Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Newsweek that he believes the U.S. has recovered a UFO "craft" and possible "beings."
Burchett said the retrieved technology might be "being reverse-engineered right now, but we just don't understand" how it functions, Newsweek reported.
"We have recovered a craft at some point, and possible beings," Burchett said.
In February, the U.S. military shot down four objects flying over North America.
The first, shot down off the coast of South Carolina, was identified by the Defense Department as a Chinese spy balloon.
The Pentagon has not confirmed the nature of the other three, which U.S. fighter jets shot down over Alaska, Canada, and Lake Huron, Michigan.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Feb. 13 that there was "no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity," adding she "wanted to make sure that the American people knew that."
After a classified briefing on the objects last month, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said it was "clear to me this is not a recent phenomenon."
"Lock your doors tonight," he told reporters, Newsweek reported.
Burchett told the outlet that reported UFO sightings likely will rise going forward.
In January, the Office for the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) published a report on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) sightings.
According to the report, there were 510 UAP sightings recorded in the past 18 years through Aug. 30.
The report said that some of 171 uncharacterized UAP reports "appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or performance capabilities, and require further analysis."
Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, said in December that U.S. intelligence had not come across anything "that would lead us to believe that any of the objects that we have seen are of alien origin."
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed on Feb. 13 that President Joe Biden had ordered an "interagency team" to investigate the "broader policy implications for detection, analysis, and disposition of unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks."