Apr 29, 2025
Steve Bassett, executive director of the Paradigm Research Group, said the "truth is coming" - but it might not be the next Pope who releases any bombshell files.
Bassett says he believes it is clear the Catholic Church knows about UFOs - and likely has documented evidence hidden in their archives.
He insists "extraordinary" information sits locked away in the Vatican Library - collected from millions of confessions reporting strange sightings or close encounters.
It comes after Pentagon whistleblower David Grusch claimed Italy had uncovered a UFO during Mussolini's reign in 1933.
Following the death of Pope Francis, Bassett revealed whether the next Cardinal could finally fling open the doors to the Vatican's UFO files.
He told The Sun: "Is the Catholic Church going to open the doors to the library so we can start seeing cool stuff? No, they're not gonna do that.
"This is a political matter to be resolved through political action.
“I do not think that the next pope is going to be selected on the fact that he's a pro ET.
"It’s got to be the heads of state - and we are very close to that happening."
The remarks come ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral, which took place on Saturday following his death at the age of 88.
Cardinals from across the world will soon gather in Rome to elect a successor.
But whoever wears the white cassock next, Bassett believes UFO truth-seekers shouldn’t hold their breath for a Vatican revelation.
He claims the church has quietly gathered UFO-related information over centuries.
Bassett said: "Millions of Catholics over the last 800 years bringing every rather unusual encounter they had to the priests... where do you think that information is gonna go?
"It’s going to go straight up to the Vatican.”
But the reason the Vatican won’t spill? Because the stakes are too high.
Bassett said: "It is a matter of national security... this is not the Pope's job to come out and say, ‘I can confirm today this is in fact advanced technology non-humans.’ That is not a religious-based role."
Instead, Bassett believes President Trump is best positioned to make the move that would rock the world.
"That’s why it has to begin with a single head of state, which I believe is going to be Donald Trump,” he said.
"He may be the president that ends this truth embargo, and it will be one of the greatest political legacies of all time for anyone.
"And if you don't like that, I don't care. This issue is bigger than your political dislikes."
Millions of Catholics over the last 800 years bringing every rather unusual encounter they had to the priests... where do you think that information is gonna go? It’s going to go straight up to the Vatican
Steve Bassett
Bassett points to Trump’s declassification of JFK files as proof that UFO documents could be next.
“They built a task force," he said.
"The task force said it's going after secrets, and it did.
"It started getting JFK papers... which means that their commitment to get the other things, such as the UAP stuff, is being well established.”
Last year, whistleblower Grusch told a Congressional hearing that the US possesses fully intact and pieces of "craft" of "non-human origin".
And the former Air Force intelligence officer claimed to NewsNation that Italy had uncovered one of those UFOs in the 1930s.
He claimed that the then-Pope Pius XII had "backchannelled" it to US president Franklin Roosevelt who "ended up scooping" up the craft.
Bassett said investigation was going to be needed into the claims.
But it would prove the US government knew about extraterrestrial life long before the famous Roswell incident in 1947, he said.