Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter (1924–2024) served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. Born James Earl Carter Jr. on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, he grew up on a peanut farm in the nearby community of Archery. As a child, Carter had blue eyes and light brown to sandy blond hair. He attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology before graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 with a B.S. degree. Carter was a submariner in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, was selected by Hyman Rickover for the Navy’s nuclear submarine program, studied reactor technology and nuclear physics at Union College, and served as senior officer of the pre-commissioning crew of the Seawolf, the second nuclear submarine. After his Navy service, he returned to Georgia, entered local politics, and served as governor from 1971 to 1975.

Carter’s public association with UFOs/UAPs stems from a personal experience in October 1969 in Leary, Georgia. While waiting outside with others for a Leary Lions Club meeting to begin at 7:30 p.m., Carter and 10–12 men observed a bright, self-luminous object in the western sky, about 30 degrees above the horizon. He described it as “the darndest thing I’ve ever seen.” The object appeared bluish at first, then changed to reddish and luminous, seemed not solid, moved closer, then moved away and disappeared. It made no sound. On September 18, 1973, while serving as governor, Carter filed a formal report on the sighting with the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). In the report, Carter stated that the object was sharply outlined, self-luminous, changed color and brightness, and varied in apparent size from brighter than a planet to roughly the size of the moon. He noted that ten other members of the Leary Lions Club also witnessed the event. Carter later said he was familiar with Venus, owned an amateur telescope, and did not think the object was Venus.

In a recorded interview, former President Jimmy Carter personally described his 1969 UFO sighting in Leary, Georgia. He recalled standing in a schoolyard with approximately twenty other men when a bright light appeared in the distant western sky. The object moved closer and closer until it was just above the treetops, where it changed color, remained visible for a while, and then disappeared into the distance. Carter stated that none of the witnesses could determine what the object was, and that he still does not know its nature. When asked about his 1976 campaign promise to release all government information on UFOs to the public and scientists, Carter replied that he believed “we did release a lot of the information,” but added that he was “not sure” how much may have remained unreleased.

During his 1976 presidential campaign, Carter said that, if elected, he would make UFO information available to the public and scientists. He added, “I am convinced that UFOs exist. I have seen them.”

In 1977, President Carter’s Science Advisor, Frank Press, wrote to NASA Administrator Robert Frosch suggesting that NASA become the focal point for public inquiries about UFOs and form a small panel of inquiry to review any new significant findings since the 1969 Condon Report. NASA was aware of Carter’s own 1969 sighting in Leary, Georgia. Frosch initially responded that NASA was inclined to agree and proposed assigning a project officer to review reports from the previous ten years. However, in a December 21, 1977 letter to Press, Frosch stated that NASA would take no steps to establish a research activity in this area or convene a symposium, citing an absence of tangible or physical evidence and the lack of a sound scientific procedure.

White House records from 1977 show that President Carter checked with military authorities shortly after taking office and was informed that all government UFO records had been declassified and were available for public review in the National Archives. The White House responded to media and public inquiries by stating that the government no longer kept track of UFO reports and referred such matters to private organizations. Internal memos from that period document how the administration handled questions from outlets like the National Enquirer regarding Carter’s position on UFO disclosure and the availability of records.

Jimmy Carter’s importance on the subject was that he treated it as legitimate to discuss, made a public transparency promise, and left a paper trail connecting a personal sighting, presidential openness, and the 1977 NASA and White House correspondence.