Dr. Phil McGraw has accused the Pentagon of lying “straight to our face” about UFO investigations.
The television host, 74, issued a strongly worded statement on X on Wednesday calling the government’s handling of unidentified aerial phenomena “a conscious, policy-driven decision to deceive the American people about what was going on in the skies.” McGraw claimed that despite civilians accounting for most sightings, their reports have been left uninvestigated.
McGraw stated he believes because of how the Pentagon has counted the sightings, “we’re not getting the truth from our government.”
“[The government] has turned a blind eye to sightings by most Americans,” McGraw alleged on X, claiming the Pentagon hasn’t looked into nearly 2,000 UAP reports from the public.
He pointed to data from the National UFO Reporting Center, which he said classified over 1,800 UFO reports as “Tier 1” — defined by the site as the “most dramatic sightings – strange structured craft or highly anomalous phenomena seen at close distance.” McGraw said these were allegedly never looked at.
“Can some of those be explained away? I’m sure they can – maybe all of them, I don’t know,” McGraw said. “The point is that no one in the government is even looking at these things.”
The host turned his attention to the practical barriers facing ordinary Americans. “There is not one government agency that lets everyday Americans report UAPs,” McGraw continued on X. He alleged that “the overwhelming majority of sightings come from the general public and the government never investigates them.”
McGraw noted that while military personnel frequently in the sky can report sightings, regular citizens lack the same channel. “If the government doesn’t want to see it, who does?” he questioned.
What members of the public have at their disposal are two non-government databases: NUFORC and the Mutual UFO Network. These allow people to submit reported sightings but do not provide a direct line to official investigators.
McGraw pressed further on the statistical implications of official neglect. “If 99 percent prove to be nothing to see here… fine. What about the one percent?” he said, before criticizing how the Pentagon went about declassifying information that allegedly points to alien life being real.
“Most of you are as angry as I am that the government has lied straight to our face,” McGraw added on X.
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, the Pentagon’s official UAP investigative body, states on its website that “reporting is limited at this time to current or former US Government employees, military personnel, or contractor personnel with direct knowledge of US Government programs or activities related to UAP dating back to 1945.” The office added: “AARO is NOT currently accepting reports of UAP sightings/encounters from the general public. In the future, reporting eligibility will be expanded to the general public and include reports of any event related to UAP.”
The psychologist’s broadside comes amid ongoing public and congressional pressure for greater transparency around military encounters with unexplained aerial objects. Multiple hearings and whistleblower claims in recent years have kept the issue in national headlines, though official findings have largely attributed sightings to conventional objects or natural phenomena.
McGraw’s intervention marks a notable escalation in his public commentary, which has increasingly touched on political controversies since the conclusion of his long-running syndicated talk show.
The outlet reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.
AARO has indicated it will expand reporting eligibility to the general public at an unspecified future date.