The Founding Fathers and UFOs? | Tyler Gilreath

Summary

Prophecy Watchers: The Founding Fathers and UFOs? | Tyler Gilreath
Episode Date: March 16, 2026
Host: Mondo Gonzalez
Guest: Tyler Gilreath, author of "The Liberty Code"

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Episode Overview

This episode explores Tyler Gilreath's provocative thesis from his new book, The Liberty Code: How the Founders’ Secret Writings Expose the UFO Agenda and the Coming Alien Crisis. Host Mondo Gonzalez and Gilreath delve into the surprising claim that America's Founding Fathers—specifically George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson—wrestled with ideas concerning non-human intelligence, anomalous aerial phenomena, and even encoded these concerns in their writings. The conversation ties these historical inquiries to today’s surge in government UFO disclosure and considers the theological and prophetic implications for Christians as society approaches potential revelations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Historical Roots of the UFO Phenomenon

• Challenge to Mainstream History
  • The mainstream narrative dates UFO encounters to the 1940s (Roswell, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower eras).
  • Gilreath’s claim: The phenomenon predates America's founding, with documented attention from the Founders.
    • “Most say the UFO story begins in the 1940s ... but what if the timeline is wrong? What if it didn’t start in New Mexico but in Philadelphia?... Washington, Adams, Jefferson… were wrestling with something greater, something cosmic.” — Tyler Gilreath [01:15]

2. Evidence from the Founding Fathers

• George Washington & David Rittenhouse (1796)
  • At Rittenhouse’s funeral, Benjamin Rush read writings speculating on the nature and organization of non-human intelligences. [07:31]
• John Adams’ Diaries
  • Private reflections on the potential existence of extraterrestrial life. [07:31]
• Thomas Jefferson’s UFO Reports
  • Jefferson received and discussed two early UFO reports as President of the American Philosophical Society.
    • One report described a luminous, house-sized object that crashed.
    • Another detailed an entity “that took the form of a human, a Scottish highlander.” [08:44]

3. UFO Secrecy—From Disclosure to Suppression

• Early presidents were informed, but secrecy grew during and after the Eisenhower administration, moving into black-budget programs and special access projects.
  • “It started out with presidents ... knowing what's going on. But very quickly around the Eisenhower administration, it suddenly was put in black budget programs ... Even if you do have a certain clearance, you can’t be read into it.” — Tyler Gilreath [05:31]

4. Current Disclosure & Political Interest

• Recent years have brought unprecedented congressional hearings and mainstream media discussions.
  • “JD Vance just came out and said that he was obsessed with UFOs ... Don Jr. asking [Trump] in podcasts in long form interviews.” — Tyler Gilreath [05:31]
• There is increasing public and governmental pressure to declassify and expose information.

5. The UFO ‘Agenda’: Spiritual and Technological Themes

• Technological Gifts or Disguised Dangers?
  • Gilreath draws parallels to pre-flood “technology gifts from the gods” leading to societal ruin (cf. Genesis 6 lore).
  • Postulates current attempts at reverse engineering off-world “vehicles” may have similar consequences. [10:11]
• Test of Faith
  • Raises the existential question: Were humans created by Yahweh or seeded by extraterrestrials?
    • “It also is a target on people’s faith ... Are we created by Yahweh, or were we seeded by a superior outer space race?” — Tyler Gilreath [10:11]
  • Warns of modern theories: e.g., aliens as future humans time-traveling, undermining Biblical prophecy and the expectation of Christ’s return.

6. The Liberty Code—Meaning and Purpose

• Title Significance
  • The "code" points to Founders’ reliance on God during pivotal decisions.
  • The present “precipice” echoes their need for faith, as humanity faces “telling people we are not alone.” [12:13]
• Societal Risks of Sudden UFO Disclosure
  • Dismantling of public trust, financial chaos, energy sector disruption, global panic.
    • “It will undermine our geopolitical power structures ... financial chaos ... unrest ahead when it comes to UFO transparency.” — Tyler Gilreath [12:13]

7. Integrating a Biblical Framework

• Theological Imperative
  • The conversation must move beyond the secular.
  • Christians should engage, equipping themselves with scriptural context for anomalous phenomena.
    • “Christians cannot stand silently on the sidelines and let this be a secular conversation. It has to also be a religious conversation.” — Tyler Gilreath [18:32]
• Warning of Deception
  • Echoes Jesus’ warnings in Matthew 24: “Let no one deceive you.” [17:54]
  • Emphasis on preparing the church to discern and withstand unprecedented deception (and evangelize amidst it).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Founders and the Cosmic Mystery:

  • “[The Founders] weren’t just building a republic. They were wrestling with something greater, something older than the Constitution, something cosmic.” — Tyler Gilreath [01:15]

• On Government Secrecy:

  • “Would you ever open up Roswell and let us know what’s really going on there?” — Mano Gonzalez [02:08]
  • “Roswell’s a very interesting place.” — Interviewer/Host 2 [02:09]

• On Faith and Alien Contact:

  • “Does your faith have room for aliens? Will your faith survive what comes next?” — Tyler Gilreath [02:28]

• On the Stakes for Religious Communities:

  • “Churches ... need to read books like this because it will prepare them to help prepare their people for what’s coming.” — Tyler Gilreath [16:25]
  • “This is not just history. It’s not just politics, it’s theology. And the battle is spirit. The signs are in the skies, the patterns are in the past. And the truth is in the Liberty Code.” — Tyler Gilreath [02:46]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Introduction & Book Trailer: [00:01–03:12]
• Tyler’s Motivation and Scope of the Book: [03:12–05:31]
• Historical Evidence in Founders’ Writings: [07:31–09:33]
• Theoretical Agendas Behind the Phenomenon: [10:11–12:06]
• Explaining “Liberty Code” and Societal Ramifications: [12:06–15:24]
• Navigating the Christian Response & Need for Preparedness: [15:24–19:34]

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Conclusion

This episode bridges American history, contemporary politics, and eschatological theology, advocating for serious Christian engagement in the UFO narrative. Gilreath urges listeners to prepare spiritually and intellectually for a future where the reality of non-human intelligences may move from taboo to official disclosure. The key takeaway: Christians must not only brace their own faith but also provide guidance for a world potentially on the brink of a profound ontological crisis.

Transcript

[Mano Gonzalez]

Welcome to the program today. Mano Gonzalez here in studio with Tyler Gilreath and he has a new book, the Liberty Code, which. Listen to this subtitle. This is kind of fun. How the Founders secret writings exposed the UFO agenda and the coming alien crisis. I mean UFOs founding fathers. I thought the UFO was a modern phenomenon. So we're going to talk to Tyler today about that. But before we do, take a look at this trailer.

[Tyler Gilreath]

They're telling us we are not alone, That there's someone else out there besides God and the angels.

[Interviewer/Host 2]

This evening we deal with the UFO issue which has gone from a fringe topic to warranting the significance of that congressional hearing.

[Tyler Gilreath]

What I personally witnessed myself and my wife was very disturbing. Most say the UFO story begins in the 1940s. FDR, Truman, Eisenhower.

[Mano Gonzalez]

Americans have been making contact with UFOs

[Tyler Gilreath]

before there even was an America.

[Expert/Commentator]

The United States government has gathered a great deal of information about UAPs over many decades, but has refused to share it with the American people.

[Tyler Gilreath]

But what if the timeline is wrong? What if it didn't start in New Mexico but in Philadelphia? What if it didn't start with the military but with the founders? Washington, Adams, Jefferson, they weren't just building a republic. They were wrestling with something greater, something older than the Constitution, something cosmic.

[Expert/Commentator]

There's footage and records of objects in the skies that we don't know exactly what they are.

[Interviewer/Host 2]

Is this getting us to finally realize that this is all happening for real?

[Mano Gonzalez]

People always say, well what proof do you have?

[Tyler Gilreath]

And what would you say?

[Interviewer/Host 2]

Sure. Well it's not what proof I have, it's what proof the United States government has and has had for quite some time.

[Tyler Gilreath]

Would you ever open up Roswell and

[Mano Gonzalez]

let us know what's really going on there?

[Interviewer/Host 2]

So many people ask me that question. I won't talk to you about what I know about it, but it's very interesting. Roswell's a very interesting place.

[Tyler Gilreath]

The image was of something that I am not able to attach to any human capability.

[Mano Gonzalez]

Were they designed to identify and reverse engineer alien craft? Yes or no?

[Interviewer/Host 2]

Yes.

[Tyler Gilreath]

The questions are unavoidable. Does your faith have room for aliens? Will your faith survive what comes next?

[Expert/Commentator]

That object, or whatever was controlling that object was also connecting to me through my mind.

[Tyler Gilreath]

This isn't just history. It's not just politics, it's theology. And the battle is spirit. The signs are in the skies, the patterns are in the past. And the truth is in the Liberty Code.

[Mano Gonzalez]

Welcome back. And Tyler. So here we are. This is to me, it's it's, we're living in the age now of UFO disclosure from 2017 on. I mean, where's it going next? What led you to write this?

[Tyler Gilreath]

It's amazing that the message that's being put out is this is a topic of modern conversation. And so I kind of accepted that, at least for a while, that going back to some of the presidents in the 40s and 50s, that's when this whole topic began. And so I said, well, let me dig a little deeper, right? Let me see if there's any kind of nook and cranny that says otherwise. And so I began investigating this and quickly realized there are some very important things that need to be brought out going back to the founding fathers. And so the first three chapters of the book, Mondo is dealing with the first three presidents of the United States. You have George Washington, you have John Adams, and you have Thomas Jefferson. And so that is new information. I am not aware of any book that has ever addressed this. I'm not aware of any congressman that even knows this. But it is important when we talk about things in the sky, anomalous objects, even just discussing the topic of non human intelligence, the fact that these ideas go back to the founders of America, you know, who would ever have thought, Right. But they indeed do. And I try to bring those out in the book.

[Mano Gonzalez]

So let's jump in a little bit on that. And so I imagine that, well, let me ask you this. What has been the response? Obviously you write a book and then you have, of course, the critics. I mean, it's good to be critical minded, you know, of course. So the critics come out. What are, what are their main criticisms, so to speak?

[Tyler Gilreath]

Well, honestly, I haven't heard any criticism. That's good. Some of the reviews have been very good. In fact, some would say I was very shocked and surprised that he could actually back up the subtitle. And so I'm sure those, those critics will come, I have no doubt, because

[Mano Gonzalez]

it's a brand new book.

[Tyler Gilreath]

It's a brand new book. It just dropped, just came out and it could not have come out at a better time. We are living in crazy times to where now this topic is now being discussed in the halls of Congress and in the White House. These things are being discussed. JD Vance just came out and said that he was obsessed with UFOs. You have, you know, people such as, you know, Tulsi Gabbard, who was just interviewed in the Trump administration and basically saying that she is investigating. You have Don Jr. Donald Trump's son, asking him on podcast in long form interviews, saying, we want to know what is happening. And so right now, what I can tell you that there are those who are trying to brief the executive branch, primarily President Trump and his administration, his team, about what is going on. Because this topic that this book reveals, it has been relegated to secrecy for 80 years. It started out with presidents, of course, knowing what's going on. But very quickly around the Eisenhower administration, it suddenly was put in black. Budget programs. You know, if you're not. You don't have a certain enough clearance, you can't be read into it. Even if you do have a certain clearance, you can't be read into it. And so now, because of the public pressure that is being put on about this, this topic, we are now starting to learn more information. So it's very fascinating. Yeah.

[Mano Gonzalez]

So the theme here is that the Founding Fathers were what? They were familiar with UFOs, they knew about UFOs, had experiences, and then they. They wrote about them in code for explain, unpack that for us.

[Tyler Gilreath]

Yeah, absolutely. Well, chapter one deals with George Washington. There was a very important historical event. On December 17, 1796, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a Founding Father died named David Rittenhouse, who was the first director of the Mint. And at his funeral, Dr. Benjamin Rush, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, began to read out loud to George Washington, The Congress, the Senate, future presidents were there, like Andrew Jackson, his. His writings. And they're fascinating. I talk about them in the book. But essentially what he's saying is, and he is wrestling with the idea that we are not alone in the universe. He is wondering how they would be organized in their structure, in their government and all of these things. And then, very quickly, chapter two talks about the private diaries of John Adams, how he also would write about extraterrestrial life. Chapter three is fascinating because it deals with Thomas Jefferson getting two UFO reports put on his desk. It's amazing. I mean, the fact that you have basically detailed descriptions of luminous flying objects in the sky, one of which crashed.

[Mano Gonzalez]

Really?

[Tyler Gilreath]

Okay, yes. One of which crashed. And one of them changed shape. It took the form of a. Of a human, a Scottish highlander, in the words of the recipient. One was the size of a house that was glowing, emitting tremendous light. And so Jefferson read these UFO reports not to the country, but he read them to the American Philosophical Society, which was essentially a colonial think tank over which he was president as well at one time. And so these are things that are not being talked about, but that need to be in the public dialogue or discourse when we're talking about how long has this been going on? It's fascinating.

[Mano Gonzalez]

Yeah. To me, the typical idea, what do we hear is, well, you know, this began with Roswell in 1947, but in reality, you know, let's talk about this for a minute. What, you know, the phenomenon, which again is certainly, I would. My impression is not impression, but there's certainly some nefarious things going on with the whole phenomenon. I'm asking maybe a think out loud question, but what would be their agenda in the sense of appearing, you know, 200 years ago? Well, 50 years.

[Tyler Gilreath]

I have to say that it seems like one may be technology. This is their MO before the flood, they introduced technology to the world in its own form. And how that precipitated or escalated the downfall of man. We're seeing that again. We're seeing that they have donated, according to certain congressmen, vehicles of off world origin, so to speak, technologies that we're trying to reverse engineer and understand. Ultimately, I think they know that this will essentially just cause more and more and more evil in the world. So I think that's a large aspect of it that's been done before. I think it's happening again. I think Mondo is also a target on people's faith. Where do we come from? Are we created by Yahweh, the God of the Bible, or were we seeded by a superior outer space race? So that narrative is also on the forefront. Another emerging narrative is, well, what if these are future humans a million years from the future that are time traveling time traveling tourism? Let's go back in time and see what these old archaic humans did to pass the day. And why that's dangerous is because we are living in the last days. And if someone can convince you that that never happens, that the return of Christ never happens, then what does that say about the authenticity or the genuineness of scripture? Are we believing in a fairy tale that has no facts to it, something that will not come to fruition or culmination? And so that is a very, can be a very, you know, cloak and dagger kind of thing that can get a lot of people's faith.

[Mano Gonzalez]

And you know, the Liberty Code, why that title? What does it mean?

[Tyler Gilreath]

Well, that title certainly has a founding Father's ring to it, but ultimately I named it that because the founders, at least many of them, when they were facing an unknown challenge ahead as they went to pioneer this great nation, they would rely on the God of the Bible for many of their understandings. In fact, I cataloged that in the last chapter, how essentially they were struggling to make a decision. And I believe it was Franklin who said that we needed to start praying to God to help us make the decision and how ultimately that led to, you know, positive direction for the country. And so we are living in similar times in that we have some big decisions to make as humanity, as a government, as a nation. We are on the precipice, Mondo, of telling people we are not alone. And so that is something that the United States government has been wanting to keep secret for 70 or 80 years now. And now because of the perpetuated lie and black budget programs, special access programs, black money projects, because of the secrecy surrounding this, if they would have just come out in the beginning and went with the Roswell narrative that was in the newspaper, this would not be this bad. But because it has been perpetuated for 80 years, this can totally dismantle people's belief in government to the point that it will cause worldwide panic. The fact that not only our government has hidden the truth, but you have Russia, who has hidden it from their population. You have China, who is hiding it from their population. The fact that governments have been in correspondence with one another, the Five Eyes alliance, which America is a part of, with Australia and several other countries, we have been sharing this information with one another, but not our populace. This will really undermine, and this is why they don't want to share it. It will undermine our geopolitical power structures. It will cause financial chaos and ruin in the markets. The energy companies that are in place will go out of business. We have a lot of potential unrest ahead when it comes to UFO transparency. And so I wrote the book to prepare people for not only what's ahead and faith in God, as you asked, why the Liberty Code, to have faith in God, freedom in Jesus Christ, and faith that no matter what happens, if we are his child, we have nothing to fear. But to also give them a little bit of framework, where has this story gone? How have these beings interacted with presidents of the United States? Why was the secrecy maintained? And ultimately how and when and why will it come out?

[Mano Gonzalez]

So there's no doubt you have the world of ufology, which has been primarily secular, no doubt. Now you have many, again, not calling you a ufologist, but you know us who are interested in it for a long time. You have those that are Christians that are now speaking about the, again, the reality of the situation, can't deny the reality of it and the evidence and then. But trying to Understand it through a biblical lens. So for a person that is like, oh, well, I did hear the, you know, the Congress is talking about it now. What, how does it connect with the Bible? How do you answer that?

[Tyler Gilreath]

A lot of congressmen are connecting with the Bible as well. You have Representative Anna Paulina Luna. She literally just went on the Joe Rogan podcast, did a two hour interview. She talked about the phenomenon.

[Mano Gonzalez]

She's on the committee. She's on the UFO committee.

[Tyler Gilreath]

She's on the committee. The declassification of federal secrets. And she said it's interdimensional. We're dealing with interdimensional beings. She even referenced the Bible, the Book of Enoch. So you have many in government that know this is spiritual and that have been vocal. In fact, you have, you know, some in government that have been suppressing it because they think it's demonic. And so, you know, this is all part of the discussion. And, you know, Christians need to have, again, a biblical framework to understand what in the world is going on to start reading their Bibles, start investigating the supernatural. Quit relegating the supernatural to people with tinfoil hats. Right? But this is now a serious topic. You have doctors, PhDs, looking at it. You have people such as Avi Loeb, Gary Nolan, the Congress. But now it has to be laid on the steps of the church building. You know, people in the churches are going to have to be confronted with this reality. And if they don't know some of the things that are in this book and some other great books that have been written on the topic, they are in very big trouble. Their faith could vanish overnight. Churches, leaderships, people in leadership positions, they need to read books like this because it will prepare them to help prepare their people for what's coming.

[Mano Gonzalez]

Yeah, there's two things. And again, as a. What do we know? There's two things that are coming. One is deception. Jesus said that Matthew 24, that. The first thing, let no one deceive you. So we're going to have that. And there's no doubt that's probably the largest characteristic of the end of the age. But the second thing, I think. So as a pastor, you think, well, you want to prepare your people, the Christian in your flock, to not be deceived. So fill them with scripture. That'll. That'll protect us. But second thing is that the world is talking about this. So there's no doubt. Evangelism. So we want to be equipped for

[Tyler Gilreath]

get in, get in the discussion. That's. And that's why I wrote this book. Ultimately, because I don't just want it to be a secular conversation. You know, we need, we need to come into this. I mean if anybody has a greater context for this, it's Christians, believers in Christ that we understand and we believe the landscape, the supernatural world of the Bible. And we have something to say when it comes to identifying these beings and their intents. We have that in the written word. And so we cannot be silent. Christians cannot stand silently on the sideline and let this be a secular conversation. It has to be also a religious conversation.

[Mano Gonzalez]

Yeah, absolutely. I mean the. We believe that God has given us in the scripture everything we need. That doesn't give us every answer in the world about everything, but it gives us everything that we need for our spiritual life and to understand the big picture. And so to me, this is why this is such an important book again for people together. So I appreciate your time.

[Tyler Gilreath]

Absolutely.

[Mano Gonzalez]

And thank you as well for watching this kind of update. But Tyler Gilworth here. The Liberty Code, how the founders secret writings expose the UFO agenda and the coming alien crisis. And we know again there is a crisis coming. There's a crisis for many, many people. Not only again our government is in many ways these people that are on the committee that are searching this out and again seeing the special access projects and the secrecy behind it all, there's a certain level of crisis that's happening in them and they're trying to get answers. And of course many of those on the committee have had a chance to even meet some of them and to talk to them about the things that are happening and they're getting stonewalled by all this. But for us as Christians, we can have a framework to explain all this and again to share the gospel and to point people to the truths, eternal truths, so that there's nothing to be scared of ultimately. And we have an understanding that again this crisis that is here is answered in scripture. So anyways, thanks for watching this update today and we will catch you next.