'X-Files' star David Duchovny debunks government conspiracy theories in search for the truth

David Duchovny, who played FBI Agent Mulder to Gillian Anderson’s Scully for nearly a decade, wants to believe.

The actor, who starred in "The X-Files" from 1993 to 2002, is now hosting and producing a new History Channel series, "Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny." The 10-part show promises to explore "the government’s most secretive, strange and mind-blowing activities that have been declassified throughout history."

The 64-year-old told Fox News Digital that the truth is out there.

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David Duchovny is the host of a new History Channel series, "Secrets Declassified." (The History Channel)

"What I find true is that there are certain things that the government has always done in secret and that’s just the way of doing business, because not everybody has our interests at heart the way we have our interests at heart," he explained.

"There has to be some covert action from time to time," he said. "Not everything can be transparent. What I find interesting about these particular stories, and about many stories having to do with the government, is that when you see what has been done, you realize that these are just flawed people trying to do, in some cases, the best they can. And sometimes what they’re doing is absolutely ridiculous, and you ask yourself, ‘How the hell did you think that was going to work?’"

David Duchovny wants to believe. (History Channel)

"That can be funny, but on the other side of the spectrum, some of these actions really hurt people, so that’s not so funny," he added.

Some of the topics that will be explored in "Secrets Declassified" include Area 51 and the real story behind "Argo." (History Channel)

The first episode, which premieres Friday, focuses on "Secrets and the Skies." It details how a plane crash in North Carolina almost triggered nuclear Armageddon. And of course, there’s talk of Area 51, a remote, formerly top-secret U.S. military base that has long been the subject of UFO and space alien lore.

Duchovny hopes the episode will debunk misconceptions and shine a spotlight on the experts who weighed in.

"These files that we’re dealing with on the show are declassified and for the reasons of protecting living persons, a lot of files will be classified for the length of their lifetime, length of a normal person’s lifetime," he said.

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Law enforcement officers stand guard at a fence in an area where attendees gathered to "storm" Area 51 at an entrance near Rachel, Nevada, on Sept. 20, 2019. (Bridget Bennett/AFP via Getty Images)

"So, these are true stories that we are revealing for the first time as they’ve been declassified. And that’s interesting. So, whatever we’re telling you about Area 51 is coming out of government files, that’s way better than coming out of me."

But unlike Mulder, Duchovny is also a bit of a skeptic.

In late 2024, many mysterious drones were reported flying over New Jersey and across the eastern U.S. Despite the many theories that quickly floated around, the star says he knows exactly what they were.

A small drone flies in front of the skyline of midtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building as the sun rises in New York City on Aug. 11, 2023, as seen from Hoboken, New Jersey. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

"I think they were drones," he chuckled. "Usually, I go by Occam’s razor, which is the simplest explanation is the true one, and that would be it for me."

Duchovny may be onto something. The FBI, the Homeland Security Department and state agencies investigated the sightings, but officials said there has been nothing so far to suggest any of the drones posed a national security or public safety threat. Authorities said many of the sightings were legal drones, manned aircraft, helicopters and even stars.

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There are also the "JFK Files." In March, more than 63,000 pages of records related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were released following an order by President Donald Trump. Many of the documents were without the redactions that had confounded historians for years and helped fuel conspiracy theories.

Filmmaker Oliver Stone is sworn in during a hearing titled "The JFK Files" with the House Oversight Committee at the U.S. Capitol on April 1, 2025.? (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone, whose 1991 film "JFK" portrayed Kennedy’s assassination as the work of a shadowy government conspiracy, called for a new congressional investigation.

Duchovny is not convinced.

"What’s interesting about the declassification of the JFK files is that there’s no new information about a conspiracy because there was no conspiracy. There is no conspiracy," he stressed.

Agent Mulder (played by David Duchovny) had plenty of theories. (ALAMY)

"That’s usually my point of view, is that there are some bad actors, there are some people that commit crimes," he said. "There are some people that work for the government that commit crimes in whatever name they say they’re doing. But there’s no grand conspiracy and there’s no new information on these big-ticket conspiracy ideas. I could be wrong, but that’s my feeling."

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. He was 46. (Getty Images)

"I don’t have any other subjects that I would like to see uncovered," he reflected. "But I’m sure they exist. And I’m sure as they come to my attention, they’ll be interesting. But I just don’t have that… I find the life in front of me just as interesting as any of these stories."

And then there are aliens. He argued that given the size of the universe, then surely, we aren’t alone. But Duchovny admitted he just doesn’t think about "the extraterrestrial stuff."

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Agent Scully (Gillian Anderson) trades an alien fetus (pictured) for Mulder (David Duchovny) who has been kidnapped in the Season 1 episode of "The X-Files," which originally aired on May 13, 1994. (FOX Image Collection via Getty Images\)

"What you realize when you go through a series like this is, yeah, there may be conspiracies, but they’re usually conspiracies between three or four people, five people, 10 people," he said.  "There’s no grand conspiracy going on and there never has been… These are just singular small groups of human beings trying some weird s--- sometimes to achieve their goals. But there’s no grand conspiracy."

And if there were, no one would keep that a secret for long, he said. For him, life alone "is an encounter with the unexplained."

He noted that "Secrets Declassified" lured him in because it was based on what he was more interested in – the truth.

David Duchovny joked that his secrets are classified. (Lionel Hahn/Getty Images)

"I was looking around at all of these conspiracy theories floating around in this world today and not believing in 99% of them," he said. 

"And then I thought, this is interesting because these are the kinds of stories that people have a lot of theories about, and yet, here’s the truth. I’m sure it won’t stop people from thinking about conspiracies, because they’re going to think that it is just another part of the conspiracy, to come out with the truth. But… truth is stranger than fiction."

Does Duchovny have any secrets of his own, ones that would leave Mulder loosening his tie in anticipation?

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"Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny" premieres Friday. (History Channel)

He’s not giving that up.

"All those secrets are classified until after my death," he said. "Hopefully maybe 60 years after my death."