Charles Duke, 91, has declared that UFOs are demonic aircraft dispatched by Satan, framing decades of speculation about extraterrestrial visitors as a spiritual deception rather than science fact.
The former NASA astronaut, who became the youngest moonwalker in history at age 36 during the 1972 Apollo 16 mission, delivered his warning during a recent appearance on the Christian Broadcasting Network. Duke served as lunar module pilot on that flight and had previously worked as spacecraft communicator for the historic Apollo 11 landing.
“The Lord says what we’re seeing is real, but the devil can appear as an angel of light, the Bible says,” Duke said on the network. He claimed these phenomena are “trying to turn us away from the truth” and lure humanity toward false alien entities.
Duke told the Christian broadcaster that his conviction was forged through personal prayer and what he interpreted as divine confirmation. Years ago, he had begun asking God for a sign to validate his suspicions about UFOs, though his early attempts to discuss the theory publicly met with ridicule.
“For a long time [years ago] I was praying about UFOs, and asked for a sign,” he recounted. “I felt like UFOs were demonic … but I was saying that at rotary clubs and stuff like that, and people were laughing me off the stage.”
Duke described a specific test he set for God. He chose a close friend, a businessman who never discussed unusual topics, and decided that if this friend brought up UFOs the following morning, it would confirm his demonic theory. The next day, according to Duke, the friend called him and said, “Charlie, come on over. I want to start talking to you about UFOs.”
The astronaut pointed to 2 Corinthians 11:14 as biblical support for his position. The passage states: “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” Duke noted that the Apostle Paul issued this warning about false apostles who present themselves as genuine believers.
“You can laugh at me if you want to, but that’s … what God showed me, and I’m sticking to it,” he declared during the broadcast.
Duke maintained that he never experienced any unusual encounters during his own lunar missions, describing his time in space as free of close encounters of any kind.
His religious interpretation of unidentified aerial phenomena places him within an emerging political and cultural thread. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who has been vocal about UFO disclosure since the White House announced release initiatives, posted an image of an Ophanim on X on May 8, the day of the first government disclosure release. The Ophanim is a winged, wheel-like celestial being described in the Book of Ezekiel.
Vice President JD Vance has offered similar commentary. During a March interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, Vance shared his own assessment of UAPs, the government’s preferred term for what were previously called UFOs.
“I don’t think they’re aliens. I think they’re demons anyway, but that’s a long discussion,” Vance said on the program.
The former astronaut’s stance represents a sharp break from popular science fiction narratives that portray extraterrestrial contact as potentially beneficial to humanity. Duke’s framing instead draws on biblical passages about spiritual deception to recast the entire phenomenon as a danger to faith.
Duke’s Apollo 16 mission in April 1972 made him the tenth person to walk on the lunar surface and, at 36, the youngest to do so. His career with NASA spanned the height of the Apollo program, including his critical role as CAPCOM during the first moon landing in 1969.