Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., on Monday slammed the Biden administration for its "lack of transparency" on the shoot-downs of a spy balloon and other high-flying objects.
Appearing on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Burchett said the objects are likely from China, which is "checking our will" — and dismissed speculation that the unidentified flying objects involve the transport of "little green men."
"I think it shows our lack of transparency by this administration," Burchett said of the initial delayed response to the massive spy balloon that "traversed our entire country."
According to Burchett, the military should have acted more quickly.
"They claimed it was for safety and, obviously, they could have dropped the thing in Montana," he said.
"They're more likely to hit some guy … with a mullet and a tank top on Myrtle Beach [in South Carolina] than they were to hit somebody in Montana if that thing had dropped," he said, noting Montana "is a very low population state."
"Now, after our fourth object that we've shot down… I'm pretty sure that it is the communist Chinese, if not one of their allies" behind the launches, Burchett said.
"All they're doing now is just checking our will," he said of China. "They study every movement we make. They studied the fact that we did not have the willpower [on the first spy balloon] to shoot it down."
Burchett also criticized Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — recalling his reported behavior in the Trump administration — withholding information from then-President Donald Trump that he called China to assure there would be no U.S. attack.
"General Milley, his conversations with the Chinese … during the Trump administration, and then he tells our President not to shoot [the spy balloon] down after the President tells him to shoot it down," Burchett said.
"We need to have a clear break between our civilian leadership and our military, and obviously we don't. And now the Chinese realized that — after we get political pressure that our President does yield to that," he said, praising Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"I would not call him a hawk in the least sense," Burchett said, but "he clearly saw the problem with [a high-flying object] and had us shoot it down immediately.
"The President would not have been as forthcoming. I don't believe the military would have been as forthcoming if the American population hadn't heard about that one through the media," he said of the incident.
Burchett added that he's skeptical about unidentified flying objects and how truthful the U.S. is about them.
Asked if he though any were controlled by "little green men," Burchett replied: "No, sir."
"I don't think anything traveling light years … we could drop it with our military ordinance," he said.
Instead, he asserted, "I believe it's a cover up. … the UFO situation is a cover up."
"I believe we've had incidents — Roswell," Burchett said. "I believe we've recovered material, and I believe that it's being covered up again … our friends at the Pentagon and others and Big Tech, they have some of this material, and I would hope someone will come forward soon with it."