LEARY, GEORGIA - JANUARY 6, 1969 - 7:15 PM ET

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. was preparing to speak at the local Lions Club meeting. While standing outside with several of the attendees, one of them suddenly pointed to the sky. It was just past dark- stars were visible but neither the sun nor the moon could be seen. Carter's gaze followed the man's finger- to the West, about thirty degrees above the horizon, he saw a bright white object.

Carter recounted the object as being about the same size and brightness as the moon, stating that it moved towards them for a moment, stopping just past a line of pine trees, and that it didn't make any sound. He claimed it was self-illuminated and not solid, and said that the object changed color three times: white to blue, blue to red, then finally from red back to white. At that point, after being visible for a total of about ten minutes, the object receded.

A few years later, in 1971, Jimmy Carter was elected to serve as the Governor of Georgia. During his term, in September 1973, Governor Carter filed reports about his Leary Lions Club UFO experience- giving a handwritten account to the International UFO Bureau on September 18, and a typed report dated the same day to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. In these reports, his account changed a bit- stating a "kind of green light appeared..." and that no one present knew what they had seen.

An additional investigation in 1976 revealed that most of the folks who were in attendance did not recall the event, or didn't find it significant. One of the men there, Fred Hart, assumed it was a weather balloon, while Carter himself said that while he couldn't explain what he saw, he didn't believe it was some sort of alien spacecraft. In conversation with Scott Simon (recalled by Simon for NPR), Carter said that it was likely something being tested at nearby Fort Benning.

In the years that followed, Governor Carter's UFO sighting continued to be a source of conversation and investigation. Several ufologists (namely Robert Sheaffer and Allan Hendry) believed Carter had seen Venus, which was at max brightness and would have been in the general direction Carter stated he saw the object. Carter, however, claimed to be an amateur astronomer and that he knew well what Venus looked like.

When asked, Carter stated that he did believe it was a UFO, which he explained was just something in the sky that couldn't be identified, but firmly believed that it was not likely to be some sort of spaceship, and that it was probably related to some sort of military experiment at a nearby base, given that branches of the military didn't always tell each other about what they were working on.

As we all know, Governor Carter went on to be elected to our country's highest office in November of 1976, taking office the following January, but during his campaign for President, Carter explained how this event changed his view on the subject of UFOs and he vowed to maintain a policy of openness about the subject if he were to be elected. Once he was in office, he changed his tune due to "defense implications." He did, however, maintain his open-mindedness and continued to discuss his experience in interviews and podcasts as the years went on.

President Carter was able to open the doors of discussion and bring some validity to the topic of extraterrestrials and UFOs, by filing official reports about his experience while he was in office as governor, by pledging transparency, and by continuing the conversation even into more recent years. While he didn't believe it was an alien spacecraft, he was clear with Simon that he didn't know if there was other life out there, but that they'd probably just keep an eye on us, not send a giant, conspicuous spacecraft.

Per a podcast interview on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe in 2007, President Carter declined to answer whether he "pursued the government's knowledge of UFOs during his time in office" but he did say that he did not believe there was any kind of government cover-ups or that they were hiding information. He also said in his chat with Simon that if there were any sort of alien life, "there's nothing to fear. If there is life out there, we're still all part of the same master plan. God's hands are big enough to hold us both."

*(Photo from Legacy.TheSkepticsGuide.Org)*

As a community that believes in the possibility that other "life" is out there (whether it be cryptid, ghost, or yes, alien) the President's open attitude is refreshing, though as a community that seeks answers and the truth behind phenomena, we should all feel pleased to know that a letter from Carl G. Justus provided by a member of the Carter family to The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe in 2016 revealed a potential (likely?) explanation for what Carter saw.

Justus claims he once worked on an Air Force project to study the upper atmosphere, which launched rockets from Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle. These rockets produced "glowing chemical clouds". By analyzing Carter's report and a Committee on Space Research report, he was able to compare what Carter saw to an event at the same date and time at the Air Force Base.

On January 6, 1969, a barium cloud was launched from that base, which could have been seen at approximately thirty-three degrees (the object Carter saw was approximately thirty degrees). The base was West-Southwest of Leary (the object Carter saw was towards the West). On a clear night, according to Justus, the cloud would have been visible from Leary, and would have appeared to be about the size of the moon. Most convincingly, this could would have appeared bluish/greenish, then reddish, and "luminous" and not solid. As we recall, the object Carter saw fit all of those descriptors.

Regardless of whether Justus was correct in his conclusion, or whether President Carter truly saw a UFO that night, his account remains a moment forever inscribed upon the scrolls of UFO history. On that note, did you know that in 1977, President Carter wrote a message included on the "time capsule" golden records that were sent to space aboard the Voyager spacecraft? The message showcased his kind heart, his hope for a peaceful future, and- tellingly- his belief that something just MIGHT be out there.

In honor and memory of our late President Carter, I leave you with his message:

"We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe."