Sign in Subscribe

John S. Herrington

Reagan's Energy Secretary who said in October 2026 he found nothing on UFOs in the department's budgets or programmes, finds the Navy footage genuine but unexplained, and calls a 1981 'aliens' story about him a lie.

Current role: Retired; former U.S. Secretary of Energy (1985–1989) under President Reagan

Former roles:

  • U.S. Secretary of Energy (February 1985 – January 1989)
  • Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel (1983–1985)
  • Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (1981–1983)

Background

Secretary of Energy from 1985 to 1989, the department that runs the national laboratories and the nuclear weapons complex, and before that Assistant Secretary of the Navy and White House personnel chief under President Reagan. He entered the UAP conversation in October 2026 when he gave a near two-hour interview to Jesse Michels of American Alchemy, prompted by a story told by Dark Skies co-creator Brent Friedman that Herrington had privately said in 1981 that he had seen aliens. Herrington rejected the story. Clips of the interview circulated under headlines about unidentified objects over sensitive facilities; the exchanges on his own knowledge say the opposite.

On the record

  • 2026-10-07 – American Alchemy interview – on his time at Energy: "Well, we got a lot of rumors about what was happening in Area 51 [...] nothing about UFOs. Um and honestly, I did not during the time I was there come across anything in our budgets or in our programs that would lead me to have any knowledge in the UFO area." On the Navy gun-camera footage: "I frankly, Jesse, I don't know what they are. I don't know where they're coming from." and "those gun camera films, uh, they they are not faked. Uh, in my estimation, the Navy would not do something like that." On the 1981 story: "We didn't go to secret places. I was working in the White House at a lower level. Uh so that's all a lie." He said he would speak to Congress in a closed session if asked. Interview · 22:15 · 93:00

Reported claims (secondary / anonymous-sourced)

  • 2026 – per Brent Friedman (Dark Skies co-creator), on American Alchemy – that Herrington, a family friend, told him in 1981 after a few drinks that aliens were real and he had seen them after a month in an underground facility. Herrington calls the account a lie. Interview

Responses and criticism

Timeline of involvement

  • 1985-02 – becomes Secretary of Energy
  • 1989-01 – leaves office
  • 2026-10-07 – American Alchemy interview

Part of the Key People in Disclosure series. Verified 2026-11-02. Spotted an error? Reach out.