Presidents are obsessed with UFOs, too
A wild history of Oval Office obsession with the biggest conspiracy theory of the modern era.
What would you do if the United States were suddenly attacked by someone from outer space?
Early in his second term, President Ronald Reagan asked that question of Mikhail Gorbachev at an arms summit at Lake Geneva. “Would you help us?” he added.
“No doubt about it,” Gorbachev later recalled telling Reagan.
UFOs are often relegated to the realm of science fiction, but they’ve been a serious political force since Harry Truman’s day, and presidents of both parties have expressed interest in getting to the bottom of the skyborne mysteries. Both Reagan and President Jimmy Carter had firsthand experiences with UFOs, and when the two ran against each other in 1980, the out-of-this-world issue had a major impact on geopolitics and the Cold War.
In this week’s Friday Read, Garret Graff, author of UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search for Alien Life Here ― and Out There, takes us to outer space (or at least inside the White House) to uncover the long and strange history of presidential UFO obsessions.
“You look like a smurf here just going around on all this stuff.”
Can you guess who said this about Democratic Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
D.C. Wrestles With Political Violence … Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel was another terrible reminder that political violence is on the rise around the world. And here in Washington, where politics is everything, the ambient threat of political violence has cast a pall of fear over the city. “More people in Washington now feel a sense of physical danger from the politics or geopolitics that power the city’s elite,” writes Michael Schaffer in this week’s Capital City column. “Folks who a couple decades ago enjoyed a privileged feeling of safety are apt today to have a small part of themselves that worries about their own security in the face of international terrorism, domestic extremism, internet-fueled conspiracists, legislative rivals willing to literally elbow your kidney.”
Congress turned into a cluster this week. But it also tried something novel and actually passed a bill. Can’t keep up with all the drama and democracy? Use these talking points to fake your way through the weekend (from associate editor Dylon Jones).
- If you know one thing about Congress this week, it’s that Sen. Markwayne Mullin challenged Teamsters President Sean O'Brien to a fight before Sen. Bernie Sanders intervened. Mullin is a former MMA fighter with a 3-0 record. But the real reason to avoid a fight with him is that he told a local podcast this week: “I’m not afraid of biting. I will bite.”
- Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett, who voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the speakership, said the California Republican elbowed him in the kidney this week, which McCarthy denies.
- As for the new speaker, Mike Johnson, he’s had a mixed week. He managed to avoid a pre-Thanksgiving government shutdown, but he ran into opposition from the Freedom Caucus, and lost 93 Republican votes — three more than when McCarthy failed to pass the resolution — relying on Democratic support to cross the finish line. Now, he’s closing the House for Thanksgiving early because 19 Republican hard-liners tanked an appropriations bill.
- In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, Freedom Caucusers ripped into his strategy and discussed how to clap back. One option: tank procedural votes, effectively holding the House hostage. “There is a sentiment that if we can’t fight anything, then let’s just hold up everything,” said South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman.
Birth of the ‘Big Lie’ … Fox News’ role in amplifying the lie that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump cost the network $787.5 million in a lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems — and fomented a persistent distrust of the electoral system that Trump still campaigns on today. How did a fringe conspiracy theory make it to air on one of America’s most popular channels? In this excerpt from his new book, Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy, Brian Stelter takes us inside Fox, where rogue hosts, bad decisions and “tons of crazy” led to one of the biggest media lawsuits in history and changed American democracy.
Legislative Fisticuffs … Things got heated on the Hill this week, but not nearly as heated as history. Politicians have threatened one another and even resorted to physical violence in the past. So Kelly Garrity asked Yale historian Joanne Freeman what drives lawmakers to be their worst selves, what all the macho posturing tells us about politics and where to go from here. No, she says, bringing dueling back is not the answer.
The fight that nearly broke out at the Senate HELP Committee this week has put a political focus on mixed martial arts, a sport in which Mullin used to compete. MMA draws from several sources, including a legendary 1976 fight between Muhammad Ali and a Japanese wrestler, Antonio Inoki, that resulted in a draw after Inoki spent most of the fight on his back, wildly kicking Ali 107 times. Ali disliked the strategy, and screamed “Inoki girl!” at his opponent. Inoki went on to serve as a politician in the Japanese Diet, and in an unlikely twist, he and Ali became friends — something hard to imagine in this Congress. You can buy this ticket for a sparring match between Ali and Inoki on eBay for $299.95.
**Who Dissed answer: It was Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, responding to the accusation that he loaned his brother money. Comer has subpoenaed the president’s brother, James Biden, and focused criticism on personal loans the president gave to James.
