The UFO phenomenon has captured the imagination of the American public for nearly eight decades. Now, with recent developments in what’s called the Disclosure Movement — an international campaign urging governments to reveal their intelligence on extraterrestrial life.
An Armstrong student exclusive survey revealed that out of 47 students, 87.2% believe in “life elsewhere”; 68.1% believe that “the U.S. Government has withheld evidence from the public relating to said ‘life elsewhere’”; and 12.8% believe to have had “an unexplained experience [they] would relate to the idea of extraterrestrial life.”
Jaden Higgins-Brooks, a freshman music major at Armstrong, shared a story about her own paranormal experience in the fall of 2022.
“I went camping in North Georgia with my close friends in the Appalachian mountains. … [I] felt a strong connection to nature during this time, I thought then there might have been a spiritual connection.”
She recalls moments of unnatural silence and bizarre animal behavior throughout her trip.“The creepiest thing is that I can remember sensing something outside our tent,” Jaden explained.
“It was so dark that I wasn’t able to make out much, but there was a shape — darker than the night itself — with what looked like a human-like head. After the trip I can remember how I joked about there being a skinwalker, but when I try to recall that moment now the memory feels strangely blocked, as if there was something there I wasn’t supposed to see, and I still can’t quite explain it.”
Higgins-Brooks described this figure as “tall” and associated with mysterious “lights” in the woods. Her experience is similar to other reports of paranormal activities or alien encounters.
History of the Phenomenon
Modern UFO sightings began as early as World War II, when both axis and allied pilots encountered strange, maneuvering lights in the sky they dubbed as “foo-fighters.”
Throughout the forties, fifties, and sixties, the United States Air Force, and other government organizations, took the potential of an “alien threat” very seriously. One of the more well-known national investigative efforts was done through the Air Force program “Project Blue Book” (1952-1969). Officially, programs such as “Blue Book” had ended by 1969, but sightings continued.
Georgia itself has had numerous notable occurrences over the years. Georgia native and former President Jimmy Carter witnessed a luminous object at a Lions Club in Leary, GA in 1969. He reported that this object changed from a blue to red color as it moved as close as 300 yards to him and his group, then departed.
In 1973, a major UFO “flap” hit much of Georgia. Sightings were reported in Macon, Athens, Savannah, and beyond. In this same surge, two military police officers stationed at the local Hunter Army Airfield reported a bright, flashing object that dove at and pursued their vehicle during a night patrol.
In September of 1977, a supposed “mass abduction” and military confrontation involving orbs of light occurred at Fort Benning near Columbus, GA. The validity of this story is highly debated within the UFO field, but remains interesting considering the purported scale of the event.
Extraterrestrial Intelligence Today
Former President Barack Obama stated in an interview on the question of extraterrestrial life, “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them.” Now, with President Trump on Feb. 19 announcing the release of files relating to “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena, and unidentified flying objects,” there’s an almost never-before-seen emphasis on this strange phenomenon.
Starting in 2022 and continuing into today, Congress has held multiple hearings on the subject of UFOs, calling forward witnesses with insight on a variety of national security related issues.
Many credentialed witnesses’ statements align with the words of congressional whistleblower and former Air Force Officer David Grusch: “The data points, quite empirically, [that] we are not alone.”