Dammit Jim--I'm a Doctor, Not an Exorcist!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Dammit Jim--I'm a Doctor, Not an Exorcist!
Date: June 9, 2026
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty

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Overview

In this lively “One More Thing” episode, Armstrong and Getty riff on classic Star Trek, nostalgia for appointment TV, and a headline-grabbing intersection of religion and the search for extraterrestrials. Using Senator JD Vance’s recent comments about UFOs possibly being demons as a launchpad, they wade into the strange but fascinating world of exorcists, Catholic doctrine, and the boundaries between faith and the unexplained. Their signature mix of humor, skepticism, and personal storytelling makes for a thought-provoking yet entertaining discussion.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

Star Trek, Nostalgia, and the Lost Era of Appointment Television

• 00:04 – 01:33
  • Getty opens with the classic Star Trek catchphrase, "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not an exorcist," which launches a brief Star Trek reminiscence.
    • “You gotta sit there and take it. Oh, I love Trek.” – Getty (00:13)
  • Getty fondly recalls gathering with friends in college to watch Star Trek as a communal experience.
    • “Appointment television had its upsides… it lost its social cohesiveness.” – Armstrong (01:14)
  • Armstrong and Getty lament the disappearance of “appointment TV,” where people coordinated to watch shows together, suggesting on-demand viewing is more convenient but erodes social rituals.
    • “I’m not sure we realize what we lost.” – Getty (01:33)

JD Vance on UFOs, Demons, and the Overlap with Catholic Doctrine

• 02:31 – 04:01
  • Armstrong and Getty play a clip of Senator JD Vance discussing plans to investigate Area 51:
    • “I don’t think they’re aliens. I think they’re demons anyway.” – JD Vance (02:44)
  • Armstrong points out the seriousness of Vance, a Yale/Harvard Law School graduate, making such claims.
    • “But they're not aliens, they're demons. But that's a longer discussion.” – Getty (03:10)
    • “No, that makes it crazier, not less crazy.” – Armstrong (03:14)
  • Getty brings up a recent, underreported news story: The Catholic archbishop of Washington DC removed a long-serving exorcist, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, after his public comments about UFOs being demons.
    • The archdiocese stated Rossetti’s statements “gravely undermined the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.” (04:24)
  • Rossetti, on a YouTube show, claimed, “There’s no question in my mind personally that probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are demons. And they do things we can’t do, thus the speed of, like, the alleged crafts.” (05:44)

Exorcists: Fact, Fiction, and Fringe

• 04:01 – 06:41
  • Armstrong admits surprise that the Catholic Church has formal exorcists.
    • “So you went by something fast that maybe everybody knew but me that there… The Catholic Church has exorcists.” – Armstrong (04:01)
  • Getty explains exorcism as a sacramental rite where the Church asks, authoritatively, that “a person or object be protected against the power of the evil one and withdraw from his dominion.” (04:24)
  • They discuss Rossetti’s firing in more detail, pointing out the Church’s concern with maintaining doctrinal precision.

Personal Stories of the Supernatural & Skepticism

• 06:41 – 10:26
  • Armstrong and Getty debate the reality of supernatural evil:
    • “Do I believe evil exists? Yes. Do I believe in demons? I’ve never thought about that before.” – Armstrong (06:41)
    • “If JD Vance runs for president, he'll have to answer for those comments.” – Armstrong (07:13)
  • Getty shares a secondhand account of friends experiencing a “supernatural phenomenon” (noises, oppressive presence) during a prayer session, suggesting possible demonic activity.
    • “They reported unquestionably what sounds like a supernatural phenomenon… when that was over, the demon was gone from the relationship.” – Getty (07:48)
  • Armstrong counters with his own inexplicable recovery from alcoholism (hearing a “popping” sound and suddenly losing all desire to drink) but pauses before attributing it to the supernatural.
    • “I don’t have anything else in my life within a thousand miles of those two things happening…” – Armstrong (10:06)
  • Both agree that if multiple people experience a supernatural event together, it’s far more difficult to dismiss.

Belief, Politics, and Public Perception

• 10:41 – 12:06
  • The hosts joke about JD Vance’s political prospects and the public reaction if he advances his demon-UFO theory.
    • “A guy talking about demons being spotted by pilots is gonna definitely have to explain it if he runs for president.” – Armstrong (10:52)
    • “I’m not threatened by people who believe things I don’t or I don’t understand. I’d love to hear his point of view.” – Getty (11:09)
  • Armstrong wonders whether Vance’s fervor is that of a new Catholic convert, noting his conversion story isn’t central in Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy.”

UFOs, Area 51, and American Pranks

• 12:13 – 12:57
  • Getty humorously connects exorcists and home improvement by spoofing online contractor search platforms.
    • “Get yourself a good exorcist. Go on Angie.com, you can see your neighbor’s recommendations…” – Getty (12:13)
  • They recall the 2019 “Storm Area 51” event, noting the playful innocence of pre-Covid times.
    • “About 150 people showed up at the entrance and pretended they were going to storm the place.” – Getty (12:34)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Getty (00:13): “Oh, I love Trek.”
• Armstrong (01:14): “Appointment television had its upsides… it lost its social cohesiveness.”
• JD Vance (02:44): “I don’t think they’re aliens. I think they’re demons anyway.”
• Getty (03:10): “But they're not aliens, they're demons. But that's a longer discussion.”
• Armstrong (03:14): “No, that makes it crazier, not less crazy.”
• Getty (04:24): “The website defines exorcism as quote, when the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the evil one and withdraw from his dominion. Out, demon, out.”
• Rossetti (as quoted by Getty, 05:44): “There’s no question in my mind personally that probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are demons. And they do things we can’t do, thus the speed of, like, the alleged crafts.”
• Armstrong (06:41): “Do I believe evil exists? Yes. Do I believe in demons? I’ve never thought about that before.”
• Getty (07:48): “They reported unquestionably what sounds like a supernatural phenomenon… when that was over, the demon was gone from the relationship.”
• Armstrong (10:06): “I don’t have anything else in my life within a thousand miles of those two things happening…”
• Getty (12:13): “Get yourself a good exorcist. Go on Angie.com…”
• Getty (12:57): “Show me the bones. Well, I guess that’s it.”

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Key Timestamps

• 00:04: Star Trek catchphrase and nostalgia, set-up for episode
• 01:14: Loss of social rituals with the end of appointment television
• 02:31 – 03:10: JD Vance’s “demons not aliens” quote
• 04:01: Armstrong surprised by the reality of exorcists
• 05:44: Rossetti’s demon-UFO theory cited
• 06:41: Existential musings on evil, demons, and belief
• 07:48: Getty’s supernatural anecdote
• 10:06: Armstrong’s personal “miraculous” story
• 10:52: The intersection of political image and fringe beliefs
• 12:13: Angie.com joke and postscript on Area 51

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Takeaways

• The episode explores the strange overlap of faith, politics, and contemporary UFO lore through JD Vance’s comments, using them as a lens to discuss broader themes of belief and skepticism.
• Armstrong and Getty employ their trademark humor and storytelling, sharing personal experiences and challenging each other’s assumptions without condescension.
• The conversation highlights the continuing appeal of communal traditions, the complexity of religious belief in the public eye, and the ways extraordinary claims are handled in both the church and popular culture.

Transcript

[Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Getty]

Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not an exorcist. It's one more thing.

[Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Getty]

One more thing.

[Armstrong]

Oh my God, that's right.

[Getty]

An original Star Trek reference. Take it. You gotta sit there and take it. Oh, I love Trek.

[Armstrong]

Dr. Bones McCoy.

[Getty]

Yeah, that's right, Bones. The great DeForest Kelly. Yes, yes. Oh, Trek.

[Armstrong]

So it was. Damn it, Jim, I'm Doctor, not a exorcist.

[Getty]

Exorcist, that's correct. But first let me reminisce, Gladys. There it was, my undergraduate days in the Great Plains of Illinois of a Sunday night when the studying was done, if any studying was done at all, I would get together with quite a few of the fellas in our friend Mike's room and we would get to quote the great Bill Murray in a contemporary film of the time, stone to the Bejesus Belt and watch the original Star Trek and just laugh at it. Oh my God, so much fun. Anyway, I had to watch some track just to bring you back to those, those good times.

[Armstrong]

Anyway, so appointment television had its upsides.

[Getty]

Oh, 100%.

[Armstrong]

The, the everybody watches it whenever or you watch all the episodes at once or whatever. It's more convenient. But it, it, like everything else in the modern world, it lost its social cohesiveness.

[Getty]

Yeah, I used to rant back in the 90s as my kids were growing up and both my wife and I just loved the Christmas specials. Rudolph, Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus, Come to Town, all those. And then they became available on videotape and you'd buy them or whatever and you can watch them anytime you want or watch them, you know, three times in a row on a June day. And, and I realized that we had lost a rhythm of the seasons and the holidays and the various high points that come in a year when everything's available all the time. I understand the advantage of it, but I'm not sure we realize what we lost. Anyway, yeah, appointment TV. Good stuff. So J.D. vance said this on the Benny show not terribly long ago and we remarked on it a little but didn't talk about it much.

[Guest or Caller]

I'm obsessed with this. I've already had a couple of times going to Area 51. We're going out to New Mexico, we're going to sort of get to the bottom of this. And then the timing of the trip just didn't work out. But trust me, anybody who's curious about this, I'm more curious than anybody. And I've got three years of the very Tippy, top of the classification. I'm going to get to the bottom of it. We saw aliens.gov. i don't think they're. I don't think they're aliens. I think they're demons anyway. But that's a longer discussion.

[Getty]

Whoa.

[Armstrong]

So there's a guy who. Yale Law School, Harvard Law School. One of those.

[Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

Who says I'm going to get to the bottom of this about Area 51 and aliens with a straight face.

[Getty]

But they're not aliens, they're demons. But that's a longer discussion.

[Armstrong]

No, that makes it crazier, not less crazy.

[Getty]

Does it? Does it? Well, I came across this story. I've heard no coverage of it whatsoever. At the end of last week, the archbishop of Washington D.C. remove a longtime archdiocesan exorcist saying his recent comments about UFOs being demons gravely undermined church teachings this month. Senior Stephen Rossetti is a priest and psychologist who's held prominent positions in the archdiocese of Washington D.C. for decades. Absolutely. A sort of guy. The sort of guy who fairly recent Catholic convert JD Vance would get to know as the sitting vp.

[Armstrong]

So you went by something fast that maybe everybody knew but me that there. The Catholic Church has exorcists.

[Getty]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Armstrong]

I didn't know.

[Getty]

It's not like in the movies, but yeah.

[Armstrong]

What are they for?

[Getty]

Let me.

[Armstrong]

What do you do with an.

[Getty]

Actually, what is a position entail?

[Armstrong]

How does it pay? What are the benefits?

[Getty]

Catholics frame struggle and wrongdoing is a spiritual war between evil and good. The center offers the center that part of offers information about exorcisms which are considered sacramental rites, according to material posted on the archdiocese and website citing Catholic teaching. The website defines exorcism as quote, when the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the evil one and withdraw from his dominion. Out, demon, out. Anyway to the. To the UFO thing though. So this guy was. Had had important positions in that diocese for years. Listed as a Catholic university professor, has served as chaplain for the Washington Nationals and leads this St. Michael center for Spiritual Renewal which does exorcism anyway. So in a statement last week, Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop, said that Rossetti was being removed as an exorcist and the Archdiocese was severing its connection to the St. Michael Center. McElroy said his statements Rossetti made about UFOs. Such statements, the Cardinal said, gravely undermined the Church's very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism two days prior to this. So this was like a. The archbishop found out and said he's fired immediately. He was on the YouTube show, this Rossetti fellow, Faith, Hope and Love Ministry, to talk about what the program characterized as aliens or demons. And Rossetti said on the show, demons like to hide. They don't want us to know what they're doing because they're more effective when we don't realize it. Demons can break into the physical world, take the shape of shadows or possessed houses or ghosts that someone might contact via medium. All of that connects us with the dark world. I'm sorry, all that connects us with the dark world is a portal. The Bible and the church warn us against this. There's no question in my mind personally that probably many, if not most of these UFO sightings are demons. And they do things we can't do, thus the speed of, like the alleged crafts.

[Armstrong]

Interesting. I'm trying to think where I am on this sort of thing. Do I believe evil exists? Yes. Do I believe in demons? I've never thought about that before. Breaking it down into demons. Do I think the demons do things that are like, measurable, the way flying

[Getty]

aircraft are observable on radar?

[Armstrong]

Right. Probably not.

[Getty]

Yeah.

[Armstrong]

But I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about this. If JD Vance runs for president, he'll have to answer for those comments and either say he was joking or something, right?

[Getty]

No, I. I don't think he was joking. I think.

[Armstrong]

I don't think he was either.

[Getty]

This Monsignor Rossetti.

[Armstrong]

I don't think he was either. But that's a pretty out there religious belief, isn't it? Yeah, among most people. No, no, there aren't aliens. There are demons flying around that we pick up on radar on a regular basis. And that's why they. We can't explain them. They're demons. I. That's. That's a pretty out there thought.

[Getty]

Some people who I know and trust and care about a great deal had friends who were enduring a period of their lives where there was a great deal of anger and bitterness and sickness in their relationship. And in the account that was told to me many years ago, these people invited a clergyman to their home, at least one and maybe other friends, and they prayed fervently that whatever was going on would stop. And they reported unquestionably what sounds like a supernatural phenomenon of loud whooshing and loud noises, just like out of a movie. And when that was over, the demon was gone from the relationship and they were back to being Themselves. Now you can interpret that any way you want. I don't tell people how to interpret God or evil or anything. It's on you.

[Armstrong]

Well, I do. I've got it like a 10 point plan. Let me tell you how to interpret God. No. So was it multiple people reporting the same thing as opposed to individual experiences?

[Getty]

I just got the account through the two people I knew one or two. I can't remember if they were both there, but they were the sort of people who are not prone to nuttiness.

[Armstrong]

Right?

[Getty]

Well, like sincere belief for sure.

[Armstrong]

It would be more extraordinary to me if that there were two people that experienced the same thing at the same time. Because I'm. I always wonder what the brain is capable of or our psyche or whatever. Because I've told the story before about when the last day that I almost drank. I'm coming up on 20 years of sobriety as an alcoholic and the last day that I almost drank. January 7, 2007. I had walked into a bar and ordered a beer from a guy and I was watching myself from above like a camera shot in a movie. And then later that day I went to a church and I heard a popping sound. And the desire to drink left me and has never returned. So that is like unexplainable to me as like anything normal in my life. I don't have anything else in my life within a thousand miles of those two things happening to me one day.

[Getty]

Right.

[Armstrong]

But whether or not that was just like the pressure of an addiction, psyche, something, I don't. I don't know, I have. I have no idea.

[Getty]

Maybe you just needed a chiropractor. That was your spine going pop.

[Armstrong]

But if me and someone else had had that same experience at the same time, that would be a completely different thing.

[Getty]

Yes. While there are many cases of not mass, but multiple people suffering the same delusion and reinforcing it in each other, it is a horse of a different color. Two people experience it at the same time or even claim to.

[Armstrong]

Yeah, that's interesting.

[Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Demons, J.D.

[Armstrong]

vance, nut or not.

[Getty]

Take your calls. Oh, that's right. It's a podcast. He will just rang.

[Armstrong]

I mean, if they were going to make a big deal out of George W. Bush, you know, citing Bible verses throughout his life, a guy talking about demons being spotted by pilots is gonna definitely have to explain it if he runs for president.

[Getty]

I'd love to talk to him or this Monsignor Rossetti about it. Their beliefs. I'm not threatened by people who believe things I don't or I don't understand. I'd love to hear. I'd love to hear his point of view.

[Armstrong]

Was JD Vance always religious and then he converted to Catholicism from being religious as a Protestant? Or is this all new to him because nobody has the fervor like the recently converted, as St. Augustine said, or somebody.

[Getty]

Right. He should mind his own business. I don't recall anything from hillbilly elegy about his religious fervor at all, but

[Armstrong]

I did then he probably did.

[Getty]

Fault of my memory.

[Armstrong]

Have it. And then he converted to Catholicism with his wife and he's talked about that a lot and he's like super serious about it now. But that's really interesting stuff. I don't believe in extraterrestrials. I believe that they're demons. And I'm going to get to the bottom of it. Okay? Please do if you can. That'd be some, you know, breaking news. There are demons, right?

[Getty]

And they fly around. Yikes. Run for your lives or pray or something.

[Armstrong]

Get right.

[Getty]

That's right. Get right with the Lord or get yourself a good exorcist. Go on Angie.com you can see your neighbor's recommendations and certifications and the rest of it. Storm area 51 they can't stop all of Us was an American Facebook event that took place on September 20, 2019. Do you guys remember that?

[Armstrong]

Yes.

[Getty]

About 150 people showed up at the entrance and pretended they were going to storm the place.

[Armstrong]

Fun.

[Getty]

And the authorities looked all worried about it. That was just before COVID It was a more innocent time. Yeah. Yeah, it was.

[Armstrong]

We need to get more people together. If we could get tens of thousands, then it would be true. They can't stop all of us. Oh, what are you going to, you know, most down like we're Iranian protesters. No. Let us see the demons or the bones.

[Getty]

Show me the bones. Well, I guess that's it.