John Herrington briefing story
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Beings & bodies (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Bases & Area 51 (topic) |
| People | Stanton Friedman, Ronald Reagan |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 176 |
| Year | 2012 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2012 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
Television writer Bryce Zabel, co-creator of the 1996 NBC series Dark Skies, has relayed a story from his writing partner Brent Friedman that a family friend who served in Ronald Reagan's administration underwent weeks of briefings about UFOs and cried himself to sleep. The official is widely assumed to be John Herrington, who has called the story "total BS".[1][2]
The story
According to Zabel, speaking on That UFO Podcast in February 2023, Friedman was hired at 18 to drive a car across the country to a family friend in Reagan's administration who lived in his neighbourhood. The friend told him he had been briefed over six to eight weeks and had cried every night, and when asked why, said it was because he had daughters and this was the world they were going to live in. Zabel did not name the official, but described him as having served in the Navy Department in Reagan's first term and as Secretary of Energy in the second, which matched Herrington, whom Reagan nominated as Energy Secretary in January 1985.[1][2]
Herrington's denial
In an interview with Jesse Michels, Herrington called the story "total BS". He said Friedman and two friends had been hired to drive cars to Washington but denied being close to Friedman, having a chained briefcase or security detail, visiting a secret facility or discussing aliens with him. Friedman has said he remembers a close, almost paternal relationship and stands by the account, while acknowledging he has little documentary proof.[2][3]
Assessment
The story appears in Richard Dolan and Zabel's book A.D. After Disclosure and was widely repeated in 2022–23 coverage. It remains a second-hand anecdote told decades after the alleged conversation, and the person it concerns denies it.[1][4]
People and topics
- Stanton Friedman — Nuclear physicist and leading Roswell researcher.
- Ronald Reagan — 40th U.S. president whose diary and speeches touched on space and alien threats.
- Disclosure — The official release of government information about UFOs.
On the Timeline
- Fergus County sheriff's log sightings (2012) (19 September 2012) — A sheriff's log records a report of two silent V-shaped UAP near a Montana missile site.
- ONR intuition and sensemaking research (2012) — The Office of Naval Research studies 'sixth sense' and intuitive decision-making.
See every 2012 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Douglas Charles, "A former cabinet member allegedly cried himself to sleep after being briefed on truth about UFOs", BroBible (Feb 2023) · brobible.com · archived copy
- "Reagan cabinet official allegedly cried himself to sleep after learning the truth about UFOs", OutKick · outkick.com · archived copy
- "Video summary", YouTube Summary · youtubesummary.com · archived copy
- Richard Dolan and Bryce Zabel, *A.D. After Disclosure* (2010), Internet Archive · archive.org · archived copy
- archive.org · archive.org · archived copy
Further reading
- Stanton T. Friedman — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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