Former President Jimmy Carter has died. On December 29, the Carter Center confirmed that he had passed away at the age of 100, after entering hospice care in February 2023. Carter was a kind man who spent much of his post-presidential life helping others, engaged in projects like Habitat for Humanity. But what you may not know is that Carter also had a unique history with UAPs, including once seeing a UFO himself. The sighting shaped his presidency, including an attempt at getting NASA to investigate UFOs further.
Carter Saw a Ball of Light That Changed Color in 1969 & Filed a UFO Report About It While He Was Governor
In January 1969, Carter saw a UFO in Leary, Georgia, the National Archives notes. He reported the sighting to the National Investigative Committee on Aerial Phenomena in October 1973 after he became governor. Portions of his UFO report are shared in the Reagan Presidential Library. We have the screenshot of the file below.
He wrote that the sighting happened in Leary, Georgia, in October 1969. He noted that he saw the object for 10 to 12 minutes at 7:15 p.m. Eastern. Carter adds in his note, “Unfortunately, I do not have the taped comments on the UFO sighting.” According to Politico, this is referring to a tape recorder that Carter had with him where he recorded everyone’s reactions right after seeing the object.
In his report, Carter said that he and 10 other Leary Georgia Lions Club members saw the UFO, Fox 5 reported. The object was described as being a ball of light that changed size, brightness and color. It emitted no noise that would indicate it was from a helicopter or plane. It was about 30 degrees above the horizon and, Carter wrote, “about the same as the moon, maybe a little smaller… Varied from brighter/larger than [a] planet to apparent size of moon.”
He said it could have been as close as 300 yards, but sometimes appeared to be 1,000 yards away and was self-luminous.
He wrote: “[The object] seemed to move toward us from a distance, stopped-moved partially away-returned, then departed. Bluish at first, then reddish, luminous, not solid.” It eventually moved away and disappeared.
Some Believe He Saw a Barium Cloud Experiment
The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library quoted Carter as saying that he thought it was a military device of some sort rather than extraterrestrial.
Politico claims the sighting has been resolved by former Air Force scientist Jere Justus, who believes Carter saw a “high-altitude rocket-released barium cloud.” He said that in the 1960s, the Air Force and NASA were conducting atmospheric studies where they released clouds of barium to study how winds moved in the upper atmosphere. Those clouds could give off blue or green glows, and such an experiment was launched from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida around the time of Carter’s sighting 150 miles away.
Carter spoke about the UFO during a podcast interview in 2007 with The Skeptic’s Guide.
Carter Tried to Get NASA to Study UFOs, But NASA Refused
On July 21, 1977, Dr. Frank Press, Science Advisor to then-President Carter, sent a letter to the NASA administrator, Dr. Robert Frosch, suggesting that NASA form a panel to research UFO sightings. This request was made during the first year of Carter’s presidency, no doubt influenced by his UFO sighting years earlier.
Five months later, NASA refused, saying it wasn’t warranted “to establish a research activity in this area or to convene a symposium on the subject,” according to an AARO report.
Gerald Ford Thought Carter’s Sighting Could Be Used Against Him in a Presidential Race
On September 24, 1976, a document was put together by Gerald Ford’s team while running against Carter detailing Carter’s “presidential fitness.” They brought up the UFO topic, noting: “While not in itself a significant matter, the rather bizarre interview Mr. Carter had with United Press International about his sighting of UFO’s is not particularly reassuring of someone who must endure the pressures and burdens of the Presidency.”
The sighting was noted as recently as July 26, 2023, when the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hosted a hearing on UAPs. In his opening statement, Mr. Grothman mentioned, “I also want to point out in 1966, President Gerald Ford claimed to have seen a UFO, and in 1969 in Georgia, Jimmy Carter claimed to have seen a UFO. So, this has led Congress to establish entities to examine UAPs.”
Did Carter Cry About UFOs?
One rumor that circulates the Internet is that Carter got a secret briefing about UFOs and aliens, and cried afterward.
The rumor seems to stem from a post made four years ago by Ed Harris (not the actor) on Quora.
Here’s the full quote:
Yes, the incident of Jimmy Carter crying after being briefed about classified information regarding UFO’s is largely believed to be true by the serious researchers on the subject. As a forewarning, the following information is very unsettling and will explain why Carter never “kept his promise” of revealing classified UFO information to the public.
According to the story that was corroborated by more than one witness, U.S. presidents are only given a cursory overview of the subject. Apparently, the CIA runs the program, only provide information to the President on a need to know basis, and do not consider presidential curiosity as sufficient need to know. This was implemented after Kennedy, and all presidents after him have been given only summary briefings (some presidents for unknown reasons were given more than others).
Okay on to your question. President Carter is a deeply religious man who had also witnessed a UFO with 6 other people. Everyone thought that he would be the one to finally release UFO info to the public but as the story goes, he was repeatedly stonewalled. Eventually, the CIA had “the talk” with him, and afterward it was reported that he sunk his head in his hands and not only began to deeply sob, but was visibly disturbed for some weeks afterward.
What was he told and shown?
He was told that the major religions including Christianity were programs created by extraterrestrials to prevent us from destroying ourselves while they ran their experiments on us – and that they made us. At this moment it became clear to Carter that such information could cause tremendous economic and social upheaval. I should add that I am not only a Christian but a clergyman, so I am in no way attempting to promote atheism here. In fact, how God fits into this might be an interesting separate post. Nevertheless, these are the facts as I know them to be.
We have reached out to Harris for comment.
Carter himself has never confirmed if this rumor is true or not. Personally, I think that Carter may indeed have been briefed and even cried about it. But the idea that it proved his religion to be untrue seems unlikely to me, based on Carter’s own actions for the rest of his life. Carter still maintained his religious beliefs after his presidency, even continuing to teach Sunday School for the remainder of his life until his health no longer allowed him to do so.
Stephanie Dwilson is a licensed attorney and has a master's in science in science and technology journalism. She's known for her thorough, accurate reporting and commitment to journalistic integrity in all her work. You can reach her at writerdube@gmail.com.
