Former NASA astronaut Charles Duke, the youngest man to walk on the moon, says UFOs are demons masquerading as angels to pull people from faith, a view now echoed by top Republicans.
Charles Duke, the Apollo 16 lunar module pilot who walked on the moon at age 36 in 1972, told the Christian Broadcasting Network that the unidentified craft people report are not visitors from another world. He said they are demonic entities working to turn people away from God.
The 91-year-old ex-astronaut framed the claim in plain biblical terms during the recent appearance. He pointed to Scripture and a personal prayer he said was answered years earlier.
NY Post reported Duke’s remarks as interest in government UFO files has grown.
Duke did not claim any close encounters during his own flights. He served as spacecraft communicator for the Apollo 11 landing and later flew as lunar module pilot on Apollo 16. He said the pattern he sees now matches a warning from the New Testament.
Duke said he spent a long stretch praying about the UFO question and asking God for clarity. The next morning a friend called him over and wanted to talk about the same subject.
He recalled the friend’s words:
"Charlie, come on over. I want to start talking to you about UFOs,"
Duke treated that timing as the sign he had requested. He has held the same conclusion since.
He told the network:
"The Lord says what we’re seeing is real, but the devil can appear as an angel of light, the Bible says,"
He cited 2 Corinthians 11:14 directly: “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” In that passage the Apostle Paul warned early believers about false apostles who present themselves as faithful while leading people astray.
Duke said the goal of these entities is to draw attention toward supposed alien beings and away from Christian faith. He has voiced the same idea at rotary clubs in earlier years and met open laughter.
He answered the scoffing this way:
"You can laugh at me if you want to, but that’s... what God showed me, and I’m sticking to it,"
He also stated:
"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 is not the only public figure tying unidentified anomalous phenomena to the demonic. Vice President JD Vance made a parallel remark in March while speaking with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson.
Vance said:
"I don’t think they’re aliens. I think they’re demons anyway, but that’s a long discussion,"
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), one of the more visible lawmakers pressing for UFO disclosure since the White House began releasing related files, posted a religiously charged image on the day of the first release. On May 8 she shared a picture of a winged Ophanim, the wheel-like celestial being described in the Book of Ezekiel, on X.
Those comments arrive while federal disclosure efforts continue and public curiosity about UAPs remains high. Duke’s account adds a first-person lunar-era voice that rejects the extraterrestrial explanation in favor of a spiritual one.
Duke was clear that nothing unusual approached him during his time on the moon or in the Apollo program. His position rests on prayer, Scripture, and the timing of that friend’s call rather than any cockpit sighting.
He described the entities as real but deceptive, appearing as angels of light so they can redirect faith. That is the warning he says God confirmed to him, and he has not softened it despite earlier mockery at civic clubs.
When a man who walked on the moon at 36 says the lights in the sky are the devil’s work, the country should at least hear him out before the next round of official files drops.
