Speculation grows as calls increase for the Vatican to reveal possible UFO files hidden in its archives.
Credit : New Africa, Shutterstock
For centuries, the Vatican has kept its cards close to its chest. Behind closed doors and 80 kilometres of shelving, the Apostolic Archives are home to some of the Catholic Church’s most closely guarded records—documents that span popes, wars, revolutions… and, if some are to be believed, UFOs.
That last one might sound like something from a sci-fi film, but a growing number of researchers, scientists, and filmmakers are now asking the Church to come clean. The latest wave of interest? It’s been sparked by former US intelligence officer David Grusch, who claimed in July 2023 that the Vatican helped cover up evidence of alien life—going as far as assisting in the transfer of a UFO recovered in Italy during Mussolini’s rule to the United States.
Vatican linked to UFO cover-up? shocking claims explained
Are UFOs filed away next to ancient manuscripts?
Not everyone is convinced, of course. Vatican archivist Bishop Sergio Pagano has said there’s absolutely nothing about aliens in the archive. He’s even asked researchers to stop wasting their time. Still, the rumours persist—fanned by experts like Professor Diana Walsh Pasulka, a religious studies scholar who’s spent years looking at how faith and UFO stories overlap.
She points to historical cases—nuns seeing glowing orbs, tales of flying buildings—which were once described as miracles. But what if, she argues, they were really encounters of the other kind? The problem is, these stories don’t get much attention from the Vatican’s archivists, who are focused on digitising more traditional, “priority” documents. So, the unusual stuff stays buried.
Filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee, who directed God Versus Aliens, takes it a step further. He believes the Church not only knows more than it’s saying, but has a cardinal specifically appointed to handle any future “first contact” scenario. According to Lee, the Vatican’s recent guidelines on apparitions might even hint at a paranormal openness—without saying the quiet part out loud.
Is the Vatican waiting for scientific proof before admitting to aliens?
And then there’s Jaime Maussan, a Mexican journalist and veteran UFO researcher. He says the Church is actually ready to accept alien life, but won’t make it official until the scientific community does. In conversations with Conrado Balducci, a former Vatican figure, Maussan says it was made clear: the Church doesn’t see extraterrestrials as a theological threat.
Past popes, especially John Paul II and Benedict XVI, were reportedly open to the idea. Benedict even once suggested that if aliens exist, they’d be our “brothers.” But under Pope Francis, the tone seems to have changed. The Vatican Observatory, once more active on these topics, has gone quiet. Maussan believes it’ll be up to the next pope to decide whether to reopen the door.
So—does the Vatican know something we don’t? Maybe. Maybe not. But the curiosity isn’t going away anytime soon. As governments and scientists around the world continue exploring unidentified aerial phenomena, the pressure is building for the Church to be part of that conversation.
After all, if alien life is real, it would raise massive questions—not just about science, but about faith, humanity, and our place in the universe. And if the answers are sitting in a vault in Vatican City, many believe it’s time we had a look.
