UFO encounters seem to play out a little differently for everyone. It is a phenomenon that has many permutations and outcomes depending on who experiences it. However, there are some commonalities between UFO experiences that have often caused speculation and debate, and these have really run the gamut. One that has been tossed about it the recurring phenomenon of UFO witnesses having lapses in reality or warped perceptions of their surroundings, and this has gone on to actually spawn a whole new theory to try and explain it all.

The theory of what has come to be known as the “Oz Factor” comes from the British author, researcher, and former director of investigations with the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA), Jenny Randles. She has written numerous books and articles on the UFO phenomenon, and has covered such disparate subjects as crop circles, ESP, life after death, time anomalies and spontaneous human combustion. During her deep investigations into the UFO phenomenon, she came across numerous examples of a reported feeling of disassociation from reality from UFO witnesses, in particular those who claimed to have been abducted, and this worked its way into a theory that she would coin as “The Oz Factor.” It came to the attention of Randles that many of those who had had such encounters came away from the experience with some similar symptoms. In particular were feelings of a sense of timelessness, disrupted sensory input, paralysis, missing time, a dreamlike state, and other altered states of consciousness, which always left the experiencer as feeling like they had momentarily checked out of reality as we know it. Such cases are countless, with one early one cited by Randles herself, who writes:

It occurred one hot and thundery day in the summer of 1944.  World War II raged around the village of Le Verger, near Toulon-sur-Arroux, France, when a thirteen-year-old girl, Madeleine Arnoux, decided to risk the many Germans and resistance fighters in the woods to cycle out and pick berries.  In doing so she confronted a strange object in the grass, like a small car but dull grey in color.  She then noticed that small men stood beside it, no more than three feet tall and dressed in brown one-piece suits.  Feeling desperately afraid, she tried to run but was paralyzed and lost all sense of time (the Oz Factor once more).  Then, inexplicably, the object had gone and the hold on her was relaxed.  She fled back to her village.

Jenny Randles

Another case along these lines was reported on the site Phantoms and Monsters, with a witness who was out helping a friend move from North Carolina to Naples, Florida. After they had reached the destination and unloaded the truck, they stayed in the area a few days and made their way to the Naples Pier, and this is where a strange event would transpire. The witness says:

We walked out to the end, looked at what the fisherman caught that day, etc. While everyone else was at the end of the pier, I started walking back towards the entrance. While walking, I remember having this really weird feeling like something was happening. Time was slowing down or something. It’s really difficult to describe. Almost like some kind of magnetic feeling or hypnotizing feeling. I remember turning around and looking up at the sky for some reason. When I looked up, I remember seeing this weird metallic looking ball in the sky. Literally the same kind of UFO you would see photos of online. But the weird thing is, it was like everything else kept going on around me. Everyone was walking, I couldn’t really hear anyone talking. Almost like I was in a different time “field” or something. Then there was literally like a “snap” back to reality, and everything around me was normal. People walking, talking, at “normal speed.” As crazy as that sounds, it’s a 100% true story.

There are many, many other reports just like this, and this all fits into Randles’ theory that UFOs have the ability to somehow distort perceptions and reality around those who see them. The effects of this can include a wide variety of phenomena, such as physical tingling, perception of an electromagnetic field or electrostatic charge control body, alteration in electrical appliances, motor paralysis, blackouts, headlights off, deviation light rays, interference in communications (radio and radar), sense of timelessness, time distorting or slowing down, even stopping, amnesia, hallucinations, a persistent hum, dizziness, a sense of unreality, the elimination of all sound, perception of a mild low frequency hum, déjà vu, and many others. Randles herself describes it all as:

An induced form of sensory deprivation which seems to alter the state of consciousness of the percipient.  It can become visible as a sensation of time standing still, or interfered with, or it manifests as all sound vanishing, a very odd feeling of being isolated from our world into a magic world.  It is less easy to describe than recognize, since witnesses often refer to it without having any idea of its significance.  This underlines its importance.

The idea is that these entities behind the phenomena are somehow altering and twisting out perceptions to control us or influence us, and it is even suggested as a reason for why others might not have seen anything out of the ordinary during the event, as the whole thing has happened in some sort of “cocoon” away from normal reality, in its own little universe, in a sense. Such episodes could be profound, and Randles say of the reports she researched to come to this conclusion:

Witnesses would tell me that they felt a strange sensation prior to the encounter – a sort of mental tingling as if they were aware that something was about to happen. They would even tell me they just had to look up and see what was there – as if it had called to them silently. Then I would be told that during the experience, time seemed to disappear and lose all meaning. It was as if the encounter were happening in a timeless, magical void. Further clues kept popping up the more that I tabulated these cases. For instance, there were claims that at the onset of the episode all ambient sounds faded away c bird song, the wind in the trees, distant train noises, et cetera. All of these clues pointed towards an isolation factor at work, as if the witness were being singled out and put into a cocoon whereby he or she could experience the UFO, whereas anyone outside of it could not.

This all seems to suggest that the UFO phenomenon is having some effect on reality itself as it occurs, representing a disassociation from the barriers of time and space, and it is a theory that is no doubt debated, but nevertheless embraced by some other researchers who follow a similar train of thought. The legendary astrophysicist and UFO researcher Dr. Jacques Vallee has said of this:

At close range, the UFO phenomenon acts as a reality transformer, triggering for the witness a series of symbolic displays that are indistinguishable from reality. These displays, which frequently begin with a bewildering series of blinking coloured lights of extraordinary intensity, induce a state of intense confusion for the subjects who are vulnerable to the insertion of new thoughts and new visual experiences. What we see emerging in the UFO phenomenon is not gradual contact but rather gradual control – of our beliefs, expectations, fears, hopes and dreams.  We know from behavioural psychology that the best schedule of reinforcement is one that combines periodicity with unpredictability.  Learning is then slow but continuous, it leads to the highest level of adaptation.  And it is irreversible.  It is interesting to observe that the pattern of UFO waves has the same structure as a schedule of reinforcement.

Another researcher, Michael Talbot, also gives his opinion on this phenomenon and what it might mean. Talbot thinks that this is indicative of the holographic nature of the universe, and that it all represents a sort of “awakening.” Talbot has said:

At present we simply do not know, but in a world that is comprised less of solid objects travelling in space and time and more of ghostly holograms of energy sustained by processes that are at least partially connected to human consciousness, such events may not be as impossible as they appear …. the evidence suggests that we are still children when it comes to understanding the true nature of time. And like all children poised on the threshold of adulthood, we should put aside our fears and come to terms with the way the world really is. I propose that such phenomena are difficult to categorise because we are trying to hammer them into a picture of reality that is fundamentally incorrect. Given that quantum physics has shown us that mind and matter are inextricably linked, I suggested that UFOs and related phenomena are further evidence of this ultimate lack of division between the psychological and physical worlds. They are indeed a product of the human psyche, but they are quite real. Put another way, they are something the human race has not yet learned to comprehend properly, a phenomenon that is neither subjective nor objective but ‘omnijective’ – a term I coined to refer to this unusual state of existence.

What does this all mean? Do UFOs have the ability to warp our reality or perception of it, to envelope us in a seperate existence, and if so, how do they do it? Whatever the case may be, Randles believes it to be an integral part of the UFO phenomena as a whole, and has written:

The Oz Factor implies that the UFO Close Encounter has a visionary component. You might interpret that as meaning it is all in the imagination, but it really means that there is a direct feed, if you like, from the source of the encounter to the consciousness of the witness. Something makes them pay attention by tuning out the normal sensory flow and looking up to watch the show. Where that show is being projected from remains the subject of great fascination. And it certainly does not eliminate a [different] intelligence as running this show.

To me, the Oz Factor is a vital key to the UFO mystery, and may help us to resolve what is happening. We should not be afraid of its implications; just because it seems to suggest a fuzziness to the phenomenon. In truth, we should embrace these cases. Indeed they seem to make a lot more sense when seen in the context of modern physics and our understanding of quantum reality, multiple dimensions, and relativity. These fields are pretty weird and produce consequences that science has been wrestling with for 100 years. That UFO close encounters exhibit equal strangeness is, to me, a sign that we are on track for the right answers.

It is unclear what all of this has to do with the UFO phenomenon, but it is interesting to ponder. How deep do these experiences reach into out psyches and reality, and what ripples do they send out around all that we know? Is there some force that is tinkering with our perceptions during such events and what is its significance? Like everything else about UFOs we are likely to be left to the limbo of speculation and debate until something more concrete comes forward, and this is another theory that pervades the phenomena inviting us to discuss.

Related videos, selected and posted by peter2011

The blockbuster UFO revelation hinted to in leaks to the mainstream media and the UFO research community was made public last night and it was, to say the least, somewhat underwhelming – despite quotes about “off-road vehicles not made on this earth.” Reporters Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean reveal their best card right up front – that the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force is actually the renamed Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), whose funding ended in 2012 but allegedly stayed operational for a number of years. The Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force made its official debut on June 17, 2020, in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 report submitted to the Senate by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who earlier this week said in public that he personally hopes UFOs are otherworldly and not secret planes from China.

Now we know this is a funded project once again. What else?

“We couldn’t make it ourselves.”

The article quotes Eric W. Davis, an astrophysicist who worked as a subcontractor and then a consultant AATIP, who said he told government officials in 2019 and 2020 that materials he had examined were indeed impossible for humans to make and possibly from “off-road vehicles not made on this earth.” It also quoted former senator Harry Reid, who helped fund AATIP originally, saying that he had seen evidence of otherworldly craft and “there were actual materials that the government and the private sector had in their possession.” Throw in a confirmation from Luis Elizondo, the former director of AATIP, that the new task force evolved from AATIP and you pretty much have the whole blockbuster revelation.

Overwhelmed yet?

Harry Reid

The Senate report said the program, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force, was “to standardize collection and reporting” on sightings of unexplained aerial vehicles, and was to report at least some of its findings to the public every six months.” So, do we wait until six months from June 2020 for the first “some of its findings”? July? Does the Senate act have to be approved before the clock starts? Who starts the clock? Will the “findings” include the public display of physical materials from alien vehicles or from secret Earth enemy planes? Why wait six months? Why not show them now?

For now, the best answer to those questions is the one President Trump gave to his son Don Jr. when asked if he would declassify any information on the Roswell UFO incident.

“I’ll have to think about that one.”

Until the public sees real physical evidence, all we’ve gotten so far is ‘thinking’ – from the president, from the Pentagon, from government officials … and from this new revelation from The New York Times.

“We have things flying over our military bases and places where we’re conducting military exercises and we don’t know what it is and it isn’t ours. Frankly, if it’s something outside this planet that might actually be better than the fact that we’ve seen some sort of technological leap from the Chinese or Russians or some other adversary that allows them to conduct this sort of activity. That to me is a national security risk and one we should be looking into.”

Senator Marco Rubio

In a follow-up to his demand last month that the Director of National Intelligence produce a report detailing any and all information it and other agencies have on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), Senator Rubio recently sat down with CBS News reporter Jim DeFede, who asked Rubio the simple question “Are we alone?” and got a number of detailed surprise answers. (You can watch the video here.)

“I’ve seen reports on this now for the better part of a decade. Other countries have had similar reports and so, but for our perspective is, there is someone flying in the airspace that no one else is allowed to fly in and we don’t know who it is and it isn’t something we have. We need to know what that is.”

“Other countries have had similar reports …” is a key comment by Rubio – other governments, other militaries and other intelligence communities are just as puzzled as ours are … or at least as much as ours will say publicly. DeFede then asked Rubio for a ‘gut feel’ on the “Are we alone?” question again, and Rubio had this telling comment:

“If we can’t determine what it is, then that’s a fact.”

Unfortunately, the subject changed at that point, but the next question should have been: “How much longer do we attempt to identify them before admitting that they’re not from Earth?” Rubio says he’s been seeing these reports for a decade. Former Senator Harry Reid saw them for longer than that and started the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program in 2007, which spent five official years and at least five more unofficially studying UFOs and UAPs. This is a non-partisan issue – Reid is a Democrat and Rubio a Republican – and it’s a high profile one that doesn’t intimidate a possible Republican presidential candidate like Rubio, just as it didn’t intimidate the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. It’s an issue that hasn’t just accidentally crept into the mainstream media – CBS, The New York Times (which is rumored to be preparing another big revelation) and others are devoting extensive resources to covering it.

Is this really better than Chinese planes … or are they actually Chinese planes?

As the dots get more numerous and closer together, someone soon will be the first to cross the line and declare:

“Then that’s a fact.”

What will your gut say then, Senator Rubio?

If the rumors circulating amongst the UFO research community are real, the New York Times may have to add a second motto: “All the ‘UFO News’ That’s Fit to Print.” After being the leader in breaking the USS Nimitz Tic Tac UFO videos and stories and the existence of the Pentagon’s secret Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, a number of sites are dropping hints that The New York Times has another blockbuster revelation on the verge of being released to the public. What could it be? Get ready to be shocked / disappointed /overwhelmed /underwhelmed /other.

“I don’t know if you saw it, but in the last few hours an indiscretion has begun to circulate in the UFO world: that the New York Times is preparing to document the existence of a government program to recover crashed UFOs.”

UFO Hoje (UFO Today) dropped this news this morning, along with links indicating this rumor has been in play for some time. In early July, UFO Joe interviewed George Knapp about the aforementioned Wilson/Davis documents (about a 2002 meeting between astrophyscist, Eric Davis retired director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Admiral Thomas Wilson about the retrieval of crashed UFOs and re-engineering the technology) and the possibility of The New York Times releasing more information.

“There is no question whatsoever about whether the New York Times is working on a story related to crashes, crash retrievals, and what might have been done with recovered materials. Too many people have been contacted for this to remain a secret.”

He blamed the delay in the paper releasing on the massive amount of fact-checking its stories go through before being released. Anticipating skepticism from the conspiracy theorists on the second point, UFO Joe’s Joe Murgia followed up with an unnamed managing editor of a major media source who detailed the fact-checking apparatus media providers have, with the New York Times at the top with the most. Despite that, skeptical sites such as Bad UFOs point out that these rumors are being spread by relative newcomers (“newbies”) to the UFO research field who may not be doing the detailed research of the more well-known names who paved the way for them.

“And so now UFOlogy’s “Young Guns” are getting all excited about rumors that a major New York Times story is going to be published next week (beginning July 19, 2020) revealing the existence of government UFO crash retrieval teams or something equally dramatic.”

If this sounds a lot like posturing to you, you’re probably right. It’s what is done in lieu of presenting any actual evidence. As the website Vocal Media points out, “UFO” doesn’t mean you-know-what.

“It could be the expected uncovering of the Pandora’s box relating to extraterrestrial existence, although it should be emphasized that Ufo is not absolute and not even in the first instance synonymous with “alien”. Rather, we speak of a phenomenon that is difficult or impossible to catalog.”

True. Then again, we’re talking about The New York Times here, which has two blockbuster UFO revelations already notched in its belt — with well-documented, fact-checked evidence to back them up — and is obviously working to bring much-needed credibility to the UFO research field – something that the strictly UFO-related media has found difficult to accomplish.

For now … we wait.

Just recently, and while chatting with a fellow UFO researcher on the subject of my latest book, The Rendlesham Forest UFO Conspiracy, a question was put to me that I have hardly ever been asked. And even on the very few occasions that it has been brought up, it has only been in passing. For the most part, I’m asked about the content of the book – which makes sense, of course. The question that I am rarely asked, however, goes something like this: if the Rendlesham Forest incident was a top secret experiment – rather than an alien encounter – what impact would that revelation have on the UFO research community? That’s a good question. So, with that said, I’ll share with you my views on what might happen to Ufology (and not just in the U.K.) if Rendlesham collapses as an E.T. event.

There are three issues that need to be addressed, and which I’ll come to further down this article. First and foremost (in my mind, at least) there’s the matter of government agencies using the UFO subject as a cover for highly-classified military operations. There are a number of cases on record that we should be very suspicious of when it comes to the matter of their validity as genuine UFO incidents. Take, for example, (a) the Antonio Villas Boas “alien abduction” of 1957 (which was almost certainly something akin to an early MK-Ultra-type experiment), (b) the Hickson-Parker alien abduction of October 1973, and (c) the strange story of the Flatwoods Monster of 1952. Check out those three links above. Strong cases can be made for all of those incidents having been the top secret work of governments, not aliens.

If those three cases above were fabricated to look like UFO events (to test new military technologies and for psychological warfare purposes), then why couldn’t that be the case for the incidents that occurred in Rendlesham Forest in December 1980, too? As I see it, it could. Very easily. And, significantly the threads are all there, too. The problem, however, is that so many people in the UFO field don’t want their favorite and famous cases crushed and revealed as something non-extraterrestrial. Too bad. In other words, and to a degree, certain figures in Ufology – and particularly so in the field of Rendlesham case – want aliens. What they don’t want are mind-altering technologies and holograms – which are at the heart of the story my book tells. My book has been selling nicely. The feedback from the readers, however, has mostly been like this: that I was fed a bunch of disinformation by intelligence agents, or that I sold out to the likes of the New World Order. Neither scenario is correct: I simply followed the trail and came to a grounded, non-alien-themed conclusion. Why do so many people want extraterrestrials? Because it makes the story exciting, vindicates their research and – most important of all – helps to bolster their belief-systems. And that’s the big problem. No one in UFO/Rendlesham research should be wanting this or wanting that. Or believing this or believing that. There should only be a search for answers, wherever they take us. Unfortunately, on so many occasions I see people who adhere to those famous words of The X-Files: “I want to believe.” Anyone who yearns for ETs, rather than goes where the evidence takes them, is a fool.

When the Rendlesham Forest saga took place in 1980, I was still at school. And still as a teenager in 1984 when the first book on the case was published (Sky Crash, written by Brenda Butler, Dot Street and Jenny Randles), I was sure that aliens came down on those December 1980 nights. Over time, however, my views changed – and, finally, to a significant degree. And, I’ll tell you something interesting on that issue of minds changing: a lot of people in Ufology don’t like it when you alter your views. I saw that when I wrote my 2017 book, The Roswell UFO Conspiracy – which also places a famous case (in fact, the most famous case) in the “secret experiment” category. Arms-folded, defensive stances, and “I don’t want to know”-type comments were the order of the day. So, if Rendlesham does collapse as a UFO event (and I’m sure it will in the near future – because yet another book on the “secret experiment” situation is on its way), the first issue, within Ufology, will be absolute denial. That will quickly be followed by widespread pissing in pants and by coming out in rashes.

As for the second issue, well, that goes back to what I said about those three, famous cases I referred to above. When the shit hits the fan, and when Rendlesham goes belly-up, Ufology – as a community – will finally have to come to a shocking realization. It will have to accept that government agencies have totally used and exploited the real UFO phenomenon as a means to secretly test sophisticated technology on unwitting people – including using military personnel. And on more than a few occasions, too. I’m pretty certain that as the UFOs go away, and as the “secret experiments” come more and more to the forefront, we’ll see numerous people quit the scene. Why? Because, again, most people in Ufology actually don’t want down-to-earth answers (even if they are controversial); they want aliens. Some of them need aliens. Like some people need a god.

The third issue? Well, I would say that would be the effect on Ufology – and on Rendlesham – as a business. I’m sure that when the 40th anniversary of Rendlesham comes around in December of this year, there will be a great deal of publicity, media coverage, and the reprinting of old books on the incident (with new forewords and new introductions added to make the books appear somehow new and still relevant). And, when December 2020 comes closer and closer, I’m also sure that most of the coverage will be focused on extraterrestrials. Why? It’s all very simple: that’s what people want. If Rendlesham does collapse, I’m positive that everything that goes along with it – TV shows, lectures, conferences, books etc. – will also come to an end. But, that’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is that we’ll have the answer – even if the answer amounts to one of Ufology’s worst nightmares. Namely, zero aliens in Rendlesham Forest. And I hope that Ufology will be able to cope with that. Even accept it. But, should I hold my breath? Fuck, no.

Just when you thought this year couldn’t get any more strange or have any wilder conspiracy theories … 2020 says, “Hold my beer and watch this!” A new rumor in circulation postulates that the 1947 Roswell UFO crash was actually a craft from the future carrying time-traveling humans and that President Trump has been briefed on it. While this sounds like a brief that this this president would definitely read (and, in fact, he alluded to “interesting things” about “Roswell” in an interview with his son, Don Jr.), did he actually receive it? And the greater question: is it true? And the ultimate question: if it is, will Trump use it to his advantage against … OK, that’s too big to wrap our heads around. Let’s start with the source of this rumor.

“I have mentioned this in the past. It was brought up again recently after Trump commented on Roswell. POTUS ‘Roswell Briefings’ are basically this: Roswell was NOT an Alien event. It was a mishap from US in the future. POTUS is told that the MAJORITY of the lights seen in the sky are from our own craft operating in the future and creating a temporal butterfly effect. They are told that what the ancients saw in the sky was often the exact same phenomeno

POTUS is under the impression that because of tests being run in Roswell during the same time that future craft were operating in that Space at a later time… that it caused the craft to pull into the past and crash thus beginning the new tech boom after WWII.”

That statement was written by Corey Goode to Michael Salla and published in ExoNews. Goode is the controversial Secret Space Program Service guy, self-proclaimed intuitive empath, alleged ET communicator, IT guru and leaker of alleged government documents on space travel and aliens. Salla is the Founder of the Exopolitics Institute and ExoNews and is dedicated to helping Goode and others get this kind of information out to the public. That is where Goode’s latest alleged leak was revealed.

“We are told that some of these people from the future are working directly with elements of current era deep black intel agencies. They have portals in these locations that they do point to point transfers of people and supplies from.

Very interesting stuff… and I can see how POTUS would buy this over little green men. Especially with his history with his uncle who worked on the Tesla papers.”

At this point, the correspondence to Salla from Goode sounds more like a campaign ad – the president frequently brags about his genius uncle John G. Trump who was called in by the FBI to review the papers and equipment of Nikolas Tesla after his death in 1943. Uncle John might also have been interested in Goode’s revelation on how the time travel worked.

“There are Quantum Computers that are used for this communication and it operates in ‘reciprocal dimensions’ where time flows in different directions and at different rates. Data is transmitted in these alternate dimensions.

There is a major time war going on between humans from 2 timelines. One is more of the ‘Wing Maker’ type of future where AI controls a very small population on Earth. There is another group fighting to preserve the timeline by stopping the manipulation of timelines so that they all collapse into the proper one (per ET / Anshar Guidance).”

(Note: the Anshar are believed by some to be a race of humans from the future.)

Goode tells Salla he thinks the future humans intentionally crashed at Roswell so 1947 humans could get their technology through reverse engineering. One wonders if these future humans care so much about us, why didn’t they just give the technology to us – but perhaps that’s what’s being covered up by the “Deep State” which Goode predictably brings up as the force withholding disclosure. He thinks this technology is now being used by the Space Force (what took so long?) and more tech-oriented revelations will be forthcoming. Salla hints that more of Goode’s latest leak will be forthcoming from him as well.

What can we make of this revelation by ExoNews and Michael Salla of these seemingly unbelievable claims by Corey Goode? Salla offers no proof except a record of his conversation with Goode, and Goode offers even less. His various claims have been questioned by scientists and skeptics looking for any kind of proof of his outrageous claims – which are creatively entertaining and intriguing enough to elicit him a legion of followers. As we painfully know from past experiences, followers does not mean facts.

If only President Trump would reveal more about what he claims he’s been briefed on. Perhaps as his poll numbers continue to drop …

Some of the most infamous UFO sightings in history are the ones that have been made by beloved public figures or famous people. These are the ones that truly resonate with us, and stir a sense of awe within us, no matter how believable they may be. Certainly one of the most sensational of these was the time the U.S. president Jimmy Carter saw a UFO, which would turn into a case that has been discussed and debated to this day.

James Earl Carter Jr., better known to the masses as Jimmy Carter, was the 39th president of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he narrowly beat out incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the Presidential race and was known for several sweeping changes, such as pardoning all Vietnam War draft dodgers, the establishment of the Department of Energy and the Department of Education, as well as his involvement with pushing the Panama Canal Treaties, the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II), and advocating the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama. His presidency was marked by such turmoil as the Iran hostage crisis, the 1979 energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and he is also known for his philanthropist work, founding the nongovernmental, not-for-profit human rights organization called the Carter Center, which won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Yet for all of this some of the most interesting tales surrounding the former president come from his years when he was a Senator in Georgia, most notably the time he had a UFO sighting that would fundamentally change his whole official stance on the matter.

Jimmy Carter

At the time, Carter was serving in the Georgia State Senate, his aim to be Governor of the state, and on one evening in January of 1969, he was getting ready to deliver a speech at a meeting of the Lion’s Club at Leary, Georgia. At the time he was with a group of around 20 others at a small outdoor restaurant right after sundown when his attention was drawn to something strange in the sky to the West, which appeared as a green light that steadily got brighter as it seemed to approach them. Carter would say of the strange events that would follow:

All of a sudden, one of the men looked up and said, ‘Look, over in the west!’ And there was a bright light in the sky. We all saw it. And then the light, it got closer and closer to us. And then it stopped, I don’t know how far away, but it stopped beyond the pine trees. And all of a sudden it changed color to blue, and then it changed to red, then back to white. And we were trying to figure out what in the world it could be, and then it receded into the distance.

In some retellings of his story he made mention of the fact that he did not take the phenomenon to be a solid object, although he believed it to be self-illuminated. Carter would keep the sighting mostly to himself, but sometimes brought it up in interviews, and considering his high standing he was encouraged to finally log an official report with the International UFO Bureau in 1973, after which it would be officially investigated in 1976. Considering that this was a full seven years after the sighting, most witnesses either did not remember the incident or that that it was just a weird anomaly that they hadn’t given much thought to over the years, but Carter had certainly been affected by it, even going so far as to tell reporters in his 1976 election campaign that one of his goals was to create more transparency in the government with regards to UFOs, and he would say:

One thing’s for sure, I’ll never make fun of people who say they’ve seen unidentified objects in the sky. If I become President, I’ll make every piece of information this country has about UFO sightings available to the public and the scientists.

It is important to note that while Carter did believe he had seen something very strange that night, he did not necessarily think it was an alien spacecraft, and tended to be rather vague about what he thought it might be, but he was definitely open-minded, and was seen by hopeful UFOlogists as perhaps the first American president that would blow the lid on government secrecy with regards to UFOs, and pursue full disclosure. In the end, it would turn out that this was not to be. Interestingly, once he was elected he sort of backpedaled on his promise to pursue the matter, and rather than try enact any sort of disclosure he began strongly denying that what he had seen was an alien spacecraft, even going so far as to assert that extraterrestrials had never visited Earth, and proclaiming that no government that he knew of had secret knowledge of UFOs or had ever been part of a cover-up. Instead of demonstrating an openness to the phenomenon that he had once embraced due to his own sighting, he began to go into full denial and general dismissal of UFOs. Carter was less inclined to take the ambiguous stance of “I don’t know” anymore, and became more closed on the subject while simultaneously starting to voice more strongly the opinion that he had just seen some sort of experimental aircraft. Before long, Carter would get into his presidency full swing, and talk of the UFO he had seen would be swept under the carpet and largely forgotten, relegated to history as a curiosity and nothing more.

Theories on what Carter saw have run the range. There are of course the conspiracy theories that he did in fact see an alien craft, or at least really believed he had, and that he had shied away from that explanation under pressure from those within the government. A big explanations offered by skeptics was that he had merely seen the planet Venus, which is thought to have been particularly bright on the evening in question. However, Carter was an avid amateur astronomer, and firmly dismissed this possibility. Another idea is that he saw some other atmospheric phenomenon or that it was a high altitude glowing barium cloud launched from Eglin AFB for the purpose of studying the upper atmosphere. The cloud theory would fit in with the location, the elevation angle, and the non-solid properties claimed of it, as well as the color, size, and brightness of the object. A professor and member of the Carter family, Carl G. Justus, would originally offer this explanation, later explaining:

In the 1960s and early 70s I worked on an Air Force sponsored project that studied the upper atmosphere using releases of glowing chemical clouds, produced by rockets launched from Eglin AFB rocket range in Florida. Some of these chemical clouds, notably sodium and barium, were visible by the process of resonance scattering of sunlight. Clouds of this type had to be launched not long after sunset or not long before sunrise. This was due to the fact that the cloud had to be in sunlight at high altitude, while it was still dark enough at ground level for the cloud to be visible against the dark sky. 

I can verify from personal experience that under clear skies, a barium cloud such as this would easily have been visible from the distance of Leary, GA. Carter reported the UFO ‘appeared from West’. The direction of Eglin AFB from Leary, GA is approximately WSW. Thus, this barium cloud at Eglin is consistent with Carter’s reported ‘UFO’ as to time, elevation, AND direction. Furthermore, the appearance reported by Carter is totally consistent with a high-altitude barium cloud. His report stated that it was ‘bluish at first, then reddish, luminous not solid’. A neutral barium cloud would initially glow bluish or greenish, with parts of it taking on a reddish glow as some the barium becomes ionized in the high-altitude sunlight. The size and brightness, reported as being about that of the moon, would also be consistent with a barium cloud at Eglin, as viewed from Leary, GA.

Is that what Carter saw? Glowing chemical clouds? Or was it perhaps something more mysterious? The case sticks out because of the high standing of the witness, as well as the odd way he seemed to back away from it in later years. What seemed to have been perhaps a turning point for government disclosure instead became just another obscure UFO report buried in history. Whatever it was that Jimmy Carter saw, it has stirred a bit of debate ever since, and I wouldn’t hold one’s breath for any real answers any time soon.

Related videos, selected and posted by peter2011

The region known as the Berkshires of western Massachusetts is a charming, rural area dotted with small towns and possessing vast areas of pristine wilderness that make it a popular destination for hiking, fishing, and other myriad outdoor activities. It is for the most part a quaint, quiet area full of relaxing natural splendor and placid little towns in which not much ever really happens. Yet in 1969 there would be a series of otherworldly, inexplicable events that would play out in this secluded place, which would grip the entire region, and capture the imagination of people around the world.

Beginning on the evening of September 1, 1969, various people in the tiny town of Sheffield began reporting seeing a strange disc-like object with an array of bright lights on its underbelly. In some cases, more than one of these bizarre craft was supposedly seen, and in every case they were described as completely silent. Over 40 people would report seeing this strange sight in the skies over the area, and many of the calls were made by frightened residents to the local radio station, WSBS. The manager of the station, David Isy, would say of it:

We had listeners call the radio station that evening. At the time they didn’t know it was a UFO, they just, you know, called the station to say something bizarre has happened.

The Berkshires

While all of this was weird enough, some reports that would emerge from the time are more outlandish than others. One of the strangest cases on that evening was supposedly experienced by a local boy by the name of Thomas Reed, who was 9 years old at the time. On the evening of September 1, he claims that he was driving with his mother, grandmother, and brother when they all saw brilliant lights through the trees out over the road ahead as they were crossing a covered bridge, which got so intense the interior of the car was lit up as if it were daylight outside, and they could get a glimpse of a “a tarnished circular looking vessel.” At the same time, they experienced what they describe as a sort of change in air pressure, and a feeling like an electric charge in the air. Then something altogether even stranger happened.

The family allegedly suddenly and without warning found themselves on the road over a mile away in darkness, with people’s seats switched around, and looking at the clock showed that three hours had passed. The strange craft was gone and they were in pitch black night. None of them could really remember much of what had happened during that missing time, but Thomas had fleeting, confused memories of it in his mind, like a half remembered dream, including some sort of indoor hangar bay, of which he has said:

We encountered something. It was definitely not of this world. We had a black and white television at time and the imagery that we saw on this thing was unbelievable. There were lights that looked like fluorescent tubing inside this hangar. This hallway we had seen was circular with a Y-configuration almost to control the flow of traffic. This one room had a bowed-in wall that was rounded. This was not something that you would have seen in 1969 anywhere else. I have no idea where I was, but I know that what I saw was very different than anything I’ve even seen today 50 years later.

Reed would in later years admit that he had been abducted on several other occasions before that. Reed was not the only person to have such a strange experience at the time. Another odd case revolves around a boy named Tom Warner, who was claimed to have been taken aboard the ship in a beam of light right out of his home in front of his startled babysitter, and would later say that he had had telepathic communications with aliens while aboard. Another girl named Melanie Kirchdorfer also claimed that aliens had taken her aboard their ship, and that while there she had seen other kids from her school in some sort of dazed trance. There were also many reports of people with missing time who could remember nothing of what they saw, and considering these were all disparate people who did not know each other all reporting more or less similar things on the same evening it is rather remarkable.

A very strange account from the evening was also given by a local named Kevin Titus, who was also just a child at the time. He says that he was in the nearby town of Great Barrington on that evening looking for a missing cow along with his friend. He would claim that they had come across the animal lying on the ground in a mangled state as if it had been ripped apart, yet there was no blood anywhere. As the two shocked youths looked upon that macabre scene, they were allegedly suddenly bathed in a bright, white light, after which they saw “a tortoise shell-shaped craft” hovering above for a moment before shooting off into the night.

The Berkshires UFO Incident was all over the news at the time, and generated so much intense interest that a huge granite monument with a plaque was built in 2015 by the covered Sheffield bridge where Reed first saw the craft, and the Great Barrington Historical Society has formally labelled it as an official historical “significant and true event.” Unfortunately, the monument was not liked or embraced by everyone in the area, and was the frequent target of vandals until it was finally removed in 2019 after years of controversy and legal disputes orbiting it. The incident has been oft-discussed in UFO circles, appearing on TV documentaries such as “Paranormal Paparazzi,” “Alien Mysteries,” “Uncovering Aliens,” “Ancient Aliens,” and the new “Unsolved Mysteries,” and even has an exhibit at the International UFO Museum And Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico. However, Thomas Reed himself has long tried to downplay the sensationalism of it all, saying that his experience was ambiguous and that the news and these shows tend to overplay it all. He would say:

The papers and the stories have gotten so ridiculous that the truth has been lost. First of all, they keep using the cornball terminology you might find — the abduction stuff. That’s not what happened. Our family is very credible. We’re not a bunch of lunatics. Now, we do remember being in what looked like an airplane hanger. We didn’t stay in the car. We were removed from the vehicle, that’s true. Where we were, I don’t know.

So what was going on here? It is all very curious that so many disparate people who did not know each other reported pretty much the same thing at around the same time, which has propelled the case into one of the most notable of UFO history. What did these people see and what are we to make of the tales of abductions and missing time? Is this just a creepy anomaly or is there more to it? No one really knows, and the incident continues to hang over the area to this day.