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UFOs and The White House: What Did Our Presidents Know and When Did They Know It?
The author team that wrote the upcoming Skyhorse title Edison vs. Tesla, as well as The Haunting of the Presidents and other titles about the weird, the supernatural, and the unexplained, turn their attention to the oval office for a unique view of UFOs in America and more specifically, what America's presidents--from Washington to Obama--have witnessed and believed.Most of us know that George Washington was heavily involved with the secret society the Freemasons. But how many of us know about George Washington's UFO sighting during the terrible winter at Valley Forge, and how the experience guided his future?Marilyn Monroe is rumored to have had UFO intel that she gained via pillow-talk from JFK.Under Nixon's presidency we orbited and walked upon the surface the moon while almost at the same time the Air Force was exploiting the Air Force as scientific cover for its decision to terminate Project Blue Book. Jimmie Carter was visited by UFOs multiple times. UFOs and the White House is an oft-overlooked glimpse at history that will appeal to historians as well as advocates of the paranormal.
325 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 13, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 7, 2022
I bought this book for $2.99. Regular price is $11.99. It's not worth $11.99, but $2.99 was reasonable. It doesn't appear to have been edited (repetition, rambling, typos, incorrect spelling, wrong words).
Some of the chapters are more like articles from a magazine, than chapters in a book. The authors constantly repeat stories they have watched on the UFO Hunters television series. They do give credit to the TV show, but that seems like a pretty cheap form of research. The authors also get into a political diatribe at the end of the book that has nothing to do with UFOs.
Some of the chapters are more like articles from a magazine, than chapters in a book. The authors constantly repeat stories they have watched on the UFO Hunters television series. They do give credit to the TV show, but that seems like a pretty cheap form of research. The authors also get into a political diatribe at the end of the book that has nothing to do with UFOs.
September 12, 2018
Interesting subject matter but a handful of copy editing errors made me question the care put into the final product. Fascinating accounts from Washington's time through today outlining each of the presidents' quotes and actions related to UFOs 👽
December 12, 2018
An entertaining put unconvincing argument that the President's of the United States have been in contact or aware of ETs since the founding of the country.
December 9, 2019
The subtitle of this book is "What Did the Presidents Know and When Did They Know It?". The answer is .
This book has three main sections. The first deals with accounts of strange phenomena from the early days of the country. There is a very bizarre chapter on some writings of George Washington. I have no idea what old George was talking about, but the authors didn't convince me that he had an alien encounter. Other early chapters are equally nebulous.
The second part relates many of the well-known and well-publicized ET-type incidents: the 1947 Roswell crash, the 1952 "Summer of the Saucers", the RAF Bentwaters incident, etc. The authors recount the incidents well, and then say that the then-President surely must have been briefed. OK. Not exactly what I was looking for from this book.
There are a few President-related stories with more detail. For example, I did not know that Jimmy Carter spotted a UFO when he was Georgia governor, and likewise Ronald Reagan when he was governor of California. But the quantity of Presidential information is rather thin.
Speaking of information, the book is very poorly documented. A lot of the end notes are self-referential, which to me is no reference at all, or reference YouTube videos by URL only with no further explanation, or cite someone else's book with no reference to the specific section within the book. An example is from Chapter 15, page 159, where the authors report that Governor Regan asked his pilot to follow a sighted UFO, and says that Reagan told this to a Wall Street Journal reporter. I was curious about that and so went to the end note which cited an article from UFO Magazine titled "All the Presidents' UFOs". One of the authors (Birnes) published UFO Magazine, so he is essentially citing himself. Not helpful. A lot of dubious information is presented without any citations at all.
The final section of the book is the authors' speculative take on a variety of topics, including how ETs might be trying to warn us about the dire consequences of human-caused climate change. The authors take several swipes at Trump and other political targets, which is totally uncalled for in a book like this.
So far as my rating goes, I was giving this book a "1" based on the first section, a "2" based on the second section as parts were actually on topic, and then a "1" on the final useless section.
This book has three main sections. The first deals with accounts of strange phenomena from the early days of the country. There is a very bizarre chapter on some writings of George Washington. I have no idea what old George was talking about, but the authors didn't convince me that he had an alien encounter. Other early chapters are equally nebulous.
The second part relates many of the well-known and well-publicized ET-type incidents: the 1947 Roswell crash, the 1952 "Summer of the Saucers", the RAF Bentwaters incident, etc. The authors recount the incidents well, and then say that the then-President surely must have been briefed. OK. Not exactly what I was looking for from this book.
There are a few President-related stories with more detail. For example, I did not know that Jimmy Carter spotted a UFO when he was Georgia governor, and likewise Ronald Reagan when he was governor of California. But the quantity of Presidential information is rather thin.
Speaking of information, the book is very poorly documented. A lot of the end notes are self-referential, which to me is no reference at all, or reference YouTube videos by URL only with no further explanation, or cite someone else's book with no reference to the specific section within the book. An example is from Chapter 15, page 159, where the authors report that Governor Regan asked his pilot to follow a sighted UFO, and says that Reagan told this to a Wall Street Journal reporter. I was curious about that and so went to the end note which cited an article from UFO Magazine titled "All the Presidents' UFOs". One of the authors (Birnes) published UFO Magazine, so he is essentially citing himself. Not helpful. A lot of dubious information is presented without any citations at all.
The final section of the book is the authors' speculative take on a variety of topics, including how ETs might be trying to warn us about the dire consequences of human-caused climate change. The authors take several swipes at Trump and other political targets, which is totally uncalled for in a book like this.
So far as my rating goes, I was giving this book a "1" based on the first section, a "2" based on the second section as parts were actually on topic, and then a "1" on the final useless section.
August 11, 2021
Subtitle: What Did Our Presidents Know and When Did They Know It?
I’ve been going through a paranormal non-fiction reading phase lately, and this is another book in that same vein. William J. Birnes was also co-author of The Day After Roswell, and while I had questions about the reliability of information that book related, I decided to give this one a read.
The majority of the book details UFO incidents occurring under each president starting with FDR and running through Donald Trump, but also includes some material about paranormal/UFO sightings involving George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. The most interesting of those earlier sections involved a vision Washington had during the winter he and the colonial army spent at Valley Forge that was presented as an alien visitation. As with much of the information included in this type of book, I’m skeptical of the sources of the information related.
A lot of the stories that make up the bulk of the book were not new stories, contained in dozens if not hundreds of other books and/or the UFO television shows that are so popular on the History Channel, etc. The authors did surprise me from time to time, taking a more skeptical viewpoint for some incidents while sometimes taking seemingly unsupported positions on others. I was particularly puzzled by a multiple-page segment attempting to tie the John Lennon assassination to UFOs through early works by The Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger.
I gave UFOs and the White House four stars on Goodreads. There wasn’t a lot of info here that isn’t available elsewhere, and many of the sources cited are not what I would consider to be iron-clad.
I’ve been going through a paranormal non-fiction reading phase lately, and this is another book in that same vein. William J. Birnes was also co-author of The Day After Roswell, and while I had questions about the reliability of information that book related, I decided to give this one a read.
The majority of the book details UFO incidents occurring under each president starting with FDR and running through Donald Trump, but also includes some material about paranormal/UFO sightings involving George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. The most interesting of those earlier sections involved a vision Washington had during the winter he and the colonial army spent at Valley Forge that was presented as an alien visitation. As with much of the information included in this type of book, I’m skeptical of the sources of the information related.
A lot of the stories that make up the bulk of the book were not new stories, contained in dozens if not hundreds of other books and/or the UFO television shows that are so popular on the History Channel, etc. The authors did surprise me from time to time, taking a more skeptical viewpoint for some incidents while sometimes taking seemingly unsupported positions on others. I was particularly puzzled by a multiple-page segment attempting to tie the John Lennon assassination to UFOs through early works by The Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger.
I gave UFOs and the White House four stars on Goodreads. There wasn’t a lot of info here that isn’t available elsewhere, and many of the sources cited are not what I would consider to be iron-clad.
March 8, 2023
Every once in a while - fortunately, not all that often - you get a book you think is going to be good and it disappoints. This, for me, was one of those books.
For anyone who has read anything at all about those unidentified things flying around in our skies, this is essentially a re-hash of what was in those other books. In defense of the authors, there were a couple of new items, but not enough to take it out of the "disappointing" category. One thing it does do, is that it offers up a nice digest of all the major UFO reports of the last century all in one book so that if you're looking for something, it's right there.
Also disappointing was the lack of information about what various Presidents knew. All too often, you got statements similar to, "it's certain the President was briefed on this event" and that's it. No information about a Presidential reaction from insiders which shows a lack of serious research, just a cop-out that the President probably knew about it. Ho hum.
Even worse though is the last chapter where the authors go on an anti-Donald Trump tirade. For a while I thought I was reading a Stephen King novel. Then we got the clincher - about the last 6 pages or so of the book read more like they were written by Al Gore, rambling on and on about climate change and how coastal cities will soon be underwater if something isn't done, blah, blah, blah. What this has to do with Presidents - and Trump in particular - and UFO's is anyone's guess.
If you're contemplating purchasing this book, save your money and buy something written by J. Allen Hynek or Stanton Freeman - you'll find them much more enjoyable and informative.
For anyone who has read anything at all about those unidentified things flying around in our skies, this is essentially a re-hash of what was in those other books. In defense of the authors, there were a couple of new items, but not enough to take it out of the "disappointing" category. One thing it does do, is that it offers up a nice digest of all the major UFO reports of the last century all in one book so that if you're looking for something, it's right there.
Also disappointing was the lack of information about what various Presidents knew. All too often, you got statements similar to, "it's certain the President was briefed on this event" and that's it. No information about a Presidential reaction from insiders which shows a lack of serious research, just a cop-out that the President probably knew about it. Ho hum.
Even worse though is the last chapter where the authors go on an anti-Donald Trump tirade. For a while I thought I was reading a Stephen King novel. Then we got the clincher - about the last 6 pages or so of the book read more like they were written by Al Gore, rambling on and on about climate change and how coastal cities will soon be underwater if something isn't done, blah, blah, blah. What this has to do with Presidents - and Trump in particular - and UFO's is anyone's guess.
If you're contemplating purchasing this book, save your money and buy something written by J. Allen Hynek or Stanton Freeman - you'll find them much more enjoyable and informative.
June 18, 2022
After reading this book, 'UFOs and the White House,' and previously, 'The Day After Roswe'll, I’ve become a believer in alien life vising our planet. The frequency of UFO sighting reported on social media sharpens that belief. How can people make up all this stuff? There are reports of humanoids, pure energy beings, hostile insect-type beings, the so-called Greys, robot-like entities, etc. (I even wrote a short story about highly evolved, ant-like creatures, landing with their UFO, and encountered by a human.)
There also are theories that aliens “created” humans and have a vested interest in saving humanity from self-destruction. These aliens have far superior technology than us; they have conquered time-travel and gravity, and they have harnessed their war-like instincts.
Whatever is true, all of this makes for interesting reading and speculation. The book about our government and presidents knowing more about UFOs and hiding that information to protect religious beliefs or to capitalize on that knowledge as a weapon against our adversaries, all seems very credible—given today’s lies of top government officials and lawyers uncovered in the recent committee hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
So, the two books I mention are worth reading; at the very least, they force one to think about just how humble humans should be in the universe. Also, they underscore just how untrustworthy our government leaders are. (The White House book, unfortunately, is sorely in need of editing with all its typos and repetitions.)
There also are theories that aliens “created” humans and have a vested interest in saving humanity from self-destruction. These aliens have far superior technology than us; they have conquered time-travel and gravity, and they have harnessed their war-like instincts.
Whatever is true, all of this makes for interesting reading and speculation. The book about our government and presidents knowing more about UFOs and hiding that information to protect religious beliefs or to capitalize on that knowledge as a weapon against our adversaries, all seems very credible—given today’s lies of top government officials and lawyers uncovered in the recent committee hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
So, the two books I mention are worth reading; at the very least, they force one to think about just how humble humans should be in the universe. Also, they underscore just how untrustworthy our government leaders are. (The White House book, unfortunately, is sorely in need of editing with all its typos and repetitions.)
August 14, 2018
Read this book out of curiosity. I guess for me to see is to believe: since I haven't seen a UFO, I'm a little skeptical, especially since there's this huge, supposedly alleged/purported gov't coverup of all things extraterrestrial. It doesn't help any when the sources for future research remain dubious at best due to the lack of credibility as a result of said gov't coverup. Also, this book might be a little more believable and may be able to sway more skeptics like me if it had no grammatical errors or typos. There were so many grammatical mistakes that I remained skeptical to the end and totally doubted the veracity of all of the book's claims.
November 4, 2023
This book was a challenge. I have read and maybe heard of or researched certain events described. And yes I am a WTF UFO person. I have enough personal experience to place a large question mark on a lot of the stuff "reported". Yet I have my personal experiences and familial history that goes deeper. And I will not bore you with stories, unless you ask me to reveal my involvement. Anyhow this book suffers deeply because of it's editor. There were so many grammatical errors that I was getting frustrated and stalled on my reading. Horrible job of editing to whomever actually wrote the book. I mean I Ideally did want to like it, but it kind of sucked.
April 17, 2019
I started this with high hopes and even though outlandish seeming at times it wasn't even the stories I found so dismal.
It is clearly so unreadable that whoever was supposed to edit it must have just given up.
Its riddled with typos and grammatical errors and reads like an opionated (and paranoid) high schooler's research paper...
In fact, I'm pretty sure my sophmore year project on Roswell was better.
It's hard to take a book on extraterrestrials seriously when the author couldn't even employ spellcheck.
It is clearly so unreadable that whoever was supposed to edit it must have just given up.
Its riddled with typos and grammatical errors and reads like an opionated (and paranoid) high schooler's research paper...
In fact, I'm pretty sure my sophmore year project on Roswell was better.
It's hard to take a book on extraterrestrials seriously when the author couldn't even employ spellcheck.
July 21, 2022
Aliens to climate change
A lot the book was things I had already read about it was good to see timeline on what presidents these events happened under. The writer began to show his political side near the end and threw in a climate change diatribe when I wanted to read about alien disclosure. There was a lot of speculation throughout the book. I gave it three because of the timeline events.
A lot the book was things I had already read about it was good to see timeline on what presidents these events happened under. The writer began to show his political side near the end and threw in a climate change diatribe when I wanted to read about alien disclosure. There was a lot of speculation throughout the book. I gave it three because of the timeline events.
February 5, 2023
Lots of editing errors down to even simple ones. As someone who actually believes in the possibility or life outside of earth and that UFOs are possible, I have to say how unconvincing the arguments here were. I don’t think they understand scientific experiment processes, what “definitive proof” is, or what a reliable witness is. A lot of biased resources that were only ~sort of~ cited here, including one of the author’s OWN magazine that he ran.
May 25, 2018
Interesting.
October 27, 2018
DNF. Although fascinating, there is a lot of time mixed with conjecture. Interesting, but not enough to keep me reading.
February 16, 2021
2.75 stars
August 19, 2021
I had not heard of these reports in he book. But interesting, add another star if UFOs are an interest of yours. Enjoy!
October 23, 2025
This was a weird one. Disappointingly little of interest and what is false is not nearly unhinged enough to be entertaining, but the basics are fine I guess.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews