Aliens or demons? Pastor’s viral response to UFO files is calming Christian fears

On May 8, the U.S. Department of War released an initial batch of over 160 never-before-seen declassified UAP/UFO files, including photos, videos, and reports spanning decades. Additional files are set to be released periodically as more documents are reviewed.

The Christian response to the ongoing file dump has been overwhelmingly cautionary, with several prominent evangelical leaders and figures interpreting the phenomena as demonic rather than extraterrestrial. Many have expressed concern that these revelations could shake foundational beliefs about creation or lead to spiritual confusion.

Rick Burgess, BlazeTV host of the spiritual warfare podcast “Strange Encounters,” is among those concerned that these “alien” files could lead believers astray.

Of all the Christian responses to the UFO files Rick has seen, Rick believes Josh Howerton, senior pastor of Lakepointe Church in Dallas, Texas, has had the best.

He plays a viral clip of Howerton’s biblical response of the file dump and the concept of extraterrestrial life.

“If extraterrestrial life were discovered, that does not destroy your faith,” he declared, saying that Scripture uses the plural (heavens) when talking about God creating the cosmos.

Howerton explained that biblical writers understood there to be “three heavens” — “the sky where the clouds are ... outer space, and ... actual heaven — throne room of God.”

“So when Colossians 1 says that ‘He created all things in the heavens,’ if there were things that He created in the second heavens (outer space), well, hey guys, we have a category for that. They're called angels and demons,” he clarified.

“What a lot of people may be calling aliens, the Bible might call things like cherubim, seraphim, angels, archangels, thrones, principalities, demons, and powers,” he added, noting that Satan is unironically referred to in Ephesians 2 as “the prince of the powers of the air.”

Saying that Jesus warned the end of days would mirror those of Noah, Howerton urged Christians to avoid getting sucked into the UFO/alien conversation: “If [demons are] ... what we believe [aliens] are, I'm not going to mess with that stuff. One of Satan's strategies is to get people to devote themselves to myths and endless speculation. ... What's the main thing? To know Christ, live free, and change the world for God's glory. Don't start giving level eight attention to things of level 0.002 importance.”

Rick calls Howerton’s response “excellent.”

“Don't forget that Lucifer and all the demons that went with him, they are supernatural beings. They are not human, and apparently in that supernatural world, angels and demons can do things and appear in various images, things that human beings cannot do,” he reiterates.

Rick believes that Satan and his forces are going to use these UFO/alien files to “rattle the church” and make people “doubt that God exists.”

“There is a great deception coming,” he warns.

To hear Rick’s full breakdown, watch the episode above.

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