He looks to be a true believer now - his new claims about the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS being a craft from a potentially hostile alien species are pretty outrageous and not winning him any favors in the scientific community - but I think he started on this trajectory for less than honest reasons.
The crackpot phenomenon described here has only gotten worse with the proliferation of AI nonsense. This guy turning up again didn't seem surprising as I'd heard the name before. youtu.be/aY985qzn7oI?...
the pseudoscience grift is a strong temptation for those with credentials but no ethics
Yeah I think my guy just likes being on camera