𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗨𝗟𝗦𝗜 𝗚𝗔𝗕𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗗, 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗝.𝗗. 𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘, 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣, 𝗝𝗥. 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗨𝗣 𝗢𝗡 𝗨𝗙𝗢'𝗦, 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗔𝗟𝗦, 𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗦

Depending on the poll referenced, between 34-42% of Americans believe in UFO's, extraterrestials, etc.

As a frequent listener to the late radio host Art Bell, creator of the overnight program Coast to Coast AM, I listened carefully to his reports of UFOs, alien encounters, and government secrecy. His show became a gathering place for conspiracy theorists, believers, and the merely curious, often featuring dramatic calls from people claiming insider knowledge. 

One of the most famous came on September 11, 1997, when a man identifying himself as a former Area 51 employee phoned in, frantic and panicked, to claim that “extradimensional beings” had infiltrated the military and were planning mass disasters to depopulate the planet. The call cut off abruptly, sparking rumors of a cover-up, though the caller later admitted it was a hoax. 

Bell himself claimed a personal encounter: in 1994, he and his wife reported seeing a massive triangle-shaped UFO, an event he later had memorialized in a painting. 

Over the years, Bell argued that the government was hiding the truth about extraterrestrials and sometimes even complicit in related global events. Though he retired from Coast to Coast AM in 2003, he returned with a new program, Midnight in the Desert, to continue his explorations into the unexplained.

That same curiosity now appears to have filtered into official Washington. In a recent interview on the Pod Force One podcast, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, appointed by President Donald Trump, said she believes extraterrestrial life is possible and hinted that classified data exists on unidentified aerial phenomena, though she stopped short of revealing specifics. 

Overseeing 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, Gabbard said she must be “careful with what I share,” but when pressed directly on whether aliens could exist, she answered simply: “Yes.” She added that while her office will pursue the truth, information will only be released when “the time is right.”

Gabbard also expressed skepticism about official explanations for mysterious drone swarms reported in New Jersey and other states last year, saying she still had “a lot of questions” and that classified information exists about those incidents. While the White House described them as authorized flights, Gabbard’s remarks hinted that more remains hidden from public view. 

She was more forthright about the 2023 Chinese surveillance balloon, acknowledging the intelligence community has “a lot of solid information” on the case, though much of it remains under wraps.

She’s not the only figure in Trump’s circle fascinated by the subject. Vice President JD Vance recently admitted on the Ruthless podcast that he is “obsessed” with UFOs and plans to use the upcoming congressional recess to dig deeper into the issue.

Outside the administration, Donald Trump Jr. has also embraced the topic, telling reporter Ross Coulthart earlier this year that “there’s evidence of non-human intelligence out there engaging with our planet.” President Trump himself remains publicly skeptical, saying in a 2024 interview that he is “not a believer,” but has met “serious people” who describe “really strange things flying around out there.”

From late-night radio call-ins to the highest levels of government, the UFO conversation has shifted from the fringes to the mainstream, with believers, skeptics, and the curious now sharing the same stage, though the answers remain as elusive as ever.