Season 15's "The Presidents" episode argues that extraterrestrials may have monitored or influenced American leadership throughout history, presenting what Ancient Astronaut theorists describe as a pattern of presidential UFO encounters dating back to the nation's founding. The episode highlights that 36% of U.S. presidents have allegedly experienced unexplained phenomena—from George Washington's vision of a "glowing, beautiful creature" who supposedly revealed America's future during the harsh winter at Valley Forge, to Ronald Reagan's reported UFO sighting, to Donald Trump's carefully worded 2019 responses about intelligence briefings on unidentified objects. Former U.K. Ministry of Defense investigator Nick Pope and others suggest presidents may possess secret knowledge about alien visitations that they've chosen to withhold from the public, with the episode positing that this silence across administrations itself constitutes evidence of something extraordinary.
Mainstream historians attribute Washington's vision to known accounts of his religious faith and the symbolic storytelling common in 18th and 19th century hagiography, while the statistical claim about presidential encounters lacks peer-reviewed verification and likely conflates documented military pilot sightings with definitively "alien" events. What makes the episode compelling even for skeptics is its documentation of how UFO phenomena have intersected with political power—the confirmed existence of government UFO investigation programs, the genuine reluctance of officials to discuss the topic publicly, and the 2020 presidential candidates' surprisingly open willingness to address voter questions about disclosure all point to a fascinating cultural and political phenomenon, whatever its ultimate origins.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
United States · American (19th century)
Theorists argue that the 1800 sighting reported by astronomer William Dunbar of a large glowing object hovering 200 yards above ground near Baton Rouge, which crashed and destroyed the surrounding area without leaving an appropriately sized crater, was a UFO encounter too anomalous to be a meteor. The account was formally presented by Vice President Thomas Jefferson to the American Philosophical Society as a scientific observation.
Leary, Georgia (Jimmy Carter UFO sighting location)
United States · North America
Theorists note that future President Jimmy Carter, while attending a Lions Club meeting in Georgia, witnessed a large orb that changed color and size, which he later filed as an official UFO report — and that despite his campaign promise to release all UFO files, he reversed course once in office, suggesting he was shown classified information. Carter himself filed a report with NICAP describing a color-changing aerial object but mainstream commentators attribute it to misidentification of the planet Venus.
Palm Springs Air Force Base (Holloman Air Force Base, Palm Springs area)
United States · North America
Theorists claim that President Eisenhower was secretly taken to an Air Force base near Palm Springs during a 1954 disappearance from a golf vacation, where he met with extraterrestrial beings and signed a treaty allowing alien surveillance of Earth in exchange for advanced technology. Official records list only an emergency dental appointment, and no confirmed base visit or treaty has been verified by mainstream historians.
Sagamore Hill
United States · Modern
Theorists argue that a spectacular UFO — a giant orb of light witnessed by dozens of neighbors hovering in the sky for nearly two hours over Sagamore Hill in 1907 — may have been connected to President Theodore Roosevelt's visionary planning for U.S. naval supremacy and global leadership. No mainstream investigation of the incident has been recorded; the episode presents no counter-explanation.
Shirley MacLaine's former home, Graham, Washington (near Mount Rainier)
United States · Modern
Theorists, and Dennis Kucinich himself, describe a 1982 UFO encounter at this Washington State property where Kucinich observed a triangular craft with a grid of lights that separated into three craft moving overhead before accelerating out of sight, an experience he called extraordinary and emotionally moving. No mainstream investigation of the specific incident has been presented; the episode treats it as an authentic unexplained sighting.
Skinwalker Ranch
United States · Modern
Hotspot of UFO activity, cattle mutilations, and paranormal events
Valley Forge
United States · Colonial American
Theorists argue George Washington had an extraterrestrial visitation at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777, in which an otherworldly being appeared in the forest and revealed to him a prophetic vision of America's future, and that Washington also encountered glowing orbs and small 'Green Skin' figures he believed may have been alien observers. Mainstream historians note no contemporary documentary evidence supports the visitation story, which derives from a secondhand newspaper account from an aged aide published long after the events.