John Herrington briefing story
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 10
| Source of story | Brent Friedman, television writer, via his writing partner Bryce Zabel |
|---|---|
| Retold | That UFO Podcast, February 2023 |
| Claim | A Reagan official cried himself to sleep every night during six to eight weeks of UFO briefings |
| Official | Unnamed by Zabel; the description fits John S. Herrington, Secretary of Energy 1985–1989 |
| Response | Herrington called it "total BS" in an interview with Jesse Michels |
| Status | Second-hand anecdote; contradicted by its subject; Friedman stands by it |
| 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 | 8 |
The television writer Bryce Zabel, co-creator of the 1996–97 NBC series Dark Skies, has passed on a story from his writing partner Brent Friedman. A family friend who served in Ronald Reagan's administration had, according to Friedman, been briefed about UFOs for weeks and had cried himself to sleep every night.[1][2][6] Zabel did not name the official, but the posts he described match John S. Herrington, Reagan's second-term Secretary of Energy.[1][7] Herrington has called the story "total BS".[3]
The tellers
Zabel and Friedman pitched Dark Skies to NBC after the success of Fox's The X-Files. The series ran from 21 September 1996 to 31 May 1997. Its premise was that aliens had been among us since the late 1940s, hidden by a government cover-up that included a fictional Majestic 12, and its tagline was "History as we know it is a lie."[6] Zabel later co-wrote A.D. After Disclosure with the ufologist Richard Dolan and co-hosts the Need to Know podcast.[1][8]
The story
Zabel told the story on That UFO Podcast in February 2023, amid heavy UFO news after the U.S. shot down several unidentified objects over North America that month.[1][2] His account of what Friedman told him:[1][2]
- The trip. At 18, Friedman was hired to drive a car across the United States to a family friend from his neighbourhood who was in Reagan's administration.
- The official. Zabel described this person as "Undersecretary of the Navy" in Reagan's first term and Secretary of Energy in the second.
- The briefing. The man told Friedman "some harrowing things", which Zabel said were too long to go into. He felt "his very basis of reality had been challenged" and "the briefing wasn't so good".
- The tears. He said he cried himself to sleep every night during the briefing period, which lasted six to eight weeks. Asked why, he said, "Because I have daughters and this is the world they're going to live in."
Zabel said he believed the story, having "looked into it" and knowing Friedman's truthfulness. He took it as a sign of "a darker side" to the subject.[1][2] The musician Tom DeLonge responded that he believed it too.[1] Friedman's own later version, as summarized from the Michels interview, dates the conversation to 1981. In it, Herrington confided that aliens were real and that he had seen them after a secret briefing.[3]
Identifying the official
BroBible noted speculation that, going by the positions and timeline, the official was Herrington. OutKick said it had found the likely person but declined to name him, because he was alive with a family and the details were not a "100% concrete match".[1][2] Herrington's actual record:[7]
- Navy post. He was Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) from 1981 to 1983, not Under Secretary as Zabel said.
- White House. He was a deputy assistant for presidential personnel from 1983 to 1985.
- Energy. He was Secretary of Energy from 1985 to 1989, running the nuclear weapons complex.
- Background. Born in 1939, he practised law mainly in San Francisco before joining the administration. He later chaired Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and the California Republican Party.
Herrington's denial
In a video interview with Jesse Michels titled "Secretary Of Energy Breaks Silence on UFOs", Herrington rejected the story.[3]
- "Total BS." He confirmed that Friedman and two friends had been hired to drive cars to Washington. But he denied being close to Friedman, having a chained briefcase or a security detail at the time, visiting a secret facility, or discussing aliens with him.
- Friedman's reply. Friedman said he remembered a close, father-figure relationship and stood by the conversation, while acknowledging that he had little documentary proof.
- A test? After the interview, Michels and Friedman speculated that the episode might have been a test or initiation rather than a literal disclosure. They linked it to an alleged DOE hazing ritual described by a former DOE intelligence official. These were presented as theories.
Herrington on UFOs
In the same interview Herrington described what he did and did not know:[3]
- Secret budgets. He found a large unexplained line item in the Energy Department budget that turned out to fund the F-117 stealth fighter on DOE land in Nevada. He said a never-flown nuclear-powered aircraft was stored in a hangar at Idaho Falls. Wikipedia also records his claim about the hidden stealth-fighter budget.[7]
- No UFO program. He said he encountered no UFO-related programs or budget items. He was highly confident that the United States held no retrieved craft during his tenure.
- The Navy videos. He thought they looked genuine, with performance beyond any country he knew, but could not say what they showed.
- Evidence. He repeatedly asked for verifiable physical evidence and said he would discuss the subject with Congress in closed session.
Assessment
The story is a second-hand anecdote, told by Zabel more than four decades after the alleged conversation, and the man it apparently concerns denies it.[1][3] Some details are off: Herrington held an assistant secretary post, not "Undersecretary of the Navy".[7] Zabel's 2010 book with Dolan, A.D. After Disclosure, is listed among the sources as also containing the story. The scanned copy offers no readable text, so that could not be checked.[4][5]
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 →
Further reading
- Stanton T. Friedman — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
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
- Dark Skies (TV series) — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- John S. Herrington — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Bryce Zabel — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia articles “Dark Skies (TV series)”, “John S. Herrington”, “Bryce Zabel”, “Dark Skies (TV series)”, “John S. Herrington”, “Bryce Zabel”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
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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