HELENA — The Republican primary for the U.S. House is now a contested one as Eric Brosten, a Helena author and engineer, filed Thursday and wants to talk about the Star Wars missile defense system.

He will face Steve Daines, of Bozeman, in the GOP primary in June, while seven Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination.

Brosten, 56, said he is writing a book about the Star Wars system proposed by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s to explain its current capabilities.

That’s also why Brosten said he is running for Congress.

The Star Wars missile defense system is “a good thing, but it has to be out in the open,” he said. “It’s got real potential for abuse.”

“Most people don’t know since Reagan got out of office and the media quit covering it, the government have been aggressively developing the missile defense system previous referred to as Star Wars,” he said. “They’ve kept it out of the media, they don’t discuss it. Star Wars was the real issue behind the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal.”

He said U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and other Republicans emphasized the sex scandal involving President Bill Clinton to divert the public’s attention from Star Wars.