. It calls for production within 30 days and coordination with other agencies, while noting the broader oversight role of Congress beyond standard FOIA Glomar responses.
The Varginha incident has fascinated researchers and the public for thirty years. In January 1996, residents reported sightings of a cigar-shaped object and encounters with unusual humanoid beings described as having large heads, red eyes, and oily skin, along with military operations and other unexplained events. Three young women encountered a roughly four-foot-tall humanoid creature with an unsteady gait that they initially mistook for the devil or an injured being. Witnesses reported military forces quickly securing the site, recovering debris and one or more entities, some deceased and at least one possibly alive, with accounts of entities being taken to a local hospital.
Recent public statements by former Brazilian Defense Minister Aldo Rebelo have significantly amplified interest in the case. In a detailed interview, Rebelo, who served as Minister of Defense from 2015 to 2016, confirmed that the Varginha UFO crash was real, involving a downed craft and non-human beings. Drawing from armed forces archives and institutional knowledge, he validated the credibility of key witnesses, including the three girls and neurosurgeon Dr. Italo Venturelli, who examined a living non-human being. Rebelo also referenced the death of a soldier after contact with one of the beings due to an unknown bacterial infection and implied possible U.S. interest or involvement in material transfers. He placed Varginha in the context of other significant Brazilian UFO cases and noted the region’s strategic mineral resources.
While Brazilian authorities offered conventional explanations at the time, these high-level affirmations add substantial weight to long-standing witness accounts.
Burlison’s letters are available as public documents on his congressional website, including the full PDFs of the correspondence. As the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets advances its work, this inquiry adds momentum to broader efforts for greater transparency on UAP matters. This development highlights ongoing congressional interest in historical cases that may hold clues to present-day phenomena. Responses from the CIA and FBI will be closely watched by lawmakers, researchers, and the public.
The letters arrive as John Ratcliffe, now CIA Director, oversees the agency’s Science and Technology Directorate and the reportedly secretive Office of Global Access, which has been linked in various accounts to worldwide coordination of UAP retrieval and analysis efforts. Ratcliffe previously stated in interviews that there were more UAP sightings than publicly disclosed and that the government possessed information difficult to explain with known technology, but in a 2023 appearance he responded to direct questions about alien life by saying, “I can’t talk to you about any potential alien life.” His current role places him at the top of structures long alleged to manage such programs, adding particular weight to congressional requests for records on international incidents like Varginha.
