1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,880 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 2: show that believes there's no time like the present to 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:17,600 Speaker 2: learn about the past. I'm Gabeluesier, and today we're talking 5 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 2: about the time when a future US president saw something 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 2: he couldn't explain and actually dared to talk about it. 7 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 2: The day was September eighteenth, nineteen seventy three. Jimmy Carter 8 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 2: filed a report claiming he had seen an unidentified flying 9 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 2: object four years earlier. He submitted the report at the 10 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 2: behest of the International UFO Bureau, a non government agency 11 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 2: based in Oklahoma City. He also sent a copy to 12 00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 2: the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, a nonprofit research 13 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 2: group with ties to the FBI. Carter was serving as 14 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 2: the governor of Georgia at the time he reported his 15 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 2: sighting and went on to become the thirty ninth President 16 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 2: of the United States in nineteen seventy seven. He never 17 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 2: recanted his claim to have seen a UFO in Georgia, 18 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 2: though he did make it clear in later years that 19 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 2: he never believed it to be an alien spaceship. According 20 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 2: to Carter's report, the sighting took place in October of 21 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty nine, though most records indicate it actually occurred 22 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 2: nine months earlier, on January sixth. In either case, the 23 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,960 Speaker 2: young politician was waiting for the start of an evening 24 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,759 Speaker 2: fundraising event at the Lions Club in Leary, Georgia, when 25 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 2: he spotted a large glowing object. 26 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: In the sky. He said it was witnessed by between 27 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: ten to twenty other people and that it had remained 28 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: visible for about ten minutes. As Carter put it, quote, 29 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: we were standing outside of a little restaurant, I believe 30 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: a high school lunch room, and a kind of green 31 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: light appeared in the western sky. This was right after sundown. 32 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: It got brighter and brighter, and then it eventually disappeared. 33 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: It didn't have any solid substance to it. It was 34 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: just a very peculiar looking light. None of us could 35 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: understand what it was. Carter went on to say that 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: this massless, self luminous object appeared to be about the 37 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: same size and brightness as the full moon, and that 38 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 1: it cycled through a series of colors. The object hovered 39 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: about thirty degrees above the horizon, he wrote, and moved 40 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: in toward the Earth and away before disappearing into the distance. 41 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: Carter didn't submit a formal report of the sighting until 42 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three, but he was able to recount the 43 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: event in vivid detail because he had brought a tape 44 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: recorder with him that night and had asked some of 45 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: the witnesses to describe what they'd seen. He didn't give 46 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: much thought to the incident during his time as Georgia's governor, 47 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: but as you might expect, he was asked about it 48 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: during his nineteen seventy six presidential campaign. It was the 49 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: darnedest thing I've ever seen, he told reporters. One thing's 50 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 1: for sure, I'll never make fun of people who say 51 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: they've seen unidentified objects in the sky. If I become president, 52 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: I'll make every piece of information this country has about 53 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: UFO sightings available to the public and the scientists. Of course, 54 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: Jimmy Carter did go on to win the presidency, but 55 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: he never followed through on that pledge. Although he assured 56 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: the public there was no government cover up of UFOs 57 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: or extraterrestrial visits, he stopped short of releasing official documents 58 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: on the subject, claiming that they had defense implications, which 59 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: could pose a threat to national security. Carter remained resolute 60 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: throughout his presidency and beyond that whatever he saw in 61 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine, it was not an alien spacecraft. When 62 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: asked about the sighting in two thousand and seven, Carter said, quote, 63 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 1: it was unidentified as far as we were concerned, But 64 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: I think it's impossible. In my opinion, some people disagree 65 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: to have space people from other planets or other stars 66 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: come to us. I don't think that's possible. Nonetheless, speculation 67 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: still abounds as to what the President really saw that 68 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: night in Georgia. Some investigators thought he may have seen 69 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,919 Speaker 1: the planet Venus, which would have been highly visible in 70 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: that part of the sky on that night. However, Carter 71 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: shot down the notion, saying that as an amateur astronomer, 72 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: he would have been able to identify Venus if that's 73 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: what he had seen. A more recent and much more 74 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: likely explanation was put forward by physics professor Carl Jeer Justice. 75 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: According to him, what Carter actually witnessed was a barium 76 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: tracer cloud. In the nineteen sixties and seventies, Justice worked 77 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 1: on an Air Force sponsored project that studied the upper 78 00:04:55,880 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: atmosphere by releasing glowing chemical clouds into the sky. Those 79 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: chemical clouds, typically composed of sodium and barium, were produced 80 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: by rockets launched from a range in Florida, and on 81 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: a dark, clear night, they would have been visible from 82 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: ground level even in Leary, Georgia. In twenty twenty, doctor 83 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: Justice submitted a report on high altitude barium release clouds 84 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, and at the time 85 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: of recording, his account is considered the most plausible explanation 86 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: for what Carter saw. A presidential sighting of a glowing 87 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: chemical cloud isn't quite as gripping as Little Green Men 88 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: from Mars, but as far as political footnotes go, it's 89 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: still a pretty good one. I'm Gabe Bluesyay, and hopefully 90 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 91 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's episode, consider keeping 92 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: up with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI 93 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: HC Show. You can also rate and review the show 94 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or you can get in touch directly 95 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: by writing to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks 96 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks to 97 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 98 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: for another day 99 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:16,239 Speaker 2: In history class.