Kenneth Williams-
A former Apollo astronaut has claimed that UFOs could be demonic entities sent to mislead humanity, adding a striking religious dimension to the growing debate over unexplained objects in the skies.
The NASA astronaut who walked on the Moon has reignited controversy over the nature of unidentified flying objects after claiming they could be demons disguising themselves as extraterrestrial visitors.
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Charles Duke, 91, who served as lunar module pilot on NASA’s Apollo 16 mission in 1972, made the remarks during an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). According to a report published by the New York Post on 13 October 2026, Duke believes the phenomena commonly associated with UFOs could represent a spiritual deception rather than evidence of visitors from another world.
His comments are particularly striking given his own experience in space exploration. Duke became the tenth person to walk on the Moon and was involved in one of NASA’s landmark missions. Yet he has acknowledged that he never personally encountered a UFO during his career as an astronaut. Instead, his interpretation is rooted in his Christian faith and his belief that unexplained phenomena could have a supernatural explanation.
Charles Duke went to the moon and says ufos are demons
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Duke told CBN that he had held suspicions about UFOs for years but struggled to persuade others of his views. He recalled discussing his beliefs at public speaking engagements, including Rotary Club meetings, where he said audiences laughed at his suggestion that UFOs might be demonic.
According to Duke, he subsequently prayed for a sign that would confirm his suspicions. He said he asked God for a specific indication: that a close friend, whom he described as someone who rarely discussed such subjects, would raise the topic of UFOs during breakfast the following morning.
Duke said his friend unexpectedly initiated a conversation about the subject, an incident he interpreted as confirmation of his belief. He also cited the biblical passage 2 Corinthians 11:14, which describes Satan disguising himself as an angel of light.
“The Lord says what we’re seeing is real, but the devil can appear as an angel of light,” Duke said, according to the New York Post report. His argument is that apparent encounters with extraterrestrial beings could mislead people spiritually and divert them from their religious beliefs.
However, Duke’s account reflects his personal interpretation of events. The anecdote about his friend does not establish a supernatural explanation for UFO sightings, and no evidence presented in the reports verifies that UFOs are demonic entities. Duke is not the only prominent American figure to have linked UFOs to demonic forces rather than extraterrestrial life.
US Vice-President JD Vance made similar comments in March 2026 during an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. Discussing his interest in unidentified anomalous phenomena, Vance said he did not think the objects were aliens and suggested they were demons.
Vance also indicated that he wanted to investigate the subject further, bringing the issue into an increasingly prominent political conversation about government records, unexplained sightings and the possibility of non-human intelligence. The comments highlight how the UFO debate extends beyond questions of astronomy and national security into religion and competing interpretations of the unexplained.
For some believers, the possibility of encounters with non-human entities raises theological questions about the nature of good and evil. Others argue that unidentified objects should be investigated through evidence-based methods before conclusions are drawn about their origins.
Priest removed from exorcist role after UFO comments
The debate has also had consequences within the Catholic Church. In June 2026, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a prominent priest and psychologist who had served as an exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington, was removed from that role after publicly suggesting that many UFO sightings could be demonic in origin. Rossetti had argued that demons could conceal their activities and that unexplained phenomena might be part of a broader spiritual deception.
However, Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, said Rossetti’s statements linking UFOs to demonic activity gravely undermined the Church’s teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism. The archdiocese also ended its formal relationship with the St Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, which Rossetti led.
The decision demonstrated that even within religious institutions, claims connecting UFOs with demonic activity can be contentious./Rossetti’s case also illustrates the distinction between an individual’s theological interpretation and the official position of a religious authority.
What does the evidence say about UFOs?
Despite the increasingly prominent claims, the question of what lies behind UFO sightings remains unresolved in some cases.
The term unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs, is now commonly used by US authorities to describe observations that have not yet been satisfactorily identified. An unidentified object is not, by itself, proof of extraterrestrial life, a supernatural presence or any particular explanation. NASA has stated that it has found no credible evidence of extraterrestrial life and no evidence that UAPs have an extraterrestrial origin.
That does not mean every sighting has been explained. Rather, it underscores the importance of collecting reliable observations and analysing them before reaching conclusions about what witnesses may have seen. Duke’s experience as an astronaut gives him a distinguished place in the history of space exploration, but his views about the spiritual origins of UFOs are based on religious conviction rather than a documented encounter with such an object.
His remarks therefore raise a question that is as much about belief as it is about science: how should people interpret extraordinary experiences when the available evidence does not provide a definitive answer?
An unusual theory enters the mainstream debate
The renewed attention surrounding Duke’s comments comes amid continuing public interest in UFO disclosures, military sightings and claims about unexplained objects observed by pilots and other witnesses.
The involvement of figures such as a former Moonwalker, a sitting US vice-president and a prominent Catholic priest has brought religious interpretations into a discussion more commonly associated with science, aviation and national security. Yet their statements do not amount to evidence that UFOs are demons, nor do they establish that extraterrestrial visitors have reached Earth.
For Duke, the explanation is inseparable from his Christian faith. For other observers, the priority remains identifying what is being seen and determining whether the phenomena have conventional, technological or genuinely unexplained causes.
His latest comments have nevertheless added a dramatic new dimension to the debate, reviving an age-old question about whether the unknown should be understood through science, spirituality or a combination of the two.
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