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While our government's official position is not to speculate on this subject, we can choose to let our minds explore other possibilities to use our imaginations for. If we consider that astro scientists agree on one point, that the possibility of life elsewhere is not only quite probable, some feel it is there, without a doubt. Let us suppose then, that these objects are real space vehicles, extraterrestrial origin, and not an illusion of the mind.
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This is somewhere in the skies with ryan sprague.
Paul Blake Smith
Foreign
Ryan Sprague (Host)
welcome back to Somewhere in the Skies Classics. Before we jump into this week's classic conversation, I wanted to take a moment to explain why we're bringing this one back as conversations surrounding UFOs, UAP and non human intelligence continue to move into the mainstream, it's often worth revisiting some of the stories that were once dismissed as little more than conspiracy theories. One of the most enduring is the claim that President Dwight D. Eisenhower secretly met with extraterrestrial visitors in 1954. Whether you believe it happened or not, it's a story that has shaped decades of speculation surrounding government secrecy, presidential knowledge, and the possibility of contact with another intelligence. And to be completely honest, when I first interviewed authority Paul Blake Smith, I approached the subject with plenty of skepticism. But after reading his research and hearing the evidence he assembled, I found myself looking at this case in a very different light. And I came away thinking, huh, this might have actually happened. But even if you remain unconvinced, it's a fascinating historical puzzle that deserves to be examined with an open but critical mind. So as we continue exploring today's rapidly changing UFO landscape, let's revisit one of the stories that helped lay the foundation for so much of the conversation we're having today. But before we do that, gotta ask you guys, please take just a few moments to rate and review Somewhere in the Skies on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. When you leave a review on Apple, we'll often shout you out and read it aloud on the show. So if you've ever wanted to be on the show in some capacity, this is your chance. Head on over to Apple or Spotify and leave a rating and review today. It truly helps us more than you know. If you want to help us further. We have many different support Systems, Apple Premium, YouTube channel membership and Patreon. You get tons of benefits and rewards for all of these including early access to the show, bonus content, priority to ask guests, listener questions, and ad free experiences. Links to everything are in the show notes or the video description. Lastly, if you think someone might be interested in learning more about UFOs, just share the show. That's really all I could ever ask of you guys. Thank you for all of your support in every single way. But for now, let's get to this fascinating conversation about Eisenhower and UFOs with author Paul Blake Smith.
Paul, thank you so much for joining me today on Somewhere in the Skies.
Paul Blake Smith
That's my pleasure. Thanks for having me on Ryan.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
So you know, full disclosure, what we're going to be talking about today, your most recent book, President Eisenhower's Close Encounters. I had the immense pleasure and honor of contributing the forward to so I'm really excited to dig into this story. Man, I Mean, this is one of the, you know, those stories in UFO lore that never goes away and a lot of people think there's nothing to it. But lo and behold, here comes, probably, correct me if I'm wrong, the first book to cover this in depth. Am I right?
Paul Blake Smith
That's right. I would see this topic discussed on like Ancient aliens and alien files decoded or MUFON Hangar 1. They all give it some serious airplay for a couple minutes and then nothing. And I'm watching this over the years and thinking, where is a book on this? It should be the most amazing story in human history, if at least American history. So I got fed up and tired of waiting and I decided I'll write it myself. So here we have the results. It's getting good reviews and I thank Ryan for writing the forward, as he just mentioned.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
Oh, absolutely, man, it was my pleasure. Again, like, this was one of those stories, you know, I heard whispers of it throughout the years of being into this topic. And you always kinda laugh or shrug it off like, oh, yeah, yeah, that's, that's like the whole Jackie Gleason seen a dead body or you know, the Aztec UFO crash. But again, like what you were able to uncover and dig up documents, files, testimonies about this. But before we kind of get to that, I have to ask you, this is your first time being on Somewhere in the Skies and this is the origin story question, you know, for many of my listeners and viewers who might not be be too familiar with you. Paul, tell us a little about yourself, if you don't mind. What got you first interested in the UFO topic?
Paul Blake Smith
Well, I was born and raised and educated in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a name that should be the most famous place in the whole world because we had a UFO crash six years before Roswell in April of 1941, and it got hushed up pretty good. And over the years, around the turn of the century, I began hearing, hearing more about this and wondering, well, where is a book on this subject? And I, being a resident for so many years, I'm not now, I decided to explore and investigate and put together my own book. And I had so much material I had a sequel that was moderately successful. And I sure wish we could get some documentary filmmakers into Cape Girardeau and really explore this subject. However, I confess to this day I'm not 100% sure of the crash site. There's no physical remains. We've got a few documented references to these great recoveries and wonders that came to us in the Missouri recovery of 1941 in some material that's been unearthed by Ryan Wood, and I'd like to know more about it. Even though I've written two books and occasionally I get a little message on my Facebook page, but not too much. So after that I was digging into UFO stories to write that and the sequel, and I kept running into that subject that has intrigued me since the 1980s. Eisenhower went to an air base and met aliens. Wow, that is like the greatest story, if true. And I want to know all about that. So I wrote this book and a few others in between, and I hope to have one on President Nixon and Jackie Gleason. And I think there's something of substance there, but I don't know if I'm going to have quite enough material to put together a whole book.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
That's what you think, man. I mean, what you were able to uncover for this one, I have no doubt if it's out there, you're going to be the one to find it. But, well, let's, let's kind of dive right in. So for some of our younger listeners, could you maybe kind of paint a picture for us of who Eisenhower was first as a person and how he was perceived by the American people, you know, during his presidency? Before we even get to this infamous, I guess meeting.
Paul Blake Smith
Dwight Eisenhower became very, very famous during World War II. As the Allied commander in Europe. He was FDR's number one man, holding together all the Allied forces and the commanding generals and clashing personalities and getting us all on the same page, focused on defeating the Nazis. And it worked brilliantly. Eisenhower was hailed as a national hero, received a ticker tape parade in his honor. Just him in New York City. And he would attract crowds when he went out in public. He wasn't quite like Elvis or the Beatles, but he did have an enormous amount of fame, adoration, respect, popularity. So much so that he, his friends suggested that at one point he should leave the Truman administration and run for president himself. Ike became Harry Truman's Army Chief of Staff and served in a couple of other positions in the post war era of the late 1940s. And by 52, he became convinced that he should run for President. And that brings us to our first UFO story. I thought I would mention. It was a story that was printed in 1997 in the U. Or rather the New York Post, and it said, I was serving on the USS Franklin Roosevelt, a warship in the English Channel off the coast of France in early 1952, probably in the first few days, and General Dwight Eisenhower was our guest. He came up from below decks during a rather violent storm. The ship was rocking and he couldn't sleep. I'd like to picture Ike in his pajamas and robe, maybe with an empty mug in his hand, because they said they gave him some coffee and were standing around the bridge of the SS Roosevelt, which was a nuclear weapon holding ship. And suddenly someone looked out the window and saw your typical ufo, a circular craft. It was silver and shiny and it was pouring rain and lightning would light up the place and they could all clearly see it just hovering over the ship. Ship. And you would think most UFO sightings go on for what, 15 seconds? Less than a minute. The author of the story in the New York Post said, Ike and the crew sat there and watched this thing for at least 10 minutes. No one panicked. I'd like to think maybe somebody got out of camera, but there wasn't any report of any film footage taken. This was the graveyard shift in the middle of the night. And the. The craft showed no aggressive moves. It just kind of sat there in the sky. Despite high winds, lightning, thunder, heavy ra. Rockin seas. The boat was going up and down a little, and it was just so amazing. This man said that Eisenhower told them all to keep it to themselves and that he would check into it when he went back below decks after the encounter was over. And he. The author of the article said we never heard about it again. We kept our mouth shut. But he was getting older by 1997. He wanted the story out, so he had it printed in the New York newspaper. And. And it gives you an indication of, well, what was it that from early 1952 that convinced Eisenhower to go ahead and run for President? I don't know if this UFO sighting was a big factor, but you never know. It sounds like something of great impact, doesn't it?
Ryan Sprague (Host)
It does. And I mean, it kind of sets the stage for, you know, we start with just a sighting and then we move, you know, it progresses to close and encounter. So let's. Let's move to that. Paul, can you paint us a picture of the meeting, the first quote, unquote, meeting with alleged extraterrestrials? How was the meeting set up? And. Yeah, yeah, maybe run us through a little bit of that, if you don't mind.
Spectre Vision Radio Narrator
All right.
Paul Blake Smith
Well, Dwight Eisenhower ran for president in the fall of 52. He won in a landslide and spent his first year in office wrapping up the Korean War. He was super popular. The economy was doing fairly well, and he decided to go on vacation to Georgia to hunt Quail. And a few days later, flew out to Palm springs, California, over 2,000 miles from Washington, D.C. to Palm Springs, just to play golf for a few days. In itself, that's a pretty suspicious cover story. And it was a cover story. Although Eisenhower did play golf, everyone knew he loved golf. He almost always just flew down the coast to Augusta, Georgia, which is right near the border of South Carolina. And he used to go golfing at the Augusta National Golf Club, which famously hosts the Masters. And Ike loved it so much down there, his supporters built him a house on the course. He played that course obsessively over the years. So it becomes even more strange and suspicious that he just had to fly all the way out to the Mojave Desert in California, not far from Edwards Air Force Base, and shoot some golf with some old cronies. He stayed at the Palm Springs vacation spot called the Smoke Tree Ranch, and he didn't do too much else besides hit some golf balls. And he signed a few papers, a few laws into existence in a small office they set up for him at the ranch. And then on Friday night, there was a big party at the El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs, where the media were staying. And that becomes somewhat significant in that it got them all distracted. Everyone was invited and encouraged to attend the party, and Eisenhower was not there, and his top aides were not there. No one really seemed to question this at the time, but I feel that's the night Eisenhower was driven to an airfield and flown out to Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, a very remote location. And this was only after he was given the go ahead that aliens were landed and friendly, and the coast was clear to. To arrive and be greeted safely. Now, if you or I were President of the United States and were golfing and extraterrestrials landed in five different spaceships, as they did at Edwards, if we were President, we would be hustled out of there so fast, it would make your head spin, right? So you've got to believe this was all premeditated. And I go into my book on how this could have been put together. A military scientific program in which extraterrestrials were contacted through high frequency radio waves, apparently using a binary code. And it was apparently someone possibly familiar to Eisenhower, someone who might have appeared in their spaceship in January of 52 off the coast of France when Eisenhower was on the helm. Now, that's just speculation, I admit, but Eisenhower didn't panic there. And it kind of goes back to a little story I pieced together from 1948 to 1949, involving the Aztec, New Mexico, UFO crash. I'll skip over that just for a little bit and mention Congressman Henry McElroy from New Hampshire, who has a video on YouTube. You can watch it, I believe, to this day from, I think, 2010. And he reads a little statement he's got, and he says, I read the file, a secret, you know, army classified file that says the military was in contact with extraterrestrials and in a communication program back and forth going on during the first year of the Eisenhower administration. The report concluded that they felt it was safe for Eisenhower to go and meet these extraterrestrial beings in person. And the Congressman adds, it is my understanding that he did go. So this gives us another clue that communications were ongoing during the first year. And this was set up in advance, Eisenhower State, at a friend's house at the Smoke Tree Ranch. And it was set up with a special bedroom, special quarters for the President and the first lady, special phone lines were installed, and quarters for the Secret Service. So this had to have been put together quite well in advance as a premeditated event, not a sudden spur of the moment, because, as I've said, if we were President, we would be put on a plane and flown out of the region so quickly that it would be due to security concerns because we wouldn't have known if the aliens were friendly or if this was a kind of Trojan horse if they landed. But in this case, everything seems to have been set up in advance. There were apparently even film cameras there recording the event. I put together in my book, a couple sources who have said they've seen the film footage. Some of it's in black and white, and some of it's in color that show the extraterrestrials looking a good deal like human beings walking up to Eisenhower and greeting him in an airplane hangar at Edwards Air Force Base.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
All right. Yeah. So, I mean, even Paul, I mean, I know even you could admit, as the author of the book, like, this is a lot to take in, you know, this entire event. But let's. Let's maybe clarify and clear up some of the misconceptions. First and foremost. You know, in my mind, when I first heard this story when I was younger, I envisioned the, you know, the three foot tall grays with big black eyes. But this. This didn't seem to be the case. And you found something really interesting that I was not aware of, called the Army Manual 101. So I'd love if you could maybe give us A little idea of what that is. Maybe tell us a little about who else was at this meeting. You know, it wasn't just Eisenhower, obviously. There were the camera crew. There were other, I would assume, military people and aides to the President. So, yeah, could you tell us a little first about army manual 101 and then who else was allegedly at this meeting?
Paul Blake Smith
The Army Manual we are familiar with and many people in the UFO community are familiar with was printed in April of 54, which means it was probably right in the aftermath of the eisenhower encounter from February 19th. And it states that communication and contact has been made. And it states that extraterrestrials come in various shapes or forms. And it gives a description of someone who I think landed and spoke to Eisenhower. They were about 5ft tall. They had only a little bit of fuzz on their heads. According to the manual, they look a good deal like human beings. The skin color is a little different. It doesn't say quite how they were dressed. We can assume flight suits of some kind. And they seem very friendly. And the description in that booklet is what was matches or what matches a United States Air Force test pilot who said, I was at the meeting with aliens and Eisenhower, and he said they looked something like human beings. It's what I call, just as this author's opinion, cousins of humanity, that they came from perhaps a planet much like Earth. They grew up with much the same body structure, and their skin color turned a little different because of maybe the harshness of the sun on their planet, or a little more difficult to breathe, which might have affected the size of their nostrils or their lungs, giving them just a slightly misshapen look. That's how the eyewitness, the test pilot, said in the early 1980s, when this story exploded in the pages of the National Enquirer and a few other newspapers picked up the story and ran it. The test pilot says, I was brought in for my expertise in aerodynamics. They wanted someone who really knew how to assess any kind of extraterrestrial craft if it landed. And by golly, he said three did. They were. Three were circular shape and two were cigar shaped. And they landed at the air base. And that Eisenhower met them, but I don't believe he touched them or shook hands with them. And they did speak English, which makes you certainly believe that the aliens had been monitoring America or humankind for a long time and knew our language and it was no problem to speak, and it was no problem for. For them to breathe our atmosphere. So the test pilot said, I was one of these six other guys who were surrounding Eisenhower just to make sure. And everyone had died by the early 1980s. And he said, I'm the last one alive. I want to tell this story before I pass away so the story doesn't die out. And he swore it was true that these aliens were friendly and they were unarmed, and they came out and they spoke to Eisenhower and they got into the topic of atomic testing, which really concerned them. And I think that's a pretty valid reason for landing and speaking to the leader of the free world, don't you?
Ryan Sprague (Host)
I would say so, absolutely. Now, do we have a name for that person, Paul, by chance?
Paul Blake Smith
No. I was never able to find out the test pilot's name. His whole life and career would have been ruined if he had ever given it. So the author of an article at the time, the man who spoke to, kept it an anonymous name, kept him secret. And I believe it's secret to this day. Now I give an opinion in my book over who it could be, but I admit it's still a bit conjecture. The man I have in mind fits the mold perfectly. And he just passed away a few years ago. I'll leave it that mysterious. So you have to buy the book. Exactly. And find out who I'm talking about. But, but this man who came forward around early to mid-1982, we cannot overlook the fact that General Nathan Twining, the head of the Air Force at the time, later Eisenhower's Joint Chiefs of Staff, a very trusted individual, had passed away in March of 82. And I think he might have been present and might have been the last authority figure involved, either there or knowing about it. And once he died, that made perfect sense for the test pilot to step forward and try to find someone who would listen to his tale and take it quite seriously, which I think we can do.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
Well, let's. Let's rewind a little bit to the. The communication between Eisenhower and the supposed ETs. You mentioned atomic testing, but is there anything else we can sort of glean from what was said during this meeting? What, what message were these ETs trying to convey? And how did Eisenhower actually respond to it all? Do we have anything on that, Paul?
Paul Blake Smith
Right. He responded, unfortunately, quite negatively. The aliens offered their friendship and an education program for the people of Earth to wake us up, that we are hardly alone in the universe, that there are other beings out there and they are just one example. Eisenhower wasn't too thrilled with that idea, but things got worse for him when the aliens put on two shows. First they showed Eisenhower what their aircraft can do. Their five craft apparently lifted up into the air and spun around and darted around in the atmosphere. According to the test pilot, it was a dazzling display. And it probably unnerved Eisenhower because he was a licensed pilot and he knew all about America's Air Force and our aero technical plans for the future. And everything the alien showed us in that meeting outstripped what mankind had and in particular the U.S. air Force. It was probably dazzling, but unnerving is how I would call it, to see airships that could fly far faster and maybe stop on a dime in the air and spin around or come down and land with a tripod very quickly. We didn't have anything like this. And Eisenhower, being an old army man, was concerned about how this would impact the people of the United States if they ever saw this going on in our skies, or if these aliens decided to land somewhere else and say, hey, we'd like to educate you to our existence and tell you all about us and how people would react to that. Probably sheer panic, quite frankly. Many people would have maybe even reached for their shotgun in this country if they had seen such a thing. Remembering the old radio show the War of the Worlds, in which people did grab their guns in panic back In Halloween of 1938, a radio program that had aliens landing and trying to invade Grover's Mill in the Jersey. It was a very famous story and people of that generation remembered it well. So that's another factor. Eisenhower had to keep in mind that, wow, we really need to hold this meeting in secret. And then he asked him not to do this, not to show yourselves too much if you have to be here poking around, taking samples, looking over our planet, our life forms, animal, human and plant form. But then the aliens really did something that sealed the deal. That Eisenhower reacted with great discomfort. They made themselves disappear. That is, they became invisible to the naked eye, according to the test pilot. He said Eisenhower was most unnerved by this. The test pilot said, we knew they were there, but we couldn't see them. And then they reappeared, apparently having moved a little bit. And if you're going to offer an education program to the people of Earth and you can cloak yourself or make yourself invisible, dematerialize and rematerialize, however they did it, that's got to be awfully scary. The thought of spies, murderers, bank robbers, rapists, thieves of all kind learning this technique to cloak yourself somehow. It had to have been the last straw for Eisenhower. And he said to the aliens, you're gonna have to go. We can't have this. Our world is not ready for this.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
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Ryan Sprague (Host)
Okay, so I. I can understand that we're not ready. And, you know, Eisenhower was a very, very strategic individual. I mean, he could assess a situation front and back, left and right, up and down, in, you know, the blink of an eye. So you have to think he probably had the best for humankind in mind when this meeting occurred. I mean, we'll never truly know, right? But here's something, too, Paul. So the lore of the story, you know, was that Eisenhower was whisked away, you know, for an emergency dental issue. This is kind of what we all thought was the COVID story. You know, that doesn't seem to be the case. Am I correct?
Paul Blake Smith
That's correct. That story is actually true in the sense that Eisenhower, the very next night, was seated at a dinner at the Smoke Tree Ranch, trying to get his mind back to normal, you know, and he was chewing on a duck leg, bit into some buckshot, which broke off an incisor in his teeth, and he needed emergency medical treatment at a dentist's office. I talked to a woman whose best friend was at that dinner, and she said they apologized up and down to Eisenhower and said the boys went out shooting ducks this morning, and that's why the meat's fresh, but it's still got, you know, grapeshot. Shards of metal in it. No wonder Eisenhower had a dental emergency. So they called up a dentist right away on Saturday night the 20th, and said, we need you. The President has injured a tooth and we need you to examine it and treat him right away. Apparently the dentist's reaction was, yeah, right, the President, yeah, I'll sure be there. And he hung up. And like an hour or two later they were waiting and waiting and they, they called him back, said, where are you? The President is waiting. And they assured him this was no joke. So the dentist, Dr. Francis Purcell, got in his car and drove very hurriedly over to his dental office. And there was Eisenhower, and he was treated that night. The Eisenhower Presidential Library has records for him being treated. And he went later to his own dentist to have some more work done on this temporary crown that was put in that night. And so that just simply is a true story that gets a little conflated with the fact that Eisenhower did go out to Edwards Air Force Base, but it was the night before Friday the 19th. It's also amusing and a sad reflection on the state of our media that the press found out that Eisenhower rushed out of his Smoke Tree Ranch Saturday night and the rumor was he needed emergency medical treatment. Well, the reporters went nuts and decided Eisenhower had died. And one even filed a report with like the Associated Press or upi, forget which, and said Eisenhower died tonight. And then he had to retract that when Eisenhower press statement or press spokesman came in and gave a statement and said Eisenhower was chewing on a chicken leg, which is not true. It was a duck leg and hurt his tooth. And he'll be back in church Sunday morning, which he certainly was. So it just goes to show you how the media, sitting around bored, could snowball a bunch of gossip into a president died. Probably a case of Franklin Roosevelt died while on vacation in Warm Springs, Georgia. Maybe Eisenhower has died on vacation in Palm Springs, California. But the whole thing was a wacky misunderstanding. It really had nothing to do with the alien landing. But it makes for an entertaining but again, kind of sad reflection on the state of the media to get that carried away without any facts, any proof at all.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
You know, if anything, I don't think the media has gotten any better, Paul. But that's a story for another time. But wow, could you. Okay, so let's say, let's say this is true. This meeting occurred. What a weekend for this guy, you know, I mean, meeting with aliens and then having to go for emergency dental appointment and everything. And then to be to church on Sunday. That is Sweeping weekend.
Paul Blake Smith
It had to be a real comedown. But Eisenhower had a printed schedule and if he didn't show up, it's going to start looking really weird and the press will really go nuts. So he showed up at church, he showed up at golf on Monday. There was a big dinner Sunday night. He showed up for that. A bunch of locals and a few celebrities were there at the Smoke Treat Ranch Sunday night. But we need to focus on that date, the 19th of February, as it comes in a little handy with some other US Presidents.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
Yeah, yeah, we will get there for sure. Well, I gotta ask you this, Paul, and I'm sure you've been asked this before, but why do you think if aliens were to come here and to meet with a world leader, I guess the leader of the free world, as we call them in the United States? States. Why here? Why us? Why us Americans? Do you think these meetings were occurring with other world leaders or diplomats and we were just one stop on this, like, diplomacy tour of the universe and the. In the planet, like, why was it Eisenhower and us?
Paul Blake Smith
That's a very, very good question. It's quite possible the aliens did try to meet with other nuclear powers like Russia or China or England. And a quick side story that didn't make my book, but I found out about a month ago that Prince Philip in England has a very great private interest in UFOs, and he collects books. So that he had apparently learned of a UFO sighting on the grounds of Lord Mountbatten's estate in 1955, very close to the Eisenhower encounter. And some say Eisenhower had a second encounter in 2-2-55, and this British one on the rural out in the countryside, Lord Mountbatten Mansion. They believed the man's story that he said he saw this spacecraft and he went out in the snow to look for prints and such. So that gives you an example of maybe aliens did come down at the other nuclear superpowers. But what they asked Eisenhower at Edwards Air Force Base is could you please stop all these crazy, reckless atomic testing that you're doing? We were like kids playing with matches, frankly, in those days. We were setting off nuclear bombs in little experiments in the atmosphere, on the land, in the ground and underwater. And it was creating tremendous radiation and pollution, things leaking into outer space, maybe genuinely affecting otherworldly creatures. And they finally decided to land, to go for it, and to speak to someone face to face. And there was no one better to do this than, as you say, the leader of the free world, the most popular man in America, if not the World President Eisenhower, who was in charge of the atomic testing, they asked him to stop and to get rid of your atomic weapons. And he apparently said, I'm not going to disarm unilaterally. You know, the other nations of the world will have to do so also. So again, it makes you really wonder, did the aliens go find a rural, remote spot in Russia and China and also speak to their leaders? I don't have any information. Those were closed secret societies to America back then. That was the Cold War. And to this day we're still trying to get Russia to unleash its files and find out what, you know, what the KGB knew. There was a brief flurry of opening such matters after the Soviet Union fell around 1990, 91. And then they closed them all up. And boy, there are plenty of juicy secrets there, I'll bet.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
I can only imagine. And hey, you know, I mean, I understand if, if, if what you're saying is true and this is what Eisenhower, how he responded to them. The, the supposed ET is saying, you know, get rid of your new nuclear arms. I mean, we have, we have theories that maybe Russia had something to do with the Roswell crash or this or that case and they wanted to destabilize the United States in such a way. And you have to wonder, maybe Eisenhower, maybe there were theories that this whole ET meeting was, was disguised and it came from Russia and they wanted us to get rid of our nukes and they build up their ugly, like, I mean, I know I'm getting really out there, Paul, but I mean, at this point it's anyone's guess as to what.
Paul Blake Smith
Yeah, there were so many unknowns. How was Eisenhower to know what was going on in other countries or even another part of America.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
Exactly.
Paul Blake Smith
It was another factor of him nervously saying, could you not show yourselves around here, we're not ready for you yet, and react negatively. I include in my book also another factor, another story that a UFO researcher came up with. I don't know if it's valid, but he said he heard the aliens offered clean energy technology, just going to hand it over. And the sound of that is very exciting, isn't it? We should get rid of our coal and fuel, fossil fuel burning engines, plants and factories and cars and trucks, but Eisenhower turned that down as well. And when you think about it, brand new, cutting edge technology, it would wreck the auto industry, maybe the steel industry, wrecked the economy, it would turn everything upside down when you would have to explain where we got it from and how it works. So if that story is true, you kind of want to bang your head on a desk somewhere because we polluted the planet pretty badly in the last 60 years, and we could have obviated all of that by accepting the alien offer if that tale is valid. But it makes you wonder, were these like little enticements thrown out there like a banana on the end of a stick for Eisenhower to go for? And again, we must emphasize Eisenhower was an old military strategist. He saw World War II firsthand. He even toured the Auschwitz death camps. And he saw what human beings can do to each other and how powerful people get carried away. And so he had to been suspicious of the aliens in the fact that, what if they were a Trojan horse and there were invaders coming after this initial friendly group? As a military man, he had to be suspicious and on his defensive and not just be a gullible fool and accept everything he's told.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
Yeah, I mean, you know, maybe this was just one intelligence. Extraterrestrial intelligence. That doesn't mean there's not malevolent ones out there somewhere too.
Paul Blake Smith
That's right. It'd be like opening a Pandora's box. If you let these guys in, what about 10, 12, 30 others? And some of them not very friendly when they see the floodgates open. They think, hey, everybody, come on down.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
Well, you did mention a second meeting. This is really interesting to me. Can you tell us a little about this supposed meeting, when and where and what you found about found out about this Holloman Air Force Base. We know this place well from a different supposed landing as well. So, yeah, what do you got on this one?
Paul Blake Smith
This stems from the great research of the late, great Arthur Campbell, who passed away within the last year or two. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but he put almost everything he knew on the Internet online. And he found some witnesses that say Eisenhower went to Georgia for a little vacation and then snuck away to Holloman Air Force Base on what was Air Force One. Now, does that sound like a familiar method of operation? There was even a party for the media at the hotel in Georgia to distract them while Eisenhower sneaked away. And it's like they played the Palm Springs trick all over again. The media fell for it again, distracted, with free food and drink and entertainment at the hotel. So Eisenhower got an overnight trip. I think he arrived actually by afternoon and came back late overnight and snuck back to his estate in Georgia in February of 55. According to Art Campbell's research, Eisenhower's plane was out on the Runway at Holloman. And two extraterrestrial looking spaceships came down out of the sky, circular, your typical silver metal flying saucers. One hovered in the air and remained there and the other landed. And Eisenhower was seen supposedly walking out of his airplane and over to it and stepped inside. And there would have been a real reason for this meeting if the two had come to a formal agreement, a contract or a treaty, as we've heard many times that Eisenhower formed a signed agreement and he would have to have put it into print, and possibly the aliens would have had to have agreed to what the wording was and how they would go about maybe secretly landing on planet Earth, if not out in the Nevada desert, according to one document, and that they could continue in private to land and inspect our air, our sea, our land, our animals and the human race. And we in return would get technology, possibly, or information to help us. That's in my book. I explain a little more at length. But this would explain why Eisenhower needed a second meeting. And he pulled it off. Apparently. Art Campbell said there were witnesses that said Eisenhower went into an air base, a small theater. There they gathered all the personnel and swore them to secrecy, said, we cannot let this story out. You're going to have to keep your mouth shut. Just like he swore them to secrecy at Edwards Air Force Base the year before. Then he hopped on a plane and flew back to Georgia for this quail hunting vacation. And no one was the wiser until Art Campbell dug into this in the 1980s and 90s. And so I tipped my cap to this very fine gentleman who was like me, he was from Missouri.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
There you go. Yeah. It's so, so fascinating, Paul. I mean, all of this. And I guess I kind of wrapping up what's in the book because we don't want to give away too much, obviously, but your last chapter, you cover Eisenhower after his presidency and his meetings with a lot of interesting people that we would come to know pretty darn well here in the United States and beyond. So would you mind teasing us a little bit about these meetings that Eisenhower had after his presidency and what it could all mean in terms of, you know, this, this meeting. And what we now know is the UFO cover up.
Paul Blake Smith
I guess when I was researching whatever agreement Eisenhower reached with aliens, I would press this into, type it into the search engine on my computer. And one came back, 10 year agreement. And I'm thinking, why 10 year agreement? Who came up with this? And I couldn't find anymore and it became very frustrating. But I found out the President of the United States. Lyndon B. Johnson flew from Washington D.C. all the way out to Palm Springs. He met with Eisenhower. There was a second Air Force One on the tarmac at the airport. Some monkey business might well have been going on. They met on February 20th, one day after the exact 10 year anniversary, in case there was an agreement that needed updating or, you know, signing on to by this president. It turns out that there were a few gaps in the schedule, and Eisenhower did meet with LBJ a couple of times. They could have met more. I don't know quite what was going on, but there were rumors that there was extraterrestrial material at a local air base that JFK flew out to see. He flew out in March of 1962 and met with Eisenhower and posed for pictures with Ike at his Palm Springs home. And then he had gaps in his schedule. And I tried to piece together what could have happened. Jfk, UFO rumors are a little sketchy, I'll admit. And there's other presidents that flew into Palm Springs, future presidents like Reagan, Elder Bush and Ford. And that back in the later 60s, on the exact anniversary of the 15th year of the Eisenhower encounter with aliens, LBJ flew back to Palm Springs and met with Eisenhower. You must, can't make this stuff up. February 19th, 1968. And then February 19th is a date for the Richard Nixon Jackie Gleason encounter, which was at an Air Force base with armed security guards around, and they saw something otherworldly in a laboratory there. So, you know, you have to ask yourself, what in the world is going on here in private that they can't tell us? I think we're able to piece together something that at least these presidents back in the day knew we were being visited and that there was an agreement that they kept hushed up and everything's been fine. We haven't been invaded or assaulted in any way. So, you know, why upset the apple cart? Keep the status quo going. I don't know too much about more recent presidents and what they know, but you see them on Jimmy Kimmel Live or on Stephen Colbert, and these hosts will ask them, you know, are we alone? Are we being visited or not? And they give a flippant answer and laugh and chuckle or just say, oh, it's a matter of national security. But I think that's your answer. I mean, if the answer was absolutely not, they'd say so. But they don't want to tell you the truth, so they just kind of skirt around it. And it's very frustrating. But maybe someday a former president will Tell us. Or maybe even one in office.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
I mean, who knows? And I do wonder, you know, do these presidents, do they want to be the disclosure president? You know, you really have to wonder what kind of baggage would come with that. And that will be your legacy, you know, So I have to wonder if that's why the suppression continues, like you said, to keep that status quo.
Paul Blake Smith
You are quite correct. Would it upset the apple cart and damage the stock market and the economy and put people out of work? To this day, of course, it's not too good right now anyway. So that's another factor in keeping this information bottled up. The economy is not strong. If people started quitting their jobs or quitting school and decided to study extraterrestrials or even worship them, that was something Eisenhower was apparently worried about. People don't seem to realize he was a very devoutly Christian gentleman. He had himself baptized in his first month or so in the White House. He's the only American president to have himself baptized. He took in God We Trust so seriously. He made sure it was on all of our currency. He was a church going Christian and he was not open to the idea that maybe people would start worshiping the aliens and forget about their religious faith. Which takes us back to World War II and that incident with Winston Churchill, doesn't it?
Ryan Sprague (Host)
Yep, Exactly.
Exactly.
Yep. You do have to wonder these, you know, kind of hypothesizing of what would change if all of this were true. And the, the possibilities are literally endless. So. You know, I remember when I first heard you were coming out with this book, Paul. I, I didn't think there was much to any of this, as I'm sure some of my listeners and viewers felt as well. But, I mean, after reading what you brought forth and, and the documents you uncovered, we didn't even really go into those, but we'll leave that for the reader and, and whatnot. I have to ask you on a personal level, what do you think? Do you personally buy into this?
Paul Blake Smith
After I do research, I think it really did happen. I've heard from some various people who've read my back book and said, Paul, you just blew my mind. I was skeptical at first and you convinced me. I can put together what I feel is a pretty strong circumstantial evidence case and let the reader decide. I try to cram in as much information as I could find to really research this and not put a book full of loose conspiracy theories without sources together or some junk, you know, that you end up regretting spending your money For I've gotten a lot of good reviews and people have been very complimentary and I'm very appreciative. And I think that if you read it open mindedly and piece it together as I did, I go along like it's a puzzle. Let's piece it together and come to the conclusion that yeah, I think Eisenhower did meet these friendly human type beings and it went peacefully. It had to be kept to cover it up. I'm hopeful that, you know, there's this new legislation today that Congress has like 180 days of the, the intelligence services to open up those files and this is a very mind boggling possibility that maybe some older files like Cape Girardeau 1941, Roswell 47 or the Eisenhower encounters could be opened up first and not blow people away with like, what's going on today if we're being threatened by someone up in space. These are more harmless older stories, some of them involving the little grays as we sometimes refer to them as. I believe Colonel Philip Corso, who said that it was his understanding that the gray beings are like little bio robots, that they were created probably by human type aliens or others as almost like servants or slaves. They were compared in one document to hunting dogs that would go out in little spaceships and do what they're told. And that's why they don't seem to have any feelings, any sympathy for any cattle they may mutilate or human they may abduct and put back that they're not really human or humanoids. They were created almost like in a factory. And that's why when they crash, as in Cape Girardeau or Roswell, that aliens are not too particularly upset. That's like, well, we'll go back to the factory and get some more. They never went back for their dead, did they?
Ryan Sprague (Host)
That's such a good point. They, they're definitely expendable I guess at that point. Well, okay, so zooming out. You know, you did mention this UAP task force that we have coming at us now in 2021. What do you hope people will take away from your book most? And how can they take what they learn from your book and infuse it into this world of UFOs today.
Paul Blake Smith
I think it's much like what the aliens wanted in 1954 to educate humanity, that we are not alone, we are being visited by other species, other races, some of them friendly, maybe some of them a little cold blooded, that this one human type race knows what's going on here and speak English. And they care about our environment, even if we recklessly destroy it. They want us to live in peace and live in harmony, as corny as that may sound. And they probably, you would assume they're still buzzing around today and observing us, hoping we don't tear ourselves apart and have a better future. It's something that some people have may not given much thought to before and maybe this book will help them as the aliens wanted to help open our minds to our presence. Unfortunately, we have some people today who think the Earth is flat and all those globes and pictures of the Earth as a round planet are somehow false. And that gives you an indication we need a lot of education going on, don't we?
Ryan Sprague (Host)
We do. We need a crash course more now than ever. Absolutely, brother. Well, I mean, this book was definitely a crash, crash course for me. And again, I'm gonna say it, I would not have written the forward if I did not believe in this journey that you were taking and what you brought forward. So I hope that's an indication to my, my listeners that this book is definitely worth your time. Again, I was one of those people who scoffed at it when I first heard about it. And now I'm coming out on the other side being like, huh, I, I think this happened. So, man, if that's of any indication, I hope people will check it out. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of this journey you're taking with this story, Paul. But of course, before we go, where can we find the book and everything you are up to, my friend?
Paul Blake Smith
The book can be found of course, on Amazon.com and you can go to also to foundationsbooks.net and if you're looking for the revised, updated 2020 version of my MO4 book on the Cape Girardo UFO crash, you can go to aargusbooks.com where shipping is free, or also to Amazon.com it comes in all kinds of E form and Kindle and such. And I'm just so pleased with the response I've heard from a couple of television producers. And so we may see some of this in the future on the small screen. I'd like to see it on the big screen. Screen is such an awesome story, isn't it? The President of the United States meeting face to face with aliens and seeing their craft buzz around. It has such a disappointing end though, doesn't it? He has to tell him to get, get lost.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
Hey, no one ever said these things all have happy endings, man. But hey, I think this story is still being written and Spielberg is still around man, so maybe we'll get him to take a crack at it. But no, commend you. I congratulate you on the release of the book man, and I have to thank you for coming on Somewhere in the Skies.
Paul Blake Smith
Well, thank you so much for writing the Ford and having me on as your guest. I hope we get a good response and maybe I can produce a sequel, the Nixon Encounter. We'll see.
Ryan Sprague (Host)
To be continued.
That's it for this week's episode.
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Podcast: Somewhere in the Skies (SpectreVision Radio)
Host: Ryan Sprague
Guest: Paul Blake Smith
Release Date: July 29, 2026
This "SITS CLASSIC" episode revisits one of UFOlogy's most persistent legends: the claim that President Dwight D. Eisenhower secretly met with extraterrestrial visitors in 1954. Host Ryan Sprague is joined by author Paul Blake Smith, whose research and book, President Eisenhower’s Close Encounters, digs deeply into the historical foundations, documents, and eyewitness accounts behind this alleged event. The conversation explores the roots of the story, Eisenhower's motivations and decisions, eyewitness testimonies, attempted government cover-ups, and the broader implications for government secrecy and the evolution of UFO disclosure.
"Whether you believe it happened or not, it's a story that has shaped decades of speculation surrounding government secrecy, presidential knowledge, and the possibility of contact with another intelligence." — Ryan Sprague [02:52]
"I was born and raised and educated in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a name that should be the most famous place in the whole world because we had a UFO crash six years before Roswell..." — Paul Blake Smith [07:41]
Eisenhower the Man:
1952 Sighting at Sea:
"I'd like to picture Ike in his pajamas and robe... because they said they gave him some coffee and were standing around... suddenly someone looked out the window and saw your typical UFO..." — Paul Blake Smith [10:08]
Suspicious Cover Story:
Staging the Encounter:
What Happened at the Meeting:
"According to the manual, they look a good deal like human beings. The skin color is a little different... they seemed very friendly." — Paul Blake Smith [20:31]
"The aliens offered their friendship and an education program... Eisenhower wasn't too thrilled with that idea..." — Paul Blake Smith [25:29]
Memorable Moment:
"That story is actually true in the sense that Eisenhower, the very next night, was seated at a dinner at the Smoke Tree Ranch... and he needed emergency medical treatment at a dentist's office..." — Paul Blake Smith [33:50]
Global Diplomacy and UFOs:
"We were like kids playing with matches, frankly, in those days...creating tremendous radiation and pollution, things leaking into outer space, maybe genuinely affecting otherworldly creatures. And they finally decided to land, to go for it, and to speak to someone face to face." — Paul Blake Smith [38:32]
Skepticism and Caution:
"They played the Palm Springs trick all over again. The media fell for it again...Eisenhower got an overnight trip...Supposedly walking out of his airplane and over to [the craft] and stepped inside." — Paul Blake Smith [44:42]
Presidents in the Know:
"There were rumors that there was extraterrestrial material at a local air base that JFK flew out to see. He flew out in March of 1962 and met with Eisenhower..." — Paul Blake Smith [48:40]
"After I do research, I think it really did happen...I can put together what I feel is a pretty strong circumstantial evidence case and let the reader decide." — Paul Blake Smith [53:42]
"We are not alone, we are being visited by other species, other races, some of them friendly, maybe some of them a little cold blooded..." — Paul Blake Smith [56:35]
On Eisenhower’s Sighting at Sea:
"I'd like to picture Ike in his pajamas and robe... someone looked out the window and saw your typical UFO, a circular craft. It was silver and shiny... just hovering over the ship." — Paul Blake Smith [10:08]
On the Look of the Alleged Aliens:
"They look a good deal like human beings. The skin color is a little different. It doesn't say quite how they were dressed... And they seem very friendly." — Paul Blake Smith [20:31]
On Eisenhower’s Dilemma:
"Eisenhower, being an old army man, was concerned about how this would impact the people of the United States... probably sheer panic, quite frankly." — Paul Blake Smith [25:40]
On the Cloaking Demonstration:
"They made themselves disappear. That is, they became invisible to the naked eye, according to the test pilot. He said Eisenhower was most unnerved by this." — Paul Blake Smith [27:00]
On the Real Dental Emergency:
"He was chewing on a duck leg, bit into some buckshot, which broke off an incisor in his teeth, and he needed emergency medical treatment at a dentist's office." — Paul Blake Smith [33:50]
On Presidential Secrecy:
"If the answer was absolutely not, they'd say so. But they don't want to tell you the truth, so they just kind of skirt around it." — Paul Blake Smith [51:39]
The episode proceeds with respectful skepticism, historical curiosity, and open-minded analysis. Smith is methodical yet personable, while Sprague guides listeners through complex material with clarity, humor, and occasional self-deprecation (e.g., likening himself to former scoffers who converted after reviewing the evidence).
The Eisenhower-alien meeting remains a pillar of UFO lore. While no "smoking gun" emerges, Smith’s synthesis of testimonies, timelines, and government intrigue provides ample food for thought and invites listeners to consider the possibility with an open yet critical perspective. The episode serves as an accessible primer on the story, raises caution about immediate disclosure, and underscores the enduring void of trustworthy, official answers.
Find Paul Blake Smith’s book at Amazon and select independent publishers.
Further resources and links: