Top US official Gregg Phillips claims he was teleported to a Waffle House 'against his will'
Topics: US Food, News, Celebrity, Restaurants and bars
Ella Scott
Featured Image Credit: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: US Food, News, Celebrity, Restaurants and bars
Gregg Phillips, head of the Office of Response and Recovery in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), once alleged that he was ‘transported’ inside a beloved US chain restaurant.
The 65-year-old, who was previously Head of the Mississippi Department of Human Services in the early 1990s, appeared on the Onward podcast with Catherine Engelbrecht last year to discuss his so-called experience with teleporting.
"I was with my boys one time, and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House," he explained, as reported by CNN.
"And I ended up at a Waffle House - this was in Georgia, and I end up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was.”
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"And they said, 'Where are you?', and I said, 'A Waffle House'. And, 'a Waffle House where?', and I said, 'Waffle House in Rome, Georgia.’
"And they said, 'That’s not possible, you just left here a moment ago'. But it was possible. It was real.”
Waffle House, the iconic American diner chain, was founded in September 1955.
It is known for serving up Southern breakfast food favourites, such as omelettes, hashbrowns, chocolate chip waffles, and sirloin steak and egg plates.
Craig Fugate, who was head of FEMA under former US President Barack Obama, previously said that if a 24-hour Waffle House is closed, you know the disaster you're dealing with is ‘really bad’.
“That’s where you go to work,” he said, as per the Waffle House website.
Phillips, a known conspiracy theorist, continued: “Teleporting is no fun.
"You know it’s happening, but you can’t do anything about it, and so you just go, you just go with the ride.
"And wow, what just an incredible adventure it all was.”
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that the Republican has alleged that he had been transported to different places against his will.
In January 2025, he claimed on a podcast that his car had once been ‘lifted up’ during a drive and dropped off in a ditch 40 miles away beside a church, CNN said.
The 2000 Mules executive producer also used another podcast appearance to suggest that Department of Homeland Security officials were ‘planning the next assassination attempt’ of US President Donald Trump after a failed attempt on his life in 2024, as per The Guardian.
He also alleged that the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak and vaccine rollout were designed to harm US denizens.
In response, FEMA claimed the statements were ‘so silly it’s barely worth acknowledging’.
“DHS, FEMA, and Mr Phillips are focused on the critical mission of emergency management and ensuring the safety of the American people,” the agency told CNN.
“Many of the comments cited are taken out of context or represent personal, informal, jovial, and somewhat spiritual discussions made in the context of barely surviving cancer; in a private capacity prior to his current role.”