What our Presidents Know about UFOs

Captain Edward J. Ruppelt (left), head of Project Blue Book, at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base project office in March 1953 By Unknown - St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72293407

On this 141st President’s Day you will likely hear stories of past policies, what history deems their greatest accomplishments or maybe just what they ate for lunch. President Taft apparently ate a 12oz steak for breakfast everyday. What you're less likely to hear is where they stood on UFOs. Once you begin to dig in on the bits and pieces we have on Presidential comment on the subject you might even wonder if there is something like the “Presidents Book of Secrets” and if there is, Alien technology definitely has a chapter. 

There was in fact one little news blip I caught on the radio this morning, President Obama recently responded to the question by podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, do aliens exist with the following: “They’re real but I haven’t seen them.” Obama later set to clarify his statement with an Instagram post stating, “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there.” Despite saying he’s never seen an alien himself and that he has always been of the understanding that Area 51 has no aliens he and former First Lady Michelle Obama are producing a documentary, “White Mountains” the UFO abduction story of Barney and Betty Hill. 

Project Blue Book was created during President Truman’s term although it appears the president was simply given the weather balloon style of explanation for the consistent UFO sightings during his serving years. While there are quotes online from President Truman stating he didn’t believe the UFOs came from earth and quotes that he knew nothing more about them beyond the headlines, neither are verified by the National Archives. 

President Eisenhower, who created NASA has many stories as well. Most of which claim he was quite aware of aliens and their technology. While they are considered theories, a recent book, “The Real Ike: Eisenhower Fact and Fiction” claims to fully share what is known. The book is available through the University Press of Kansas.

A  story about President Nixon by Jackie Gleason’s wife states Gleason and Nixon viewed alien bodies at Homestead AFB in 1973

President Carter reported his own UFO Georgia 1969 sighting in 1973 with the International UFO Bureau. Similar to President Obama he followed that up in 1976 with a public statement that he didn’t believe aliens were coming here. He did however campaign to make UFO files public. 

President Reagan might be the most interesting surprise on the subject. He also had a personal UFO sighting, in 1970. In 1985 while attending the Geneva summit he discussed a unity pact with Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, for the sake of handling an alien invasion if one were to occur. This next one is super interesting and apparently to this date officially unverified, though commonly accepted. President Reagan told Steven Spielberg after watching E.T., “There are a number of people in this room who know that everything on that screen is absolutely true.” What we do know as fact is that Reagan had a private viewing of the movie E.T. at the White House. The President was also a super fan of Spielberg’s, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

A source referring to himself as a former CIA officer claimed that President Kennedy was involved in a UFO cover-up in the infamous “Burned Memo.” The documentary “Need to Know” states President George H.W. Bush was debriefed on the 1964 Holloman AFB UFO incident.  President Clinton had staff investigate the 1947 Roswell incident though nothing came from the order. 

Most recently, a widely shared rumor has arisen that President Trump will disclose government UFO information this year. Whether that happens or not it seems clear that all the Presidents from Truman on have dealt with the subject with trepidation. In fact, it seems a few want to share their thoughts on the subject, but can’t. But hey, at least we know what Taft ate for breakfast.