The Truth About Dave Grohl's Obsession With UFOs

"In another life, I hope that I was an astrophysicist. I spend most of my time online in the science section of Google news. It's what I do all day long. I'm a UFO fanatic," Dave Grohl explained to Billboard Magazine in 2015. According to the Foo Fighters frontman, extraterrestrial phenomena takes up a lot of space in his perpetually active creative mind (via Pressparty). Even the name of his band is something of an homage to mysterious aerial objects from outer space. 

The term "foo fighter" was used by Allied aircraft pilots during World War II to describe what they observed to be unidentified objects in flight over the Pacific and European theaters of operation. It was possible, according to military officials at the time, that the peculiar vessels could have been secret weapons used by their enemies (per Rock and Roll Garage). In a 2022 interview with Hot Ones (posted on YouTube), Grohl revealed the origins of his own otherworldly fascination with UFOs. 

Over a plate of steaming, sizzling chicken wings, Dave Grohl spoke with Hot Ones host Sean Evans about where his alien adoration began. "When I was a kid, I would have these awesome UFO dreams, where like, I'd be lying in my front yard in Springfield, Virginia staring up at the stars, and then I'd realize, 'Oh my God! It's not the stars! It's the underside of this thing that's taking me to space!' So I always thought that UFOs were real.'"

He told Evans that, in the wake of his dreams, he managed to convince his friends that he was a UFO expert, discerning things around the neighborhood as signs from beings beyond the atmosphere. "I'd walk over to their yard and be like, 'Yeah, see that discolored grass right there? That might be a crop circle.'" The infatuation endured, and he remains a self-proclaimed UFO freak to this day. 

Over the years, Dave Grohl's enthusiasm for the possible (or certain, according to him) existence of extraterrestrials has only compounded. He believes that the notion of aliens existing within the universe alongside us is a magnificent idea to entertain. In fact, he thinks that the little green men would likely sport a mutual feeling of adoration for him. 

After being posed with the question of whether or not he'd hop on board a flying saucer if it descended upon a Foo Fighters concert, he shared: "I wouldn't want to leave this behind — so maybe I'd invite them over to my place. Why not? Throw a barbecue for some aliens. I'm just being polite, come on!"

Grohl, a self-described "total UFO nerd," is certain that citizens of galaxies far, far away would see him as "the nicest man in rock," and a beautiful friendship cemented in interstellar renown for one another would surely arise. "I'm of the belief that we are not alone, and I'm totally okay with that, you know? It doesn't really change my day too much. But I'm the romantic type. When I look up at the stars I think, 'God, I hope we're not alone.' What a drag that would be," he explained (via Bro Bible).