JD Vance has said he believes UFOs may not be extraterrestrial at all, but “demons”, as he pledged to investigate long-promised government disclosures on unidentified aerial phenomena. Speaking in a wide-ranging podcast interview, the US vice president framed his views through religion while also pointing to ongoing efforts within the administration of Donald Trump to release classified material on UFOs and alleged alien encounters.
“I don’t think they’re aliens… I think they’re demons”
Vance made the remarks during an appearance on The Benny Show, hosted by Benny Johnson, where he was asked whether the government was any closer to releasing UFO-related files. “We’re working on it… I will get to the bottom of the UFO files,” Vance said. “I’ve still got three more years as vice president. I will get to the bottom of the UFO files.” He went on to describe a personal fixation with the subject. “I’m more curious than anybody,” he said. “And I’ve got three years of the very tippy-top of the classification. I’m going to get to the bottom of it.” At the centre of the exchange was his interpretation of what UFO sightings might represent. “I don’t think they’re aliens. I think they’re demons,” Vance said. Expanding on that view, he added: “Celestial beings who fly around, who do weird things to people, I think that the desire to describe everything celestial, everything as otherworldly, to describe it as aliens…” “When I hear about extra natural phenomenon, that’s where I go to is the Christian understanding that there’s a lot of good out there, but there’s also some evil out there.” “I think that one of the devil’s great tricks is to convince people he never existed.” He also acknowledged he had not yet fully examined the issue: “I have not been able to spend enough time on this to understand it… I’m obsessed with this.” Vance said he had considered visiting Area 51 and New Mexico as part of that effort: “I’ve had a couple of times where I’ve been like, we’re going to Area 51, we’re going out to New Mexico, we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
Trump’s push to release UFO files
The comments come against the backdrop of a broader push by the Trump administration to declassify information related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life. In February, Trump said he would direct federal agencies to begin releasing files, writing on Truth Social: “Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” The Office of the Director of National Intelligence later said on X that documents would be declassified “soon”, though no comprehensive release has yet materialised. Two federal domains, Alien.gov and Aliens.gov, were also registered on 17 March by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. As of 19 March, neither site was live. When asked about them, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told USA Today: “Stay tuned!”
Obama’s remarks and the political backdrop
Interest in UFOs has intensified in recent years, including through congressional hearings and partial document releases under legislation signed by former president Joe Biden in 2023. The issue resurfaced prominently after comments by Barack Obama on a podcast with Brian Tyler Cohen. “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in Area 51,” Obama said. He later clarified his position on Instagram: “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!” Trump criticised those remarks, telling reporters Obama had “given classified information” and “made a big mistake.”Despite decades of speculation, investigations into UFO sightings have produced few definitive conclusions. Some incidents remain unexplained, even as governments have become more open in acknowledging unidentified aerial phenomena
