Person
John S. Herrington
Reagan's Energy Secretary, accused by a former neighbour of confessing in 1981 that aliens are real; he denies it, but confirms Grusch sought him out and offers to testify in closed session.
Reagan's Secretary of Energy from 1985 to 1989. In 1981 he was Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Personnel (January to September), then Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Brent Friedman, his former neighbour's son, says that in summer 1981 Herrington told him aliens are real, that he had been briefed for months in an underground facility in West Virginia and had seen them. Herrington calls it "total BS". On American Alchemy (October 2026) he confirmed the car delivery and that David Grusch wrote and phoned him, said the Navy videos are not faked and that "that kind of propulsion is not within our capability", and offered to testify to Congress in closed session.
Claims (6)
The Navy gun-camera videos are not faked; that kind of propulsion is not within our capability or that of any country I know of.Secretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's replyfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedJohn Herrington, American Alchemy (Oct 2026)
Grusch wrote me a beautiful two-page letter and asked me to call him, and I called him; I told him I don't know anything about UFOs.Secretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's replyfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedJohn Herrington, American Alchemy (Oct 2026)
Teller showed him a thumbnail-size lens that could focus a nuclear explosion in space onto a silver dollar 500 miles away.Secretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's replyfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedJohn Herrington
He found the F-117 hidden in his budget, based on Energy Department land in Nevada, and sat in one.Secretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's replyfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedJohn Herrington (Tonopah Test Range is DOE/Sandia land: record)
Bill Casey sat next to him at the cabinet table for five years and the subject never came up.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedJohn Herrington
He flatly denies Brent Friedman's account of disturbing NHI briefings, calls Grusch a 'Fauci-type' personality (softened when Jesse Michels pushed back), and mentions a nuclear aircraft in a hangar at Idaho Falls.David Grusch on JRE, Herrington Denial, RFK Shoot Down Briefing & QnA - UAP Gerb LiveJohn Herrington denies Brent Friedman's 1981 accountSecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's replyfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedJohn S. Herrington
What John S. Herrington said (14 claims)
On the record 3Witness testimony 7Does not hold 4
“Herrington in 1981 was 'a peon', an intern working in personnel.”Does not holdSecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
He was Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Personnel from January 1981 (White House nomination biography).
“Grusch wrote and called Herrington.”On the recordSecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
Herrington confirms the letter and the call himself, which backs Friedman's account that Grusch sought him out.
“Herrington will testify in closed session.”On the recordSecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
'Sure. I offer to do that.'
“The Navy videos are not faked; that propulsion is beyond us and any country he knows of.”Witness testimonySecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
His own view.
“The AEC was created by Rickover and DOE took it over in '76.”Does not holdSecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
The AEC came from the 1946 McMahon Act; DOE formed in 1977.
“Teller showed Herrington a lens to focus a nuclear blast in space onto a silver dollar 500 miles away.”On the recordSecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
Matches Livermore's Excalibur X-ray laser.
“The F-117 was hidden in his budget on Energy Department land in Nevada, underground.”Witness testimonySecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
F-117s flew from the DOE/Sandia Tonopah Test Range (record); 'underground' is not supported.
“A nuclear-powered airplane built by Howard Hughes sits in a hangar in Idaho Falls.”Does not holdSecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
The nuclear propulsion programme left reactor-turbojet test rigs on show at EBR-I; no complete nuclear plane is known, and Hughes was not involved.
“Atoms for Peace fracked oil with nuclear bombs and it came up radioactive.”Witness testimonySecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
Partly: Plowshare's Gasbuggy, Rulison and Rio Blanco (1967-73) stimulated natural gas, which came up radioactive.
“Area 51 holds foreign equipment; Lazar would be telling the truth if he was reverse-engineering such equipment.”Witness testimonySecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
Foreign materiel exploitation at Area 51 is on record; a partial confirmation of Lazar's job, not of its origin.
“Inman said UFO truths may come out at some point; he told someone there were no retrieved UFOs.”Witness testimonySecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
The Grant Cameron call is public audio; the 'no retrieved UFOs' line is Herrington's hearsay.
“Casey never raised UFOs in five years beside Herrington at the cabinet table.”Witness testimonySecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
His testimony.
“Wen Ho Lee was caught under Herrington.”Does not holdSecretary of Energy John Herrington on UFOs, plus Brent Friedman's reply
Lee's case broke in 1999 under Clinton and Richardson.
“He flatly denies Brent Friedman's account of disturbing NHI briefings, calls Grusch a 'Fauci-type' personality, says he found only the F-117 over the Nevada site in DOE's budget, and mentions a nuclear aircraft in a hangar at Idaho Falls.”Witness testimonyDavid Grusch on JRE, Herrington Denial, RFK Shoot Down Briefing & QnA - UAP Gerb Live
A denial by the person concerned is one data point, not a documentary contradiction. The hosts read the aircraft as the old ANP airframe.
Connected
Bobby Ray Inman personBrent Friedman personDavid Grusch personEdward Teller personHarald Malmgren personRonald Reagan personJohn Herrington denies Brent Friedman's 1981 account document
Sources
- Jesse Michels, "Secretary Of Energy Breaks Silence on UFOs" (YouTube)
- Nomination of John S. Herrington to be Secretary of Energy (1985, American Presidency Project)
- Wikipedia: John S. Herrington
- UAP Gerb, 'David Grusch on JRE, Herrington Denial, RFK Shoot Down Briefing & QnA - UAP Gerb Live' (YouTube, 11 October 2026)