Several prominent leaders of Christian communities in the US have reacted after the Pentagon released hundreds of declassified documents and photographs on unidentified aerial phenomena, suggesting that the mysterious objects may have a "spiritual origin" and not extraterrestrial.
The published materials include over 160 documents, videos and photographs collected over decades by the US government, including images of strange objects reported by Apollo mission astronauts or ordinary citizens.
Jeremiah J. Johnston, head of the Christian Thinkers Society, stated that he was not convinced by the published footage and rejected the idea that they prove the existence of aliens.
"If aliens really exist, these vague images are not proof," he wrote, adding that the Bible has spoken for thousands of years of "intelligent beings" that people know as angels, spirit powers or demons.
According to him, the reported phenomena can be divided into four categories: misinterpreted objects, secret human technologies, angelic activities, and demonic activities.
Johnston argued that the Bible clearly describes the existence of a spiritual world that also intervenes in physical reality.
Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in California also expressed skepticism about alien theories.
"What we saw didn't make me believe we're not alone in the universe," he wrote on the X network.
Laurie added that modern society has been programmed by science fiction films to immediately interpret any unexplained phenomenon in the sky as a visit from extraterrestrials.
"What if the best explanation is not extraterrestrial, but extradimensional? What if what we see comes from another spiritual world and not from another planet?" he stated.
The two pastors also referred to the biblical descriptions of the prophet Ezekiel, arguing that some of the phenomena described in the Bible would be considered today as "unidentified flying objects."
