A US Army official may have accidentally dropped what some are calling the 'greatest Freudian slip ever.'
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was enthusiastically promoting the Army's upcoming 250th anniversary parade, set to take place in Washington DC this Saturday, when he said America has a soldier stationed on the moon.
Driscoll highlighted the Army's wide range of missions, from responding to natural disasters to what the internet is calling a 'the start of lunar militarization.'
'The country gets to see all of the amazing things that the Army has done,' he said, 'whether it's helping with floods in North Carolina, or wildfires in California, or we talked to an astronaut yesterday who's on the moon, who's a soldier.'
Driscoll's comment appears to have confused the moon with NASA's International Space Station (ISS) as he spoke to Army Colonel Anne McClain, a NASA astronaut currently stationed aboard the ISS this week.
However, the remark made during a live FOX News interview was brief, with no follow-up details, but it did not take long for social media to ignite with speculation.
'Did he just slip up? Is it more Pentagon disinformation? That is quite the statement to make,' one user wrote on X.
Others speculated whether the US military is quietly expanding its presence in space amid growing competition with Russia and China for supremacy.
While the Army official has not commented on his statement, neither NASA or the military have released information stating there is a human on the moon.
Driscoll is the 26th Secretary of the Army, sworn in on February 25th, following his nomination by President Donald Trump and confirmation by the Senate.
His role is to oversee operations, modernization and resource allocation for nearly one million Active, Guard and Reserve Soldiers and more than 265,000 Army Civilians.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Driscoll for comment.
A video of Driscoll has gone viral on X after he casually claimed the Army recently spoke to a 'soldier on the moon.'
'Greatest Freudian slip ever? 'Soldier on the moon,' one user posted.
Another added: 'What the h*** did I just hear?'
Some recalled that the US once proposed building a military lunar base during the Cold War.
Following the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, American military leaders, particularly in the Air Force, explored the idea of lunar landings and even permanent outposts on the moon.
But Driscoll's comments were likely reccounting the discussion with McClain on Monday, which she shared her life aboard the orbiting lab and her pride in serving both NASA and the Army.
Driscoll, clearly impressed, told her: 'Colonel, when I took this job, one of the things everybody told me was, 'You will not believe the number of things that the US Army and its soldiers do.'
'And nearly every day, I've been surprised by something new. But you have absolutely taken the cake for having the coolest and most unique job of any soldier I've talked to so far.'
McClain also acknowledged the Army's upcoming 250th anniversary celebration, expressing her pride in being part of the milestone.
The anniversary parade, which coincides with Trump's birthday, is set to feature a dramatic display of military might in the nation's capital.
Tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Strykers and other armored units will roll through the capital, while Army aircraft are expected to soar overhead.
'It's going to be a parade, the likes of which, I don't know if we've ever had a parade like that. It's going to be incredible,' Trump said this week.
'We have air, even though it's the Army, we have a lot of those Army airplanes flying over the top, and we have tanks all over the place, and we have thousands and thousands of soldiers going to bravely march down the streets. It's going to be a beautiful day, I think.'
