Beam Me Up Scottie! The Legacy of UFOs and the Presidency

These last few weeks, hope was rekindled within the UFO community that the United States government would finally have to pony up to their knowledge of extraterrestrials and their visitation of our planet. Those who have seen too many movies (and by those of us, I mean me) anxiously wondered if the government had the tones just right for first contact a la Close Encounter of the Third Kind.

But, alas, it looks as though our ‘top notch’ military and fearless Commander in Chief have shot down three car dealership balloons, or perhaps they were gifted drones of teenagers from Christmas, or even better…weather balloons. 

While this likely possibility is super disappointing, albeit predictable, I figured in honor of one of my favorite holidays; it’d be fun to reminisce on some of the greatest UFO hits from Presidential history.

So find your tin foil hat, grab those binoculars, and get ready for things to get a little weird, as most topics associated with aliens tend to get. Cue Hail to the Chief, and let’s get this outer space party started.

The Founding Fathers and UFOs

UFOs have been rumored to visit our great leaders since the original and my personal favorite President, George Washington. Many UFO enthusiasts debate the validity of the story that a UFO and an alien visited Georgie on a fateful night at Valley Forge.

They point to the story that George Washington claimed an angel had visited him that night and told him the prophecy of what a great nation we would become. Clearly, this said angel left out the part about reality television and avocado toast.

The argument is that this angel was actually a time-traveling alien. But, unfortunately, this story is based on, well…a story. 

George Washington never claimed to be visited by an angel, but it makes for some fantastic historical romanticism. But let’s not forget, good ole’ George wasn’t the only Founding Father tied to UFOs.

One of my other favorites of all time had an interest in otherworldly visitors. When Thomas Jefferson was Vice President, he described a close encounter that he was made aware of in the 6th volume of Transactions of the American Philosophical Society.

The article was titled ‘Description of a singular phenomenon seen at Baton Rouge, by William Dunbar. Esq.’ This event told of a giant floating orb about the size of a house over poor Willie Dunbar’s barn. 

Too bad Jefferson didn’t have sidewinder missiles back then.

Related: Conspiracy Theories Abound in Light of UFO Shoot Downs & White House Silence

UFOs or Weather Balloons?

Fast forward to arguably the most significant UFO incident in American history, the Roswell Incident of 1947. It is easily one of my favorite UFO stories; the legend is that a flying saucer crashed in Roswell, New Mexico.

In fact, the USAAF (United States Army Air Forces) put out a statement saying that a saucer had been recovered, only to awkwardly walk it back, stating it was a weather balloon. Nice to know that the DOD has kept its communication strategies the same. 

A year later, President Harry Truman instructed his aide Robert B. Landry to report to him quarterly after regular consultations with the Central Intelligence Agency on whether these ‘UFO’ incidents had any dire strategic implications. Now that is interesting and frustrating at the same time.

If there were UFOs, wouldn’t they inherently have a threatening strategic implication? But, again, perhaps I’ve seen way too many movies. Still, it’s been my expert experience that, generally, aliens are always bad news. 

I mean, you can’t think that aliens will resemble the little nugget from E.T.? They will obviously take on a much more menacing and horrific flavor, like the Xenomorphs from Alien.

While I’m a fairly tough cookie, I’m no Ellen Ripley.

Related: Ancient Aliens Exclusive: What Unites Humanity When Everything Else Divides Us

Bipartisan Experiences

Two presidents from modern history claimed to have actually seen a UFO. The first one is none other than peanut-head Jimmy Carter. 

That’s right; he told Larry King that he and 25 other young men experienced a UFO encounter one night on campus when he was younger. He described it as a “strange light coming toward us, a round light.”

Carter went on to say, “It got closer and closer and right above the pine trees it stopped and then it began to change colors from blue, to red, to white. Then it stayed there for a while. We were all aghast.” 

Oh my! You don’t hear much about this story when people recall Jimmy Carter. But it doesn’t end there.

Another favorite of mine, President Ronald Reagan, saw what he described as a “big light flying a bit behind the plane” when flying to Bakersfield in 1974. But alas, still no disclosure.

Related: Nick Pope Explains the Importance of the Government’s Recent UFO Interest in an Interview Exclusive

President Responses on Knowledge of Aliens

Perhaps the most dogged inquisitor of presidential UFO knowledge is none other than wanna-be funnyman Jimmy Kimmel. On his show, he has asked every President who comes on it if they know anything about aliens.

When he asked President George W. Bush, he said, “I’m not telling you nuthin’.” Good for your George; you keep that secret buried deep down inside and don’t share it with a late-night hack.

When he asked President Bill Clinton if he would’ve told the American people if aliens existed, he said yes. As if we can believe that; come on now, he isn’t called Slick Willie for nothing. 

When he asked the left’s Lord and Savior, President Barack Obama, he naturally gave a bloated response, saying “The aliens won’t let disclosure happen, you’d reveal all their secrets, and they exercise strict control over us. I can’t reveal anything.”

Here we are today, if you take reports at face value, our geriatric President is shooting down benign balloons while letting Chinese spy balloons traverse the nation willy-nilly.

If aliens ever visit, I hope they beam me up and take me away because they’ve got to have better sense than some of the jokers we have behind the wheel here.

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USAF Retired, Bronze Star recipient, outspoken veteran advocate. Hot mess mom to two monsters and wife to equal parts ... More about Kathleen J. Anderson
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