Angels and aliens? Religious Republicans square faith with the UFO files

WASHINGTON (CN) — In the hours after the Pentagon published the first of what it's promised will be a trove of documents related to unidentified aerial phenomena, Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna posted an image of an angel.

The Republican congresswoman — who's been a leading voice on Capitol Hill for declassifying government records related to UAPs, the John F. Kennedy assassination and other sensitive information — has since denied that her cryptic social media post featuring a "biblically accurate" angel was related to last week's Defense Department publication.

But some of her colleagues in Congress who have pushed for UAP transparency have made similar suggestions, claiming that evidence of otherworldly visitors could have implications of, well, biblical proportions.

The Pentagon last week rolled out what it's dubbed the "Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters," or PURSUE, an online and public repository of government files and historical documents related to unexplained encounters. The database came months after President Donald Trump directed the Defense Department to "begin the process of identifying and releasing" documents pertaining to "alien and extraterrestrial life."

In its first document drop, which the Pentagon has promised will be just one of many as it reviews millions of relevant files, the agency published information on unresolved UAP cases, including documents, witness testimony and video clips, spanning from the mid-20th century to as recently as 2023.

One such UAP encounter, captured in 2013 on an infrared camera by a U.S. military vehicle in the Middle East, shows a flying object which resembles an eight-pointed star. The object drifts slowly around the screen before taking off at a high speed.

Commenters on X responding to Luna's post, made shortly after the Pentagon's files published, drew a connection between the "biblically accurate" angel — a set of interlocking rings studded with eyes and surrounded by pairs of wings — and the 2013 UAP footage.

But Luna, speaking with Courthouse News outside the Capitol on Wednesday, denied that her unusual offering was connected to the Defense Department documents at all.

"Unrelated," said the Florida congresswoman, who explained she was merely sharing a "modern-day interpretation" of the angelic form. "A lot of people think that angels can be little babies flying around with wings, and I would argue there's different interpretations of that."

Still, some other members of Congress have been explicit in their belief that there's a divine explanation for the purported extraterrestrial life depicted in the "UFO files."

"God is the creator of the universe — he is never not going to create," Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert said in a podcast interview last week. "It's always been something in my mind to say, 'well, how can we be the only ones?'"

And Boebert said her review of the UAP documents spurred her to think about phenomena described in the Bible's Old Testament, such as "fallen angels and Nephilim," the mysterious figures mentioned in several passages of scripture that are sometimes described as giants.

"I mean, this is in the Bible," said Boebert. "There's nothing that says that fallen angels, that Nephilim just disappeared. I do believe that this is more spiritual, and, if you really want to go there, demonic."

Asked about Boebert's comments on Wednesday, Missouri Representative Eric Burlison, a leading member of the House task force charged with investigating UAPs, didn't dismiss the idea out of hand but said Christians should "just stick to what the Bible says."

"The Bible, for example, doesn't say that Satan has a tail, horns and a pitchfork," Burlison told Courthouse News. "I think we need to stick to the facts, stick to what the Bible really says. That gives me a lot of comfort, because of the things that I've seen and been briefed on — it does fit, really even underscores the Christian worldview."

Burlison argued that people writing the Old Testament possibly "saw things" much like modern-day UAP encounters. But he pointed out his approach to aerial phenomena was more secular.

"It's an interesting topic, but at the end of the day I'm just seeking the truth," the Missouri Republican added. "As an elected official, my responsibility is to make sure that the American people are safe … . All of this other stuff makes for interesting conversation, but who knows?"

Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett also seemed open to some of his colleagues' biblical interpretations of the Pentagon's UAP files.

"I don't have a problem with it," he told Courthouse News on Thursday. "If you think we're the best that God can do then you've pretty much limited God."

Burchett cited the famous "wheel within a wheel" vision described in the Old Testament's book of Ezekiel, in which the biblical prophet says he saw "identical wheels, sparkling like diamonds in the sun" that resembled a gyroscope.

"Genesis 1, Chapter 1: God created the heavens and the Earth," the Tennessee Republican added. "I think we try to confine God into some Americanized version and he's a lot bigger than that."

The Pentagon, meanwhile, has pledged to continue publishing new information on UAP encounters and to provide separate reporting on "resolved" cases as directed by Trump. "Under this administration, we will pursue the truth and share our findings with the American people," the department said.