UFO arms race? A congressman says the price of secrecy is credibility
Republican Rep. Eric Burlison told the New York Post that if the Trump administration does not keep its transparency promises regarding UFOs, the United States could hand a propaganda victory to rival powers such as China and Russia. For now, the statements rest more on a political warning than on evidence.
According to an October 10 article in the New York Post, Missouri Rep. Eric Burlison fears that the United States could hand rival powers a propaganda victory if the Trump administration does not keep its transparency promises regarding UFOs and possible extraterrestrial life. He told the paper this would be a "misstep," because the United States should be the most transparent country in the world to its own citizens. If another country were more transparent on this issue, in his view that would be a "blemish" on America's otherwise "pristine" legacy on transparency. According to the paper, Burlison also warned that a rival power with similar knowledge could get ahead of Washington on disclosure.
The article also mentions Brazil. Aldo Rebelo, a former Brazilian defense minister who also ran in the 2026 Brazilian presidential election, told the paper that his country would release its own files if the United States made public its documents on the alleged 1996 UFO crash in Varginha. According to Burlison, such a release could also corroborate the American material already made public: if a foreign country validated it, that would increase the American public's confidence that it is not disinformation or a hoax. He added that if Rebelo has access to such material and shares it with him, he would be happy to work with him on releasing it.
According to the article, the stakes would be especially high if claims that rival powers also possess UFO wreckage proved true. Whistleblower David Grusch, who previously worked on Burlison's staff, recently said on the Joe Rogan podcast that both Russia and China possess crashed UFOs. The New York Post article provides no evidence for this; for now, it is Grusch's claim.
The article mentions two background details. China has publicly acknowledged that it investigates UFO sightings, and according to a 2021 South China Morning Post report, it also uses artificial intelligence to better understand the mysterious phenomena. In February 2026, investigative journalist George Knapp released Russian documents that he had smuggled out of the country in the early 1990s. According to these, the Soviets investigated thousands of UFO reports while publicly denying the phenomenon existed.
Background
Burlison's warning is not without precedent. In February 2026, President Trump directed federal agencies to declassify UAP files, and starting in May, the documents were released in several batches under the PURSUE program. Burlison's point therefore concerns making sure the process does not stop halfway. In July 2026, the congressman sent a letter asking the directors of the CIA and the FBI to report to Congress on whether there are American records related to the Varginha case. After his earlier statements, Rebelo later said that he had not revealed any state secrets and had only commented on publicly known information.
What do we know, and what don't we?
According to the article, an American congressman publicly warned of the political cost of failing to deliver transparency, and a Brazilian politician made a conditional offer to release his own country's files. We do not know when new batches from the PURSUE program will appear, or whether they will include any records related to the Varginha case. The claim that Russia and China possess crashed UFOs came from a single source, Grusch, without evidence. Grusch previously worked on Burlison's staff, so the two speakers are not independent of each other. The Varginha case rests on unverified accounts. The background material in the article, the 2021 report on Chinese UFO investigations and Knapp's Russian documents, is previously known material. The article presents no document or official statement that would support the crashes or a UFO "arms race."
The sober take
The New York Post article rests on statements by politicians and a whistleblower's verbal claim, without physical evidence. The phrase UFO "arms race" comes from the paper's headline, is not an official position, and the article mentions no confirmed wreckage or document from China or Russia. Grusch previously worked for Burlison, so the claims do not come from fully independent sources.
Sources
- nypost.com: Exclusive | Forget nukes: US, China and Russia could be in a new UFO arms race
- Burlison Presses CIA and FBI for Records Related to 1996 Brazil UAP Incident
- Aldo Rebelo nega revelar segredos sobre ET de Varginha
- Russia's Secret UFO Files Stolen 30 Years Ago Expose Massive Alien Encounter Cover-Up by Soviets