New pope could be key to UFO disclosure, ex-Vatican adviser says

For the first time, a former Border Patrol whistleblower comes forward to share a never-before-seen UFO video shot on military cameras. On Saturday, Ross Coulthart heads to the southern border for a NewsNation special report: HUNTING UFOS: The Desert Sky Mystery. Tune in at 8p/7C for the one-hour special and stick around for a roundtable show hosted by “NewsNation Prime” host Natasha Zouves. Find out how to watch.

(NewsNation) — A former adviser to the Vatican and U.S. Jesuit headquarters believes the newly elected Pope Leo XIV will lead the Catholic Church in disclosing information about extraterrestrial life, potentially transforming humanity’s understanding of its place in the universe.

“I think that he is going to be the disclosure pope,” Daniel Sheehan, an attorney who once served as general counsel to the U.S. Jesuit headquarters in Washington, said Thursday on NewsNation’s “Banfield.”

The church’s revelation will come “in the same way that we are going to have a disclosure of what the American government knows about this in the next handful of years,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan’s comments come as Cardinal Robert Prevost, who holds U.S. and Peruvian citizenship, was elected pope, taking the name Leo XIV.

The choice of name has sparked speculation, as the last Pope Leo established the Vatican Observatory in the late 19th century, cementing the church’s interest in astronomy.

According to Sheehan, President Jimmy Carter tasked him in the 1970s with contacting the Vatican about UFO information after Carter’s own UFO sighting while serving as Georgia’s governor.

Sheehan said Carter sought Vatican files after then-CIA Director George H.W. Bush refused to brief the president-elect on the subject, claiming Carter “had no need to know.”

Sheehan, who now heads the New Paradigm Institute focused on UFO phenomena, said he believes Pope Leo XIV wants “to bring together science and theology to be able to bring the Catholic Church into the 21st century so we can begin to adjust the institutions of our planet to cope with the reality that there’s an extraterrestrial nonhuman civilization.”

When asked whether revelations about alien life would contradict church teachings, Sheehan said it would instead align with deeper theological concepts about human consciousness and capabilities.

He referenced a 2009 Vatican statement acknowledging the likelihood of discovering extraterrestrial life and the need for philosophical and theological discussion about its implications.

“The people that are listening to this program are going to be alive when this disclosure is made, not only by the United States government, but by the Vatican and by the leaders of the Jewish faith, and in the Hebrew, the Hindu faith, the Buddhist faith,” Sheehan said.

He also addressed congressional testimony by former intelligence official David Grusch about alleged U.S. government retrieval of “nonhuman” craft and bodies, saying over 40 classified experts have provided similar testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Sheehan will participate in a hearing next week with the chair of the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.

For the first time, a former Border Patrol whistleblower comes forward to share a never-before-seen UFO video shot on military cameras. On Saturday, Ross Coulthart heads to the southern border for a NewsNation special report: HUNTING UFOS: The Desert Sky Mystery. Tune in at 8p/7C for the one-hour special and stick around for a roundtable show hosted by “NewsNation Prime” host Natasha Zouves. Find out how to watch.