10 Times Government Officials Made Startling Claims

No, this is not that type of list. It doesn’t contain quotes like “God save the Queen, man” or “I tested positively toward negative, right.”

This list is about claims made by government officials worldwide that sort of eclipse anything heads of state may have said (or will say in the future).

Think you’ve heard it all before when it comes to startling claims? The entries on this list may prove you wrong.

Related: Top 10 Reasons The U.S. Government Is No Longer Laughing About UFOs

10 Non-Human Biologics

In 2023, three U.S. military veterans testified during a congressional hearing on UFOs. One of the three, a former Air Force intelligence officer, succeeded in raising several eyebrows by claiming that the U.S. government had been reverse-engineering recovered UFO vessels for several decades. David Grusch also claimed that the government recovered biologics from UFO crash sites that were proven to be non-human.

Grusch became a whistleblower after retiring from the Air Force and, in this capacity, told the national security subcommittee that he was not allowed to access certain government programs. He also claimed that despite this, he knew exactly where the government kept proof of UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena).

Even though many UFO or UAP sightings have turned out to be birds, balloons, or drones, Grusch insisted that the U.S. retrieved biologics from the pilots of unidentified crafts. However, he relented that he hadn’t personally seen alien crafts or bodies but formed his opinions based on witness accounts.^[1]

9 Iceland Lake Monster

Who doesn’t love a good monster urban legend? There’s Bigfoot, Nessie, the Cucuy, and so many more. People read about these legends online when they have nothing better to do and continue their lives. But some believe monsters are real. Even some government officials believe in monsters.

In 2014, Icelandic officials who formed part of an Icelandic truth commission announced the outcome of their investigation into a video that purportedly captured images of the monster of Lagarfljot. The truth commission awarded the person who shot the video in 2012 a “prize” of $4,300 because they were satisfied that the creature in the video was “authentic.”

It is also believed that the monster, which is said to be a massive snake, entered the lake with a young girl. Ever since then, it has been unable to leave the lake. Even though experts have debunked the video and that most Icelanders are skeptical about the so-called snake monster, officials reaffirmed that they believe the creature is real.^[2]

8 Flat Earth

Flat and round at the bottom, a disk, or a spherical ball? This is the question that comes up when people argue about the Earth’s shape. Some are convinced our planet is flat and covered by a massive “dome.” Others couldn’t care less for this theory and insist that the Earth is a sphere.

While most people believe the Earth is round and not flat, some government officials are not persuaded.

When asked whether flat-earthers deserve to be given a platform on the Slovakian broadcaster RTVS, conservative politician Lukas Machala stated they should. He also went on to ask whether anyone has proven that the Earth is, in fact, round. When interviewed, he said he’d never been in outer space, so he doesn’t know how much anyone really knows (about the Earth’s shape).

This is not the only weird statement Machala has made. He previously claimed that the Illuminati were behind the influx of migrants into Europe because they wanted to take over the continent. Furthermore, he believes that a Jewish mafia wants to take control of the entire world via the Israel and Ukraine wars.^[3]

7 No Such Thing as Evolution

In 2018, India’s minister for higher education, Satyapal Singh, found himself in hot water when he claimed that Einstein agreed Darwin’s Theory of Evolution was “unscientific.”

Singh’s claim was based on the idea that no one ever saw an ape turning into a human being. Even though several scientists lashed out at him, especially because he demanded that the theory of evolution be taken out of school curricula, Singh insisted he was right.

Singh obtained a postgraduate degree in chemistry and claimed that his assertions came from a place of science. A group of 2,000+ Indian scientists created a petition against Singh, stating that new discoveries confirmed that humans, great apes, and monkeys share a common ancestor.

At the time, Singh wanted to host a conference where scientists could “state their beliefs” on evolution. This did not come to fruition.^[4]

6 Reservoir Mermaids

In 2012, a group of construction workers in Zimbabwe was tasked with building new reservoirs. They didn’t get far before being spooked by what they believed to be mermaid sightings in the area. In fact, they were so scared when they spotted these creatures in Mutare and Gokwe that they refused to return to work.

Instead of dispelling the rumors of mermaids in the area, government minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo stated that the mermaids were likely present at other construction sites. He also said the only way to scare them off would be to invoke a sacred rite with traditional beer.

The mermaids also allegedly caused the on-site machines to break down, terrifying workers even further. But, after traditional healers brewed the required beer, the mermaids were appeased and left the workers in peace.^[5]

5 Cow Urine as COVID-19 Treatment

Diagnosed with COVID-19 recently? Apparently, a lovely warm drink of cow urine can help you recover fast. (Please don’t drink cow urine.)

In May 2021, the Delta variant of COVID-19 was spreading fast. But India’s Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Thakur was not worried. She addressed party members, telling them that drinking cow urine every day was like an acid that purified her body. She also claimed that the urine cleansed her lungs, protecting her from the virus.

Understandably, there was backlash and an outcry when the video of the incident inevitably spread online. Thakur defended her statements, saying that drinking cow urine is backed by science.

Fortunately, health experts quickly warned against this unconventional treatment. They insisted that those diagnosed with COVID should seek urgent medical attention.^[6]

4 Driving and Ovaries

A Saudi Arabian cleric had had enough of women trying to drive places in 2013. So much so that he claimed that women who drove cars risked damaging their ovaries. When their ovaries became damaged, they would bear children with severe medical problems.

These statements came at the same time a campaign was established to end a ban on female drivers. The campaign called on women to drive in protest on a specific day. However, the dedicated campaign website was blocked before the protest could get off the ground.

The cleric, Sheikh Saleh bin Saad al-Lohaidan, appealed to women to think with their brains and not their hearts or emotions (to get them to stop the protest). The ban on women driving was lifted five years later, in June 2018, marking a massive change in Saudi society.^[7]

3 A Jinn Army

Sometimes, theologians and government officials agree on the strangest of things. In 2024, Iranian theologian Mustafa Karami claimed that Israel was only successful in killing commanders associated with Hamas and Hezbollah because the country had established an army of jinns.

The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, agrees with this and considers the mythical jinn to be one of the country’s top enemies. Jinns are right up there with the U.S. and COVID. According to the Quran, jinns were originally created from smokeless fire before Adam. Like humans, they also have free will, which means they can choose whether to be good or evil.

During a speech he made in 2020, Khamenei spoke of two groups of enemies, which included humans and jinns. He stated that jinns and humans work together to conspire against Iran. There are also still regular Iranian media reports of jinns and other paranormal entities working with Israel against Iran.^[8]

2 Manipulating Time and Space

If you thought it couldn’t get stranger, you would be wrong. In April 2025, the U.S. director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy inevitably sparked several conspiracy theories when he made a weird and startling claim.

Michael Kratsios says that the U.S. possesses technology that can manipulate not only space but time as well. Kratsios made the remarks at the Endless Frontiers retreat, which celebrates American science achievements.

Reddit exploded almost instantly, with conspiracy theorists claiming that Kratsios confirmed that the U.S. continued to hide extreme technologies. Most articles written about this incident correctly assume that Kratsios was speaking metaphorically. But, as with all conspiracy theories, this one isn’t about to die anytime soon.^[9]

1 Aliens in Underwater Bases

The U.S. Representative from Colorado, Lauren Boebert, is infamous for many things, including vaping and being loud during a stage production of Beetlejuice. Perhaps unsurprisingly to many, Boebert also seems to buy into several conspiracy theories. In late 2024, she questioned UAP experts about the rumors that said underwater alien bases housed government experiments that included creating hybrid humans.

She went further by saying that she wanted to speak her mind. Speaking her mind meant rattling off a list of conspiracies. These included that the Earth is flat, that the moon landings were a hoax, and that birds are government drones. She also mentioned Joe Biden’s 81 million votes in the 2020 election.

Boebert also asked the assembled panel about UAPs emerging from the ocean (and submerging again). She wanted them to confirm whether any technological capabilities existed in oceanic UAPs that would defy human understanding of physics or human engineering. The panel answered “no” to questions about hybrid humans and further explained that anomalies have been observed in the oceans, which have yet to be explained.

Boebert’s spokesperson later said she was being humorous (about flat Earth and drone birds, at least) but added that the 2020 election was stolen. And while Boebert likely listed these conspiracies to make a point, it doesn’t help that she liked a Facebook post about a mother ranting that her son had to learn about a round Earth in school.^[10]