Jackie Gleason

Jackie Gleason is remembered by most people as one of the great comic figures of American television. He was Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, the larger-than-life host of The Jackie Gleason Show, and a performer whose timing, confidence, and presence made him one of the defining entertainers of early television. But outside the spotlight, Gleason had another lifelong interest that has kept his name alive in UFO history: the paranormal, unexplained phenomena, and the possibility that humanity was not alone. Gleason’s interest was serious and sustained. He collected thousands of books and publications on parapsychology, UFOs, ESP, spiritualism, and related subjects. After his death, his widow donated a significant portion of that collection to the University of Miami Library, where it is known as the Jackie Gleason Collection and remains available to researchers.

Gleason’s passion for the paranormal was so pronounced that he built a round, spaceship-like home in the late 1950s in Cortlandt Manor, New York, near Peekskill. Known as the “Round House” or “Mothership,” the circular residence featured no right angles and had an interior that evoked a spacecraft. Documented interest forms the strongest foundation for one of the most persistent stories attached to Gleason: the claim that he was shown evidence of non-human life at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida during the Nixon presidency.

The earliest widely cited version of the story appeared in a 1983 National Enquirer interview with Beverly McKittrick, who had been married to Gleason. In that account, Nixon arranged for Gleason to be given access to a restricted area at Homestead Air Force Base. Gleason was reportedly escorted inside and shown the bodies of four small beings, described as roughly two feet tall with small bald heads and large ears. According to McKittrick, Gleason returned home deeply shaken and told her what he had seen under a promise of secrecy.

Researchers later matched the broad timeframe of the story to President Nixon’s official schedule. Nixon attended a golf event with Gleason in South Florida on February 19, 1973, and flew from Key Biscayne to Homestead Air Force Base the following day before continuing to South Carolina.

In a 1973 National Enquirer article, Jackie Gleason said he did not merely believe in UFOs but “knew” they existed because a government official had privately told him so in 1948. He also described personal sightings of bright objects near his Florida home that appeared to maneuver at extraordinary speeds. In 1978, during an appearance on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow show, Gleason stated that the U.S. government had “absolute proof” of alien beings and suggested that high-level officials, including Nixon, were aware of the reality of the phenomenon.

Homestead Air Reserve Base itself has a long military history. Opened in 1942, it served as a training and anti-submarine base during World War II and later became an important facility during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew caused massive damage, after which the base was rebuilt in a smaller form and reopened as an Air Force Reserve installation. The alleged events of 1973 would have taken place well before that destruction and reconstruction.

Gleason maintained an extensive library on UFOs and the paranormal, he spoke publicly about government secrecy on the subject, he had a documented personal connection to President Nixon through golf and shared Florida activities, and Nixon’s schedule placed him at a Gleason golf event and at Homestead Air Force Base on consecutive days in February 1973.