About this episode

Dr. Phil McGraw discusses the government's handling of UFO files and the implications of disclosure.

In this episode of "Reality Check," Ross Coulthart sits down with Dr. Phil McGraw, the psychologist and television host the White House invited to review the latest tranche of UFO files before it reached the public. Dr. Phil explains why an administration weighing disclosure went looking for a trusted voice rather than an astrophysicist, and what changed his mind once he started reading the government's own words: from Lt. General Nathan Twining's 1947 assessment that the phenomenon was something real and not visionary, to the 1949 classified conference at Los Alamos convened over sightings above America's nuclear weapons sites, to the CIA's Robertson Panel strategy of publicizing cases already debunked and saying nothing about the ones that weren't, to the JANAP directives that put military and commercial pilots under threat of prison, heavy fines and the Espionage Act for describing what they saw. He tells Coulthart the imagery released so far is intentionally grainy, that far better gun camera video and radar tracks exist and that Reps. Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna are helping him press for their release. Drawing on close to 50 years of sitting with people…

People in this episode

Host: Ross Coulthart

Guest: Dr. Phil McGraw

Topics covered

• UFOs
• government cover-up
• psychology
• disclosure
• military
• public perception

Keywords

• UFO files
• government cover-up
• Dr. Phil
• military pilots
• CIA
• disclosure
• public support

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CIA, Los Alamos

More episodes of Reality Check with Ross Coulthart

• Ross Coulthart Q&A: Mars face debate, energy weapons, defining the 'legacy program' | Reality Check · July 19, 2026 · 37 min
• Is there a ruined civilization on Mars? A theoretical physicist runs the numbers | Reality Check · July 14, 2026 · 1h 51m
• John Kerry, UFO tech and fusion energy | Reality Check with Ross Coulthart · July 12, 2026 · 36 min
• Inside NASA's UFO coverup culture | Reality Check · July 7, 2026 · 1h 6m
• South American adventure: Ross Coulthart explores Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island | Reality Check · July 5, 2026 · 33 min
• Ross Coulthart breaks silence on Lue Elizondo backlash: 'I was surprised' | Reality Check · July 1, 2026 · 23 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Reality Check with Ross Coulthart podcast page.