Ancient Aliens s03e11 Episode Script
Aliens and the Founding Fathers
A star gate encoded in the dome of our nation's Capitol Strange symbols found on our most famous monuments And a mysterious flying disc appearing in a painting of George Washington.
What is the meaning behind secret messages found throughout our nation's capital? And might there be more to America's origins than we've been told? CHRIS PITTMAN: For Benjamin Franklin, belief in extraterrestrials was part of a scientific view of the world.
BILL BIRNES: Thomas Jefferson still remains as the highest public official ever to make a report of a UFO in American history.
DAVID CHILDRESS: We have to wonder if extraterrestrials were there monitoring our progress.
NARRATOR: Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings.
What if it were true? Did ancient aliens really help to shape our history? And could extraterrestrial forces have been behind the founding of the United States of America? Washington, D.
C.
July 19, 1952.
Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union are at an all time high, fueled by the Soviets' opposition to American involvement in the Korean War.
At this critical juncture, an air traffic controller at Washington National Airport picks up seven strange objects on his radar screen.
But he quickly determines the aircraft are not Soviet military.
PITTMAN: From the tower, they were also able to see very large bright lights, moving very quickly speeding away at very high speeds, or simply disappearing.
BILL BIRNES: They didn't just appear and go they appeared over the capitol building Over the skies, over the White House.
Over the Washington Monument NARRATOR: Fighter jets are scrambled to intercept the strange objects.
But as the jets close in, all seven suddenly disappear.
PITTMAN: Some Air Force officers reported that airmen had tried to shoot down UFOs but had not been able to because the UFOs were able to fly faster than our aircraft.
NARRATOR: Days after the breach of capital airspace, Major General John Samford, Director of lntelligence for the United States Air Force, addressed the issue at a Pentagon press conference.
SAMFORD: We have received and analyzed between 1,000 and There have been a certain percentage that have been made by credible observers of relatively incredible things.
BIRNES: Washington is capital of the United States.
So the point was to demonstrate at the height of of the Cold War, that they were a power greater than us.
CHILDRESS: It's sometimes thought that during periods of political upheaval and turning points and history that these extraterrestrials suddenly show up NARRATOR: What were these strange lights that penetrated the airspace of the U.
S.
capital? Could they have been, as ancient astronaut theorists suggest, alien craft-- sent here to monitor this turning point in our history? If so, even as far back as the founding of the United States of America? CHILDRESS: Just prior to the Revolutionary War, what a lot of the scientists would do at that time was meet once a month during the full moon, and they called themselves the Lunar Society.
And Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were part of all this.
And they would meet to discuss new scientific ideas, life on other planets, and how they could create a United States that was different from other countries.
NARRATOR: On July 4, 1776-- in the midst of the American Revolution-- the colonies formally severed their ties to England.
The men behind the movement-- the Founding Fathers-- had risked, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, "their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor" on an ideal and now looked to create, not just a new nation, but a new world.
But unlike the monarchies of Europe and Asia, the new American government would eventually be based on the ancient philosophies of Greece and Rome.
GEORGIO TSOUKALOS: When it took you four days to get from Virginia to New York in the middle of the night, with their kerosene lamps and their candles they read the ancient Greek classics how did they found United States.
on principles of the ancient world.
AKRAM ELIAS: Having a bunch of men, geniuses on their own right at all levels gathered at one point in time to try to come up with a new experiment for humanity and it is extraordinary.
The Romans used to call it Fortuna.
Or in other words, when the gods conspire on your behalf.
NARRATOR: After the war, on July 16th, 1790, plans were announced for the construction of a national capital to be built on the banks of the Potomac River.
Named after George Washington, the new nation's first president, it would be designed to resemble classic Greco-Roman architecture.
But why? What was the reason behind the Founding Fathers' near-obsession with the ancient world? MICHAEL CROWE: In the 5th century, 4th century B.
C there was a very active debate in regard with the question of extraterrestrial life, ***, being Democrates and ***, Epicurus and Lucretius all believed in the plurality of worlds, they all believed in extraterrestrial life.
NARRATOR: For the Founding Fathers, this idea of the plurality of worlds, was well-known as one of the cornerstones of ancient philosophy.
One that was finding greater popularity what was known in the 18th century as the Age of Enlightenment MARK KOLTO-RIVERA: The Enlightenment was a social movement that said we should look at the universe in a rational way.
And that was the hub of the wheel, so to speak.
And from that hub, many spokes came out.
You had a concern with science, and you had belief in the plurality of worlds, which seemed scientifically plausible.
CROWE: The Enlightenment figures, at least half-- including scientists, political theorists, philosophers, literary people-- talked about extraterrestrials in their writings.
It was very widespread in 18th century thought.
NARRATOR: Even one of the most prominent astronomers of the time, William Herschel, believed that intelligent life existed elsewhere in the universe.
SARA SEAGER: His claim to fame is he discovered the planet Uranus he also discovered a couple of moons of Jupiter, a couple of moons of Saturn and he build hundreds of telescopes, including the largest one of its age.
DERRICK PITTS: It's a 40 inch reflecting telescope, this is an enormous instrument anywhere in the world, at that time.
So he now has the ability to observe all sorts of wonders of the universe So now the idea of the plurality of worlds, gains credence with this particular scientist and observer.
CROWE: Regularly in his writings about the planets, he referred to the inhabitants of Jupiter, Saturn or Uranus.
NARRATOR: Herschel was instrumental in furthering the debate about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
But perhaps most influential of all was Benjamin Franklin.
PITTMAN: Ben Franklin has been called the first American.
He was an author and a printer.
He was a scientist and an inventor, and also a politician and a statesman.
He was a profound thinker and an intellectual.
For Benjamin Franklin, a belief in extraterrestrials was part of a scientific view of the world.
NARRATOR: One way Franklin used to disseminate his thoughts on extraterrestrial life was in his own publication, the immensely popular Poor Richard's Almanac.
STEVEN BULLOCK: In Poor Richard's Almanac, well, he suggests that it's the opinion of scientists that other planets are habitable, that there are beings on there.
And he presents this in a sort of a matter of fact way it's kind of surprising, I think, probably even to most of the historians the way this seems to be something which he takes for granted, it's just assumed that way.
TSOUKALOS: In 1728, Benjamin Franklin wrote, "I believe that man is not the most perfect being, but one.
So there are many degrees of "beings superior to him.
" Franklin essentially suggested that extraterrestrial life exists.
NARRATOR: But the ancient philosophers were not the only influence on the Founding Fathers' growing openness to the idea of extraterrestrial life.
The Native Americans they encountered not only shared the belief that life exists throughout the universe, but even believed they were the descendants of extraterrestrials.
WILLIAM HENRY: Benjamin Franklin was deeply interested in the star legends of the native americans He was deeply connected with the legends of the Iroquois, confederacy DONALD A GRINDE, Jr.
: Franklin's indian treaties were pamphlets that he published from the 1730s to the 1760s they frequently recorded explanations of native culture NARRATOR: One of Franklin's best-selling pamphlets chronicled the Iroquois creation story of the Sky Woman.
GRINDE: Before Earth really became what it is today, there were beings that were similar to us living in the sky.
One day, a young woman-- Sky Woman, as she is to become-- became pregnant.
She is to go down to the world below.
So this extraterrestrial that lived in the sky, she comes down, and then the human race begins.
NARRATOR: Did America's Founding Fathers really believe in the possibility of life on other planets? And if so, was their belief based not only on scientific and philosophical principles, but on firsthand experiences with extraterrestrials? Ancient astronaut theorists believe that such a notion is not only possible, but that the evidence exists in a firsthand account from one of George Washington's closest aides, and his recollection of a strange, close encounter on a cold winter night at Valley Forge.
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
Winter, 1777.
NARRATOR: It is the height of the American Revolutionary War.
After several bloody battles against superior British forces, George Washington's army is in tatters.
BULLOCK: Valley Forge is the winter encampment of the Continental Army the army which is set by the nation to fight the revolution The British had taken Philadelphia, washing on the sides he is gonna headquarter some 12,000 troops were outside of Philadelphia.
GRINDE: This is the darkest time of the American Revolution when people thought that the United States was really not going to win BULLOCK: Washington is trying to figure out what he's going to do, and trying to keep the army together.
There's very little money.
There's almost no supplies.
They often don't have shoes.
Lots of stories of things like bloody footprints in the snow.
NARRATOR: So severe were the conditions that Washington wrote, "Unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place, this army must inevitably starve, dissolve or disperse.
" But ultimately Washington's will to remain at Valley Forge forced the British to retreat and proved to be a turning point in the war.
What was it that sustained Washington in these dark hours? Some believe it was a strange vision he received during a moment of prayer.
BIRNES: In a moment of absolute misery he went off into the woods to pray.
And there in the forest, he had this magnificent vision of a creature garbed in white.
And this creature, call it an extraterrestrial call it a heavenly spirit, but it was an otherworldly presence-- laid out for Washington the victory that the Continental Army would have in the Revolutionary War against the British, and laid out the history of the new United States of America.
TSOUKALOS: He sees a map of the United States, and rain drops onto this map, and cities are popping up throughout the entire country.
A model of how the United States would look in 100 or 200 years in the future BIRNES: Now, how do we know this? We know this because an aide to General Washington lived to be over 100 years old, told this story to a newspaper of our first general having an alien encounter.
NARRATOR: Could George Washington really have had an extraterrestrial visitation at Valley Forge? Or was this just a story he told to build up morale? Ancient astronaut theorists claim to have also uncovered evidence that throughout the Revolutionary War, George Washington himself may have unknowingly come in direct contact with extraterrestrials.
CHILDRESS: One of the strangest stories about George Washington which allegedly comes from diaries that he kept that Washington would meet occasionally with these mysterious people he called "Green Skins.
" BIRNES: Washington sees a green glowing ball hovering in the tree line, and out of this, Washington sees these small figures.
What were they? Were they, as Washington thought they might have been, small Native Americans in war paint? One theory is that these were extraterrestrials, observing this cataclysmic event.
PITTMAN: George Washington's vision at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War is just one of the examples of a great many stories we have about miraculous visions and apparitions during times of war and bloodshed.
Some people believe that it's during these crucial times in human history that perhaps aliens would be most interested in interacting with us.
NARRATOR: Did George Washington really encounter green-skinned visitors and witnessed glowing orbs at Valley Forge? And, if so, might there be additional evidence of alien encounters with other Founding Fathers? April 5th, 1800.
The city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Astronomer William Dunbar reports to then Vice President Jefferson that he witnessed a bright glowing light the size of a large house hovering 200 yards above ground.
PITTS: It was quite bright, radiated a tremendous amount of heat and crashed not so far away.
It destroyed that whole area where it crashed However, given the supposed size and speed with which the object was moving, it didn't seem to create a crater of a size of what it would have been appropriate for an object like that.
PITTMAN: The details of the sighting report make it impossible that it could have been a meteor; it wasn't moving fast enough to be a meteor.
It was something unexplained, something very unusual.
And Jefferson took this report very seriously.
He passed this report on as he would pass on any other account of a scientific discovery or a natural observation.
BIRNES: Jefferson was so impressed by the account that Jefferson, Vice President of the United States, presented this to the American Philosophical Society.
PITTS: So who was this American Philosophical Society, anyway? Well, it was founded by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, and it really was the intellectual cognoscenti of America at that time.
So here we have some of the greatest thinkers here in the United States, all pooled together in one group that could write research papers, write philosophical papers, examine all sorts of phenomena from a scientific point of view.
PITTMAN: It's no coincidence that Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin both believed in extraterrestrial life.
They were men of science, they were astronomers who studied weather patterns.
And their belief in extraterrestrials was part of their scientific view of the world and of the universe.
BIRNES: For Thomas Jefferson to report a UFO sighting still remains the highest public official ever to make a report of a UFO in American history.
NARRATOR: George Washington's close encounter with an otherworldly being Thomas Jefferson reporting a UFO sighting could these incidents suggest that the Founding Fathers not only believed in the existence of extraterrestrials, but actually encountered them? Perhaps the answer can be found hidden in the symbols and codes of a secret society, one to which Washington himself was a member.
Fredricksburg, Virginia.
initiated into a secret society: the Freemasons.
Among his fellow members are many other Founding Fathers, like Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock and Paul Revere.
But what is Freemasonry? What role did it play in the founding of the United States? And what meanings lie behind their many mysterious symbols? ELIAS: There are a lot of theories about the true origins of Freemasonry.
What we know for a fact is that definitely with the age of the Renaissance this is when people decided to start studying ancient civilizations.
And see was there any knowledge in those civilizations that was lost? NARRATOR: According to experts, the Freemasons believed in the idea of acquiring knowledge through largely scientific as well as spiritual means.
In the age of Enlightenment, this included the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
ELIAS: Freemason was like main vehicle, if you want, that brought these ideas and principles of the Enlightenment to the new world.
KOLTKO-RIVERA: You have the most prominent citizens of the community becoming freemasons and then associating with one another.
They would be discussing the major issues of the day and certainly the speculations about the plurality of worlds.
NARRATOR: Could the growing belief in the possibility of extraterrestrial life have influenced the Founding Fathers' vision for America? RIVERA: In terms of the Declaration of Independence, there were 56 signers.
Of those, nine were definitely Freemasons.
Concerning the signers of the Constitution, there were 39 signers, 13 of them-- a clear third-- were Freemasons.
NARRATOR: But does the influence of Freemasonry explain why Masonic values are woven into the principles behind America's most important documents? And could this also explain how and why Masonic symbols can be found on much of the nation's monuments and architecture? ELIAS: In the design of Washington, the language of symbols is very important, and that's where we see connections with Freemasonry.
The original universal symbol of Freemasonry is the square and compass.
The compass is the main tool of the individual.
You are at the point, and the idea in Freemasonry is that the individual is sovereign.
You draw a circle, using the compass, around you.
If you go beyond the perimeter, that's when you start to go into knowledge and light.
The square is considered a symbol of wisdom.
And the letter "G" stands for the grand architect of the universe.
RIVERA: People have to wonder whether Franklin's beliefs about the plurality of worlds somehow made their way into Masonic symbolism.
The same people who were involved in the development of Freemasonry were very interested in Egypt.
They were inspired by the idea of ancient wisdom.
NARRATOR: Other Masonic symbols found in Washington D.
C.
are eerily similar to the icons of ancient Egypt-- the sphinx, the obelisk, the pyramid and the All-Seeing Eye.
CHILDRESS: If you were to pull out a dollar bill right now and look at it, you would see that on one side is a depiction of the Great Pyramid of Egypt with an all-seeing eye at its apex.
This is the Great Seal of the United States and it's an awesome mystical symbol of the Eye of God watching us and also how ancient civilizations were divine in nature.
And that the Founding Fathers were to recreate that here in the United States.
ELIAS: The idea is we need a source of light in order to help us become enlightened.
We cannot do it alone.
Now that to the Founding Fathers is whatever is out there that is keeping an eye.
And there is a belief that this experiment did not just happen.
It was necessary to help the human condition make a major leap.
It's like the alignment of the stars, providence was there, watching and interacting.
NARRATOR: Why did this group of 18th-century men who set out to build a nation based on principles of logic and reason attach such importance to pre-Christian symbols and ancient mysticism? And who-- or what-- did they believe was watching over them? God? Or something else? According to ancient astronaut theorists, the answer can be found in an 1866 lithograph of George Washington that resides in the Library of Congress.
CHILDRESS: There's a famous painting of George Washington as a Freemason.
And over his right shoulder is an unusual scene of Jacob's Ladder ascending to Heaven and what seems to be some kind of spaceship there in the sky.
NARRATOR: In the biblical story of Jacob from Genesis 28th, Jacob witnesses angels ascending and descending a ladder from Heaven.
But in this painting, the ladder comes not from Heaven, but out of a dark, round object emitting multi-colored lights.
Although Jacob's Ladder is a popular symbol of Freemasonry, is it possible that this image is attempting to depict something else? Something of an extraterrestrial origin? TSOUKALOS: According to the ancient astronaut ideas, Jacob's ladder was nothing else but a ramp or a device with which to reach the realm of the gods.
And the gods were extraterrestrials.
NARRATOR: The square and compass the All-Seeing Eye Jacob's Ladder.
What do all these symbols reveal about the true origins of the United States of America? Ancient astronaut theorists don't only point to the presence of Masonic symbols and pre-Christian influences as evidence of the Founding Fathers' extraterrestrial connections.
They also find proof in the fact that even the very layout of Washington D.
C.
points to the stars.
Alexandria, Virginia.
In a full Masonic ceremony on the edge of the Potomac River, George Washington lays the first cornerstone marking the southern boundary for what will become the District of Columbia.
ELIAS: What happens in the laying of the cornerstone? Washington scattered corn.
You pour wine and pour oil.
Now, corn stands for prosperity, oil stands for peace, and wine stands for happiness.
BULLOCK: You have Masons chanting in response to it.
You have an oration afterwards in which artilleries fire during the duration.
So it's an extraordinary ceremony.
NARRATOR: According to scholars, the nation's capital has been steeped in ancient symbolism since its inception.
And ancient astronaut theorists point to the city's tallest structure, the Washington Monument, as proof that the American capital was built with a deliberate eye to the stars.
Although construction began in George Washington's death, the Freemasons built the Egyptian-style monument so that the constellation Pleiades would be visible directly over the giant obelisk.
PITTS: The Pleiades is a group of seven bright stars For the egyptians, they would use these stars as a way to figure out all sorts of judgments that needed to be made in many different things TSOUKALOS: I find it fascinating that in the ancient world in places of great power and great influence they built monuments aligned with the Pleiades So the fact that we find the Washington Monument also aligning with the Pleiades is that coincidence? NARRATOR: In a city largely built to evoke ancient cities like Athens and Rome, is the dominant architectural structure based on an icon of ancient Egypt? RIVERA: It is the largest obelisk in the world, 555 ft high.
It draws the eye and it draws the eye up, We have to ask, what did the Founding Fathers want us to see? HENRY: The idea of the obelisk is that it's frozen sunlight.
They believed that the energy of the God Ra literally came through that antenna.
The same concept is shown here in Washington D.
C, with the Obelisk, sitting in the center of Washington or near the center of Washington, bring in that energy from the stars and radiating it out to the sacred precinct ELIAS: They have a reflecting pool-- why? To reflect the obelisk.
Washington's Monument points to the Heavens.
With the reflecting pool, it points below.
There is a direct correlation between what happens here below and what's happening up there.
NARRATOR: For ancient astronaut theorists, it's not just the placement of the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building that point to the stars, but the layout of the entire city, which harkens back to ancient places like Egypt, Greece and Rome.
RIVERA: Washington D.
C.
is laid out in perfectly straight lines, radiating from different little hubs around the city.
They converge on places like the Capitol Building, the White House.
It is a revelation of clarity that highlights the cornerstones of American democracy.
HENRY: Washington D.
C.
was conceived from the very beginning as a sacred space.
In fact, it is a ten-by-ten square-mile diamond matrix into which the Founding Fathers believed they could pour all their Enlightenment teachings and bring them to life within its Capitols and its other buildings.
NARRATOR: Another Freemason, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, was selected by President Washington to create a layout of the city within the ten-mile diamond of the District of Columbia.
He began by aligning the corners of the square with the four cardinal directions: north, south, east and west.
ELIAS: It is not by coincidence.
There is a scientific rational way of developing the city of Washington with geometric shapes-- circles, rectangles, triangles-- and this is to emphasize that this new form of government was not going to rely on religion but we're going to rely on reason and scientific discovery.
And the design of the city reflects that.
And there is absolutely no other capital city in the world that was designed like this.
There is no question that the main triangle at the heart of the city was very key, and connecting the Capitol to the White House, and then to the Washington Monument.
NARRATOR: Some historians believe the triangle found in the center of Washington D.
C.
represent the Masonic symbol of the square and compass, symbolizing the Founding Fathers' search for enlightenment from above.
But ancient astronaut theorists claim beyond this triangle lies an even more significant geometric shape-- the shape of pentagram.
BIRNES: The interesting thing about Jefferson's design's of Washington D.
C, was the star.
With rows emanating in all directions from the star that seemed to be a mirror of the heavens, because Jefferson did believe that the heavens were inhabited, and he wanted Washington D.
C.
, not just to be the capital of the United States of America, but the capital of the universe.
NARRATOR: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both expert surveyors and mapmakers, and were hands on in the layout and design of the new capital.
BIRNES: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who was an architect that built Monticello, laid out Washington D.
C.
with the expectation that somehow, if there were extraterrestrials, they would see the image of the star at the center of the city, and know this was a sign that we respected extraterrestrial life.
NARRATOR: Did the design and placement of the Washington Monument, Capitol Hill and the National Mall really reflect the Founding Fathers' belief in extraterrestrial forces? Perhaps the answer can be found by a close examination of the Capitol Building itself, and the strange connection to other worlds that can be found inside.
Washington D.
C.
, Jenkins Hill.
Pierre L'Enfant declares this location "a pedestal waiting for a monument.
" For the next two years, he works closely with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, designing the building that will sit at the top of this hill and house the United States Congress.
On September 18, 1793, the day of the Autumn Equinox, Washington lays the cornerstone for the Capitol Building, and Jenkins Hill officially becomes Capitol Hill, the heart of the new democracy.
HENRY: The concept of the ancient and sacred hill was deeply in the minds of the Founding Fathers.
In Boston we have high hills that were important.
We have Monticello being built on a hill, we have Capitol Hill.
So the Founding Fathers clearly understood the importance of the Temple Mount concept.
NARRATOR: But was the design and placement of the Capitol Building directly influenced by Washington and Jefferson's reported contact with alien beings? Ancient astronaut theorists point to evidence in the form of the statue that still sits atop the Capitol Dome, placed there after the current dome was completed in 1866.
HENRY: The Freedom Statue is a 19-and-a-half-foot-tall statue of a goddess who actually is morphing into an eagle.
This is very important in ancient alien theory, because the ancient gods were portrayed as eagle-headed.
So it looks like freedom is being referenced here as a star being.
NARRATOR: Inside the dome, directly in line with the Freedom Statue, is an empty tomb that had been designed to hold the remains of George Washington.
One floor above it is the crypt, then the Capitol Rotunda, and soaring 180 feet above that is a painting of Washington, looking very much like an ancient god.
PITTS: If one goes to the Capitol Rotunda and looks at the artwork on the ceiling you see what is called the "apotheosis" of Washington.
It's an enormous painting that depicts Washington in a very interesting setting.
HENRY: The painting was completed by Constantino Brumidi in 1865.
The word "apotheosis" is a Greek word that means to deify, to raise from a man to a god man.
PITTS: You see him depicted as you would see a god depicted.
He sits in a setting of clouds with what look like angels immediately surrounding him, with a big rainbow that runs right underneath his feet.
HENRY: When we're in the Rotunda, the dome of the U.
S.
Capitol, we are literally in a vortex of energy.
Domes are places where Heaven and Earth meet.
They literally are considered to be portals or gateways to the stars.
NARRATOR: There is another depiction of Washington that specifically represents him as a divine figure.
BIRNES: Congress authorized an incredible statue of George Washington by *** in which he is depicted as Zeus or Jupiter.
HENRY: The statue had several key features that identified him as a man of peace and a conductor of Heaven and Earth.
His sword is offered to the viewer of the statue, indicating he's here in peace.
And then on the sides of the statue you have a very important representation of the god Apollo riding his sun chariot or star chariot.
So the idea that we get from all of this is that Washington is a cosmic being who is riding through the Heavens on his own star chariot.
NARRATOR: Could the symbols, monuments and alignments found throughout Washington D.
C.
be evidence that the Founding Fathers actually believed otherworldly beings were instrumental if the new American experiment in government were to survive and prosper? Was their interest in the stars, and their belief in the possibility that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, based on the ideas of the Enlightenment, or actual close encounters? PITTMAN: We've gone from Benjamin Franklin's electricity experiments to space travel in less than 250 years, and it's brought about really vast changes in American society But what hasn't changed is that desire to know more about space and that desire to find out is there really life outside of our planet? PITTS: Not only is the Founding Fathers' belief in the plurality of worlds alive today, it also is being pursued scientifically in a way that they had no capability to do.
And this is a concept that has been considered ever since the first person looked up at the night sky and wondered about what's out there.
NARRATOR: Did George Washington receive some secret knowledge at Valley Forge that guided him in the founding of the United States? Did he share this information with other Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin? And did they, in turn, pass this knowledge down to the men who followed them? If extraterrestrials really were present during the founding of the United States, did they come here to watch over us? Was there some ultimate plan? And if so, will they return once more?
What is the meaning behind secret messages found throughout our nation's capital? And might there be more to America's origins than we've been told? CHRIS PITTMAN: For Benjamin Franklin, belief in extraterrestrials was part of a scientific view of the world.
BILL BIRNES: Thomas Jefferson still remains as the highest public official ever to make a report of a UFO in American history.
DAVID CHILDRESS: We have to wonder if extraterrestrials were there monitoring our progress.
NARRATOR: Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings.
What if it were true? Did ancient aliens really help to shape our history? And could extraterrestrial forces have been behind the founding of the United States of America? Washington, D.
C.
July 19, 1952.
Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union are at an all time high, fueled by the Soviets' opposition to American involvement in the Korean War.
At this critical juncture, an air traffic controller at Washington National Airport picks up seven strange objects on his radar screen.
But he quickly determines the aircraft are not Soviet military.
PITTMAN: From the tower, they were also able to see very large bright lights, moving very quickly speeding away at very high speeds, or simply disappearing.
BILL BIRNES: They didn't just appear and go they appeared over the capitol building Over the skies, over the White House.
Over the Washington Monument NARRATOR: Fighter jets are scrambled to intercept the strange objects.
But as the jets close in, all seven suddenly disappear.
PITTMAN: Some Air Force officers reported that airmen had tried to shoot down UFOs but had not been able to because the UFOs were able to fly faster than our aircraft.
NARRATOR: Days after the breach of capital airspace, Major General John Samford, Director of lntelligence for the United States Air Force, addressed the issue at a Pentagon press conference.
SAMFORD: We have received and analyzed between 1,000 and There have been a certain percentage that have been made by credible observers of relatively incredible things.
BIRNES: Washington is capital of the United States.
So the point was to demonstrate at the height of of the Cold War, that they were a power greater than us.
CHILDRESS: It's sometimes thought that during periods of political upheaval and turning points and history that these extraterrestrials suddenly show up NARRATOR: What were these strange lights that penetrated the airspace of the U.
S.
capital? Could they have been, as ancient astronaut theorists suggest, alien craft-- sent here to monitor this turning point in our history? If so, even as far back as the founding of the United States of America? CHILDRESS: Just prior to the Revolutionary War, what a lot of the scientists would do at that time was meet once a month during the full moon, and they called themselves the Lunar Society.
And Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were part of all this.
And they would meet to discuss new scientific ideas, life on other planets, and how they could create a United States that was different from other countries.
NARRATOR: On July 4, 1776-- in the midst of the American Revolution-- the colonies formally severed their ties to England.
The men behind the movement-- the Founding Fathers-- had risked, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, "their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor" on an ideal and now looked to create, not just a new nation, but a new world.
But unlike the monarchies of Europe and Asia, the new American government would eventually be based on the ancient philosophies of Greece and Rome.
GEORGIO TSOUKALOS: When it took you four days to get from Virginia to New York in the middle of the night, with their kerosene lamps and their candles they read the ancient Greek classics how did they found United States.
on principles of the ancient world.
AKRAM ELIAS: Having a bunch of men, geniuses on their own right at all levels gathered at one point in time to try to come up with a new experiment for humanity and it is extraordinary.
The Romans used to call it Fortuna.
Or in other words, when the gods conspire on your behalf.
NARRATOR: After the war, on July 16th, 1790, plans were announced for the construction of a national capital to be built on the banks of the Potomac River.
Named after George Washington, the new nation's first president, it would be designed to resemble classic Greco-Roman architecture.
But why? What was the reason behind the Founding Fathers' near-obsession with the ancient world? MICHAEL CROWE: In the 5th century, 4th century B.
C there was a very active debate in regard with the question of extraterrestrial life, ***, being Democrates and ***, Epicurus and Lucretius all believed in the plurality of worlds, they all believed in extraterrestrial life.
NARRATOR: For the Founding Fathers, this idea of the plurality of worlds, was well-known as one of the cornerstones of ancient philosophy.
One that was finding greater popularity what was known in the 18th century as the Age of Enlightenment MARK KOLTO-RIVERA: The Enlightenment was a social movement that said we should look at the universe in a rational way.
And that was the hub of the wheel, so to speak.
And from that hub, many spokes came out.
You had a concern with science, and you had belief in the plurality of worlds, which seemed scientifically plausible.
CROWE: The Enlightenment figures, at least half-- including scientists, political theorists, philosophers, literary people-- talked about extraterrestrials in their writings.
It was very widespread in 18th century thought.
NARRATOR: Even one of the most prominent astronomers of the time, William Herschel, believed that intelligent life existed elsewhere in the universe.
SARA SEAGER: His claim to fame is he discovered the planet Uranus he also discovered a couple of moons of Jupiter, a couple of moons of Saturn and he build hundreds of telescopes, including the largest one of its age.
DERRICK PITTS: It's a 40 inch reflecting telescope, this is an enormous instrument anywhere in the world, at that time.
So he now has the ability to observe all sorts of wonders of the universe So now the idea of the plurality of worlds, gains credence with this particular scientist and observer.
CROWE: Regularly in his writings about the planets, he referred to the inhabitants of Jupiter, Saturn or Uranus.
NARRATOR: Herschel was instrumental in furthering the debate about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
But perhaps most influential of all was Benjamin Franklin.
PITTMAN: Ben Franklin has been called the first American.
He was an author and a printer.
He was a scientist and an inventor, and also a politician and a statesman.
He was a profound thinker and an intellectual.
For Benjamin Franklin, a belief in extraterrestrials was part of a scientific view of the world.
NARRATOR: One way Franklin used to disseminate his thoughts on extraterrestrial life was in his own publication, the immensely popular Poor Richard's Almanac.
STEVEN BULLOCK: In Poor Richard's Almanac, well, he suggests that it's the opinion of scientists that other planets are habitable, that there are beings on there.
And he presents this in a sort of a matter of fact way it's kind of surprising, I think, probably even to most of the historians the way this seems to be something which he takes for granted, it's just assumed that way.
TSOUKALOS: In 1728, Benjamin Franklin wrote, "I believe that man is not the most perfect being, but one.
So there are many degrees of "beings superior to him.
" Franklin essentially suggested that extraterrestrial life exists.
NARRATOR: But the ancient philosophers were not the only influence on the Founding Fathers' growing openness to the idea of extraterrestrial life.
The Native Americans they encountered not only shared the belief that life exists throughout the universe, but even believed they were the descendants of extraterrestrials.
WILLIAM HENRY: Benjamin Franklin was deeply interested in the star legends of the native americans He was deeply connected with the legends of the Iroquois, confederacy DONALD A GRINDE, Jr.
: Franklin's indian treaties were pamphlets that he published from the 1730s to the 1760s they frequently recorded explanations of native culture NARRATOR: One of Franklin's best-selling pamphlets chronicled the Iroquois creation story of the Sky Woman.
GRINDE: Before Earth really became what it is today, there were beings that were similar to us living in the sky.
One day, a young woman-- Sky Woman, as she is to become-- became pregnant.
She is to go down to the world below.
So this extraterrestrial that lived in the sky, she comes down, and then the human race begins.
NARRATOR: Did America's Founding Fathers really believe in the possibility of life on other planets? And if so, was their belief based not only on scientific and philosophical principles, but on firsthand experiences with extraterrestrials? Ancient astronaut theorists believe that such a notion is not only possible, but that the evidence exists in a firsthand account from one of George Washington's closest aides, and his recollection of a strange, close encounter on a cold winter night at Valley Forge.
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
Winter, 1777.
NARRATOR: It is the height of the American Revolutionary War.
After several bloody battles against superior British forces, George Washington's army is in tatters.
BULLOCK: Valley Forge is the winter encampment of the Continental Army the army which is set by the nation to fight the revolution The British had taken Philadelphia, washing on the sides he is gonna headquarter some 12,000 troops were outside of Philadelphia.
GRINDE: This is the darkest time of the American Revolution when people thought that the United States was really not going to win BULLOCK: Washington is trying to figure out what he's going to do, and trying to keep the army together.
There's very little money.
There's almost no supplies.
They often don't have shoes.
Lots of stories of things like bloody footprints in the snow.
NARRATOR: So severe were the conditions that Washington wrote, "Unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place, this army must inevitably starve, dissolve or disperse.
" But ultimately Washington's will to remain at Valley Forge forced the British to retreat and proved to be a turning point in the war.
What was it that sustained Washington in these dark hours? Some believe it was a strange vision he received during a moment of prayer.
BIRNES: In a moment of absolute misery he went off into the woods to pray.
And there in the forest, he had this magnificent vision of a creature garbed in white.
And this creature, call it an extraterrestrial call it a heavenly spirit, but it was an otherworldly presence-- laid out for Washington the victory that the Continental Army would have in the Revolutionary War against the British, and laid out the history of the new United States of America.
TSOUKALOS: He sees a map of the United States, and rain drops onto this map, and cities are popping up throughout the entire country.
A model of how the United States would look in 100 or 200 years in the future BIRNES: Now, how do we know this? We know this because an aide to General Washington lived to be over 100 years old, told this story to a newspaper of our first general having an alien encounter.
NARRATOR: Could George Washington really have had an extraterrestrial visitation at Valley Forge? Or was this just a story he told to build up morale? Ancient astronaut theorists claim to have also uncovered evidence that throughout the Revolutionary War, George Washington himself may have unknowingly come in direct contact with extraterrestrials.
CHILDRESS: One of the strangest stories about George Washington which allegedly comes from diaries that he kept that Washington would meet occasionally with these mysterious people he called "Green Skins.
" BIRNES: Washington sees a green glowing ball hovering in the tree line, and out of this, Washington sees these small figures.
What were they? Were they, as Washington thought they might have been, small Native Americans in war paint? One theory is that these were extraterrestrials, observing this cataclysmic event.
PITTMAN: George Washington's vision at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War is just one of the examples of a great many stories we have about miraculous visions and apparitions during times of war and bloodshed.
Some people believe that it's during these crucial times in human history that perhaps aliens would be most interested in interacting with us.
NARRATOR: Did George Washington really encounter green-skinned visitors and witnessed glowing orbs at Valley Forge? And, if so, might there be additional evidence of alien encounters with other Founding Fathers? April 5th, 1800.
The city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Astronomer William Dunbar reports to then Vice President Jefferson that he witnessed a bright glowing light the size of a large house hovering 200 yards above ground.
PITTS: It was quite bright, radiated a tremendous amount of heat and crashed not so far away.
It destroyed that whole area where it crashed However, given the supposed size and speed with which the object was moving, it didn't seem to create a crater of a size of what it would have been appropriate for an object like that.
PITTMAN: The details of the sighting report make it impossible that it could have been a meteor; it wasn't moving fast enough to be a meteor.
It was something unexplained, something very unusual.
And Jefferson took this report very seriously.
He passed this report on as he would pass on any other account of a scientific discovery or a natural observation.
BIRNES: Jefferson was so impressed by the account that Jefferson, Vice President of the United States, presented this to the American Philosophical Society.
PITTS: So who was this American Philosophical Society, anyway? Well, it was founded by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, and it really was the intellectual cognoscenti of America at that time.
So here we have some of the greatest thinkers here in the United States, all pooled together in one group that could write research papers, write philosophical papers, examine all sorts of phenomena from a scientific point of view.
PITTMAN: It's no coincidence that Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin both believed in extraterrestrial life.
They were men of science, they were astronomers who studied weather patterns.
And their belief in extraterrestrials was part of their scientific view of the world and of the universe.
BIRNES: For Thomas Jefferson to report a UFO sighting still remains the highest public official ever to make a report of a UFO in American history.
NARRATOR: George Washington's close encounter with an otherworldly being Thomas Jefferson reporting a UFO sighting could these incidents suggest that the Founding Fathers not only believed in the existence of extraterrestrials, but actually encountered them? Perhaps the answer can be found hidden in the symbols and codes of a secret society, one to which Washington himself was a member.
Fredricksburg, Virginia.
initiated into a secret society: the Freemasons.
Among his fellow members are many other Founding Fathers, like Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock and Paul Revere.
But what is Freemasonry? What role did it play in the founding of the United States? And what meanings lie behind their many mysterious symbols? ELIAS: There are a lot of theories about the true origins of Freemasonry.
What we know for a fact is that definitely with the age of the Renaissance this is when people decided to start studying ancient civilizations.
And see was there any knowledge in those civilizations that was lost? NARRATOR: According to experts, the Freemasons believed in the idea of acquiring knowledge through largely scientific as well as spiritual means.
In the age of Enlightenment, this included the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
ELIAS: Freemason was like main vehicle, if you want, that brought these ideas and principles of the Enlightenment to the new world.
KOLTKO-RIVERA: You have the most prominent citizens of the community becoming freemasons and then associating with one another.
They would be discussing the major issues of the day and certainly the speculations about the plurality of worlds.
NARRATOR: Could the growing belief in the possibility of extraterrestrial life have influenced the Founding Fathers' vision for America? RIVERA: In terms of the Declaration of Independence, there were 56 signers.
Of those, nine were definitely Freemasons.
Concerning the signers of the Constitution, there were 39 signers, 13 of them-- a clear third-- were Freemasons.
NARRATOR: But does the influence of Freemasonry explain why Masonic values are woven into the principles behind America's most important documents? And could this also explain how and why Masonic symbols can be found on much of the nation's monuments and architecture? ELIAS: In the design of Washington, the language of symbols is very important, and that's where we see connections with Freemasonry.
The original universal symbol of Freemasonry is the square and compass.
The compass is the main tool of the individual.
You are at the point, and the idea in Freemasonry is that the individual is sovereign.
You draw a circle, using the compass, around you.
If you go beyond the perimeter, that's when you start to go into knowledge and light.
The square is considered a symbol of wisdom.
And the letter "G" stands for the grand architect of the universe.
RIVERA: People have to wonder whether Franklin's beliefs about the plurality of worlds somehow made their way into Masonic symbolism.
The same people who were involved in the development of Freemasonry were very interested in Egypt.
They were inspired by the idea of ancient wisdom.
NARRATOR: Other Masonic symbols found in Washington D.
C.
are eerily similar to the icons of ancient Egypt-- the sphinx, the obelisk, the pyramid and the All-Seeing Eye.
CHILDRESS: If you were to pull out a dollar bill right now and look at it, you would see that on one side is a depiction of the Great Pyramid of Egypt with an all-seeing eye at its apex.
This is the Great Seal of the United States and it's an awesome mystical symbol of the Eye of God watching us and also how ancient civilizations were divine in nature.
And that the Founding Fathers were to recreate that here in the United States.
ELIAS: The idea is we need a source of light in order to help us become enlightened.
We cannot do it alone.
Now that to the Founding Fathers is whatever is out there that is keeping an eye.
And there is a belief that this experiment did not just happen.
It was necessary to help the human condition make a major leap.
It's like the alignment of the stars, providence was there, watching and interacting.
NARRATOR: Why did this group of 18th-century men who set out to build a nation based on principles of logic and reason attach such importance to pre-Christian symbols and ancient mysticism? And who-- or what-- did they believe was watching over them? God? Or something else? According to ancient astronaut theorists, the answer can be found in an 1866 lithograph of George Washington that resides in the Library of Congress.
CHILDRESS: There's a famous painting of George Washington as a Freemason.
And over his right shoulder is an unusual scene of Jacob's Ladder ascending to Heaven and what seems to be some kind of spaceship there in the sky.
NARRATOR: In the biblical story of Jacob from Genesis 28th, Jacob witnesses angels ascending and descending a ladder from Heaven.
But in this painting, the ladder comes not from Heaven, but out of a dark, round object emitting multi-colored lights.
Although Jacob's Ladder is a popular symbol of Freemasonry, is it possible that this image is attempting to depict something else? Something of an extraterrestrial origin? TSOUKALOS: According to the ancient astronaut ideas, Jacob's ladder was nothing else but a ramp or a device with which to reach the realm of the gods.
And the gods were extraterrestrials.
NARRATOR: The square and compass the All-Seeing Eye Jacob's Ladder.
What do all these symbols reveal about the true origins of the United States of America? Ancient astronaut theorists don't only point to the presence of Masonic symbols and pre-Christian influences as evidence of the Founding Fathers' extraterrestrial connections.
They also find proof in the fact that even the very layout of Washington D.
C.
points to the stars.
Alexandria, Virginia.
In a full Masonic ceremony on the edge of the Potomac River, George Washington lays the first cornerstone marking the southern boundary for what will become the District of Columbia.
ELIAS: What happens in the laying of the cornerstone? Washington scattered corn.
You pour wine and pour oil.
Now, corn stands for prosperity, oil stands for peace, and wine stands for happiness.
BULLOCK: You have Masons chanting in response to it.
You have an oration afterwards in which artilleries fire during the duration.
So it's an extraordinary ceremony.
NARRATOR: According to scholars, the nation's capital has been steeped in ancient symbolism since its inception.
And ancient astronaut theorists point to the city's tallest structure, the Washington Monument, as proof that the American capital was built with a deliberate eye to the stars.
Although construction began in George Washington's death, the Freemasons built the Egyptian-style monument so that the constellation Pleiades would be visible directly over the giant obelisk.
PITTS: The Pleiades is a group of seven bright stars For the egyptians, they would use these stars as a way to figure out all sorts of judgments that needed to be made in many different things TSOUKALOS: I find it fascinating that in the ancient world in places of great power and great influence they built monuments aligned with the Pleiades So the fact that we find the Washington Monument also aligning with the Pleiades is that coincidence? NARRATOR: In a city largely built to evoke ancient cities like Athens and Rome, is the dominant architectural structure based on an icon of ancient Egypt? RIVERA: It is the largest obelisk in the world, 555 ft high.
It draws the eye and it draws the eye up, We have to ask, what did the Founding Fathers want us to see? HENRY: The idea of the obelisk is that it's frozen sunlight.
They believed that the energy of the God Ra literally came through that antenna.
The same concept is shown here in Washington D.
C, with the Obelisk, sitting in the center of Washington or near the center of Washington, bring in that energy from the stars and radiating it out to the sacred precinct ELIAS: They have a reflecting pool-- why? To reflect the obelisk.
Washington's Monument points to the Heavens.
With the reflecting pool, it points below.
There is a direct correlation between what happens here below and what's happening up there.
NARRATOR: For ancient astronaut theorists, it's not just the placement of the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building that point to the stars, but the layout of the entire city, which harkens back to ancient places like Egypt, Greece and Rome.
RIVERA: Washington D.
C.
is laid out in perfectly straight lines, radiating from different little hubs around the city.
They converge on places like the Capitol Building, the White House.
It is a revelation of clarity that highlights the cornerstones of American democracy.
HENRY: Washington D.
C.
was conceived from the very beginning as a sacred space.
In fact, it is a ten-by-ten square-mile diamond matrix into which the Founding Fathers believed they could pour all their Enlightenment teachings and bring them to life within its Capitols and its other buildings.
NARRATOR: Another Freemason, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, was selected by President Washington to create a layout of the city within the ten-mile diamond of the District of Columbia.
He began by aligning the corners of the square with the four cardinal directions: north, south, east and west.
ELIAS: It is not by coincidence.
There is a scientific rational way of developing the city of Washington with geometric shapes-- circles, rectangles, triangles-- and this is to emphasize that this new form of government was not going to rely on religion but we're going to rely on reason and scientific discovery.
And the design of the city reflects that.
And there is absolutely no other capital city in the world that was designed like this.
There is no question that the main triangle at the heart of the city was very key, and connecting the Capitol to the White House, and then to the Washington Monument.
NARRATOR: Some historians believe the triangle found in the center of Washington D.
C.
represent the Masonic symbol of the square and compass, symbolizing the Founding Fathers' search for enlightenment from above.
But ancient astronaut theorists claim beyond this triangle lies an even more significant geometric shape-- the shape of pentagram.
BIRNES: The interesting thing about Jefferson's design's of Washington D.
C, was the star.
With rows emanating in all directions from the star that seemed to be a mirror of the heavens, because Jefferson did believe that the heavens were inhabited, and he wanted Washington D.
C.
, not just to be the capital of the United States of America, but the capital of the universe.
NARRATOR: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both expert surveyors and mapmakers, and were hands on in the layout and design of the new capital.
BIRNES: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who was an architect that built Monticello, laid out Washington D.
C.
with the expectation that somehow, if there were extraterrestrials, they would see the image of the star at the center of the city, and know this was a sign that we respected extraterrestrial life.
NARRATOR: Did the design and placement of the Washington Monument, Capitol Hill and the National Mall really reflect the Founding Fathers' belief in extraterrestrial forces? Perhaps the answer can be found by a close examination of the Capitol Building itself, and the strange connection to other worlds that can be found inside.
Washington D.
C.
, Jenkins Hill.
Pierre L'Enfant declares this location "a pedestal waiting for a monument.
" For the next two years, he works closely with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, designing the building that will sit at the top of this hill and house the United States Congress.
On September 18, 1793, the day of the Autumn Equinox, Washington lays the cornerstone for the Capitol Building, and Jenkins Hill officially becomes Capitol Hill, the heart of the new democracy.
HENRY: The concept of the ancient and sacred hill was deeply in the minds of the Founding Fathers.
In Boston we have high hills that were important.
We have Monticello being built on a hill, we have Capitol Hill.
So the Founding Fathers clearly understood the importance of the Temple Mount concept.
NARRATOR: But was the design and placement of the Capitol Building directly influenced by Washington and Jefferson's reported contact with alien beings? Ancient astronaut theorists point to evidence in the form of the statue that still sits atop the Capitol Dome, placed there after the current dome was completed in 1866.
HENRY: The Freedom Statue is a 19-and-a-half-foot-tall statue of a goddess who actually is morphing into an eagle.
This is very important in ancient alien theory, because the ancient gods were portrayed as eagle-headed.
So it looks like freedom is being referenced here as a star being.
NARRATOR: Inside the dome, directly in line with the Freedom Statue, is an empty tomb that had been designed to hold the remains of George Washington.
One floor above it is the crypt, then the Capitol Rotunda, and soaring 180 feet above that is a painting of Washington, looking very much like an ancient god.
PITTS: If one goes to the Capitol Rotunda and looks at the artwork on the ceiling you see what is called the "apotheosis" of Washington.
It's an enormous painting that depicts Washington in a very interesting setting.
HENRY: The painting was completed by Constantino Brumidi in 1865.
The word "apotheosis" is a Greek word that means to deify, to raise from a man to a god man.
PITTS: You see him depicted as you would see a god depicted.
He sits in a setting of clouds with what look like angels immediately surrounding him, with a big rainbow that runs right underneath his feet.
HENRY: When we're in the Rotunda, the dome of the U.
S.
Capitol, we are literally in a vortex of energy.
Domes are places where Heaven and Earth meet.
They literally are considered to be portals or gateways to the stars.
NARRATOR: There is another depiction of Washington that specifically represents him as a divine figure.
BIRNES: Congress authorized an incredible statue of George Washington by *** in which he is depicted as Zeus or Jupiter.
HENRY: The statue had several key features that identified him as a man of peace and a conductor of Heaven and Earth.
His sword is offered to the viewer of the statue, indicating he's here in peace.
And then on the sides of the statue you have a very important representation of the god Apollo riding his sun chariot or star chariot.
So the idea that we get from all of this is that Washington is a cosmic being who is riding through the Heavens on his own star chariot.
NARRATOR: Could the symbols, monuments and alignments found throughout Washington D.
C.
be evidence that the Founding Fathers actually believed otherworldly beings were instrumental if the new American experiment in government were to survive and prosper? Was their interest in the stars, and their belief in the possibility that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, based on the ideas of the Enlightenment, or actual close encounters? PITTMAN: We've gone from Benjamin Franklin's electricity experiments to space travel in less than 250 years, and it's brought about really vast changes in American society But what hasn't changed is that desire to know more about space and that desire to find out is there really life outside of our planet? PITTS: Not only is the Founding Fathers' belief in the plurality of worlds alive today, it also is being pursued scientifically in a way that they had no capability to do.
And this is a concept that has been considered ever since the first person looked up at the night sky and wondered about what's out there.
NARRATOR: Did George Washington receive some secret knowledge at Valley Forge that guided him in the founding of the United States? Did he share this information with other Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin? And did they, in turn, pass this knowledge down to the men who followed them? If extraterrestrials really were present during the founding of the United States, did they come here to watch over us? Was there some ultimate plan? And if so, will they return once more?