By Daniel Westbrooke/PNW News Agency
A wave of viral claims about secret government briefings with Christian leaders regarding UFOs has been partially walked back after a prominent pastor apologized for conflating his own interpretation with comments made by a sitting U.S. congressman during a private call with religious leaders.
Larry Ragland, senior pastor of Solid Rock Church in Birmingham, Alabama, issued a public clarification after a viral clip suggested he had attributed statements to Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., implying that the upcoming government disclosure of UFO files could include claims that extraterrestrials created humanity and that Christianity itself was invented by non-human intelligence.
Pentagon releases first batch of UFO files, urges public to draw own conclusions – cvnznews.com
In the original viral clip, Ragland described a “very well-known congressman from Missouri” allegedly warning pastors in a private discussion that future disclosure narratives could involve beings presenting themselves as humanity’s creators, with claims that God, Jesus, and the Bible were human inventions seeded by non-human entities.
However, Rep. Burlison quickly pushed back on those interpretations, stating publicly that he does not know the origins of unidentified aerial phenomena and that his participation in the discussion was limited to encouraging Christians to ground their worldview in Scripture rather than speculation.
“I do NOT know what the strange objects in the skies are and I certainly do NOT know their origins,” Burlison wrote on X, adding that he was invited to briefly join a theological discussion and could not account for all claims made within the broader meeting. He emphasized that his comments centered on the importance of biblical literacy and discernment, particularly if future disclosure events occur.
Ragland later issued an apology, acknowledging that he had blended his own interpretation with what was actually said, clarifying that Burlison did not make the claims attributed to him.
Even as that specific narrative has been corrected, broader discussions among pastors, online ministries, and political figures continue to circulate, fueling ongoing debate about government transparency, UFO disclosure, and how the church should respond to the possibility of non-human intelligence.
The video’s have led to many important questions about how Christians should respond if society increasingly embraces a worldview centered around extraterrestrial explanations for spiritual realities.
That question is no longer fringe.
Over the last several years, belief in UFOs and non-human intelligence has surged dramatically in mainstream culture. Hollywood, social media, podcasts, military testimony, and even government language have normalized the topic in ways unimaginable twenty years ago.
The timing of such discussion among the Christian community could not be more important as the White House is expected to begin releasing the long-awaited UFO files on Friday – months after President Trump ordered top administration officials to get the ball rolling on the secretive intel. It is expected large amounts of information will be released each week for several successive weeks although it is unclear just what information will be released.
We also have the summer release of Steven Spielberg’s new UFO movie, Disclosure Day on June 12, exploring global reaction to the revelation that aliens are real. This will further fuel the fire over this issue and so it important to have a Biblical understanding of this issue as people see this movie and it becomes a topic of conversation.
For many Christians, the concern is not merely about strange objects in the skies. It is about worldview.
Could modern society eventually reinterpret biblical supernatural events through a purely extraterrestrial lens?
Could demons become “interdimensional beings”? Could angels become “advanced intelligences”? Could spiritual deception eventually be reframed as cosmic enlightenment?
Many Christian thinkers have wrestled with these questions for years.
The late Christian scholar Chuck Missler often argued that UFO phenomena may involve spiritual deception rather than extraterrestrial civilizations. Christian researchers like Gary Bates and Joe Jordan have similarly suggested that many alleged alien encounters bear striking similarities to occult experiences, sleep paralysis events, demonic oppression, and spiritual manifestations described throughout church history.
Many Christians acknowledge that the Bible already prepares believers for massive end-times deception. Scripture repeatedly warns about “lying signs and wonders,” deceiving spirits, and false narratives powerful enough to mislead many. Jesus Himself warned that deception in the last days would become so persuasive that even “the elect” could be shaken.
That does not mean Christians should panic every time a blurry video appears online.
Nor does it mean believers should embrace every conspiracy theory circulating on social media.
In fact, one of the biggest dangers surrounding this current controversy may be fear-driven sensationalism itself. Viral speculation can quickly become spiritually unhealthy when Christians become more obsessed with hidden government meetings than prayer, Scripture, discernment, and the Gospel.
At the same time, dismissing every concern outright may also be unwise. History shows governments do hide information. Intelligence agencies do conduct psychological operations. And cultural narratives do shape public belief systems over time.
Christians therefore face a delicate challenge: remain discerning without becoming paranoid.
The church does not need to fear disclosure — whether it involves advanced technology, unexplained aerial phenomena, or future revelations we cannot yet anticipate. Christianity has survived empires, scientific revolutions, world wars, and centuries of philosophical attacks. The existence of unexplained phenomena would not suddenly erase the resurrection of Christ or invalidate Scripture.
But Christians should recognize that the spiritual battle over truth is real.
Because the larger issue may not be whether UFOs exist at all.
The larger issue may be whether society increasingly seeks supernatural explanations without God, spirituality without repentance, and cosmic wonder without Christ.
And that is precisely why discernment matters now more than ever.
