John Kirby

Biden White House national security spokesman whose 2023 podium answers on UAP ('We don't have the answers') were the administration's main on-record line.

Current role: Director, University of Chicago Institute of Politics (since 15 November 2025)

Former roles:

White House National Security Communications Advisor / NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications (May 2022 – January 2025)
Pentagon Press Secretary
State Department Spokesperson
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (retired)

Background

Retired U.S. Navy rear admiral and long-serving government spokesman, with stints as Pentagon Press Secretary and State Department spokesperson before President Biden named him NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications in May 2022. From that podium he fielded most White House questions on UAP in 2023, during the February shoot-downs of unidentified objects and around the July House Oversight hearing. His answers were consistently narrow: the administration takes the issue seriously as a flight-safety and national-security matter, and does not know what the phenomena are. He left government on 20 January 2025 and became director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics in November 2025.

On the record

2023-07-26 – White House press briefing, the day of the House Oversight UAP hearing – "We obviously take the issue of unidentified aerial phenomena seriously." Asked about extraterrestrial life: "What we believe is that there are unexplained aerial phenomena that have been sighted and reported by pilots, Navy and Air Force; that these phenomena have in some cases had an impact on our training ranges, on our pilots' ability to fly, train, operate, and stay ready. That alone makes it a national security issue worth — worth looking at. We don't know. We don't have the answers about what these phenomena are. Otherwise, I guess we'd have a catchier name for it." Transcript · Clip
2023-07-17 – White House press briefing – "I mean, some of these phenomena, we know, have already had an impact on our training ranges for — you know, when pilots are out trying to do training in the air and they see these things, they're not sure what they are, and it can have an impact on their ability to perfect their skills. It's already had an impact here, and we just want to better understand it." Transcript
2023-02-13 – White House press briefing after three unidentified objects were shot down over North America – "I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these craft, period." Described the objects as small, unmanned and drifting with the wind, with origins and purpose not yet assessed. PBS NewsHour

Timeline of involvement

2022-05-20 – named NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications
2023-02-13 – briefs on the three shot-down objects, "no need to worry about aliens"
2023-07-17 – UAP question at the podium ahead of the House hearing
2023-07-26 – responds to the Grusch, Graves and Fravor hearing
2025-01-20 – leaves government with the change of administration
2025-10-20 – appointed director of the UChicago Institute of Politics, effective 15 Nov 2025

Relevant links

Part of the Key People in Disclosure series. Verified 2026-10-10. Spotted an error? Reach out.