All language subtitles for Ancient Aliens s07e14 Aliens and the Civil War.eng

MAN: Fire!

NARRATOR: A people torn
apart...

RICHARD LEWIS: Not a household
in the North or the

South was not touched by
blood in this conflict.

NARRATOR: ...and the future of a
nation hanging in the balance.

JOHN V. QUARSTEIN: That
union, for it to fail, that

meant that the concepts of democracy
would fail throughout the world.

NARRATOR: The Civil War

nearly destroyed the
Great Experiment known as the

United States of America, but
might there have even been more

at stake than we know?
Could it be that the

preservation of the Union was
ensured by extraterrestrial beings?

DAVID WILCOCK: It's possible
that extraterrestrials

have been visiting
America since its

foundation and did steer the
outcome of the Civil War.

NARRATOR: Millions of people
around the world believe we have

been visited in the past by
extraterrestrial beings.

What if it were true?

Did ancient aliens really help
to shape our history?

And if so, might they have even influenced
the outcome of the American Civil War?

NARRATOR: Jackson County, Missouri, 1831.

30 years before the Confederate

cannons fired on Fort Sumter,
marking the start of the

American Civil War, Mormon
Church founder Joseph Smith

brought many of his followers
here, declaring this location

to be the site of the
New Jerusalem.

He also stirred up controversy
with his comments on slavery in

this long established slave state.

QUARSTEIN: Joseph Smith...
when he takes his Mormon colony

to Missouri, he actually makes
some statements about slavery.

He taught that the slavery
issue would cause discord.

He also came out and said that
the slaves would eventually

rise up against their masters.
NARRATOR: Eight years

earlier, Joseph Smith claimed
that a strange figure named

Moroni came to him in the night,
enveloped in light and

professing to be from the
Pleiades star cluster.

It was also Moroni who directed
him to the golden tablets that

would become the Book of Mormon.
WILCOCK: Joseph Smith also

reported that the angel Moroni
continued to visit him and three

others amongst his congregation
also reported similar visits.

NARRATOR: According to Smith,
Moroni appeared to him numerous

times over the course of his
life...

and in 1832, he came,
bearing an ominous prophecy.

On December 25, Smith passed
this prophecy on to his flock,

stating: "Wars will shortly come
to pass, beginning at the

rebellion of South Carolina,
which will eventually terminate

in the death and misery of many
souls.

For behold, the Southern States
shall be divided against the

Northern States."
LEWIS: There are some people

that say this is a prophecy,
this is a vision by Smith.

Whatever way it was, it really
did portend what came about in

the 1860s.
WILCOCK: What we're seeing

is a human looking being with
brilliant light coming off of

it, who conveyed an intelligent
message to Joseph Smith.

There are some speculations that
Joseph Smith was in fact visited

by an advanced extraterrestrial
being.

NARRATOR: Did Joseph Smith
really receive a prophecy that

predicted the coming of the
Civil War?

And if so, how did an
otherworldly entity know that

the war would begin in South
Carolina nearly 30 years in advance?

WILCOCK: Is it possible that

the angel Moroni, this perhaps
extraterrestrial being, was very

concerned about the Civil War,
and that's why it gave Joseph

Smith an advanced prophetic
glimpse into what was coming?

Was this another one of the
efforts to intervene and to try

to steer our history towards the
most favorable outcome, perhaps

not just for us but also for the
extraterrestrials themselves?

NARRATOR: But Joseph Smith is
not the only person who is said

to have been visited by an
otherworldly being foretelling

of a future Civil War.
Stories have emerged that during

the American Revolution,
in 1777, George Washington had

a similar encounter at Valley
Forge.

WILLIAM HENRY: The story is,
is that, while at Valley Forge,

General Washington had given his
men orders not to disturb him.

And suddenly, there's a a being
standing there.

And this being is described as
being extremely luminous.

And next thing we know, is this
being starts giving Washington

a prophecy about the future of
America.

NARRATOR: According to the
story, this luminous being not

only gave Washington a vision of
the future United States, but

also warned that the Union would
be tested by Civil War.

Is it possible that both George
Washington and Joseph Smith were

visited by extraterrestrial
beings who somehow knew that the

Civil War would take place?
Ancient astronaut theorists say

yes, and suggest even stronger
evidence can be found with

strange encounters that were
reported not by lone

individuals, but by entire
communities.

While UFO sightings were
extremely rare before the 1900s,

a number were reported during
the final years leading up to

the war.
NICK REDFERN: One of the best

early UFO encounters is
Wilmington, Delaware, from 1860,

where witnesses reported seeing
this vast 200 foot long object,

flying through the sky.
And it had, like, a trail of

globes or balls of light behind
it.

One of them was actually ejected
from the object.

Now, this sounds almost like a
rocket.

Certainly nobody should have
been flying a rocket in 1860.

NARRATOR: An even more
striking UFO encounter was

reported in Shreveport,
Louisiana, that same year.

PITTMAN: A group of
people saw an enormous craft,

300 yards long, hovering just
above the tallest trees.

This thing was described as
having a color like a glowing

red stove.
And out of the center of this

massive object there were rays,
like rays of the sun, that

reached toward the sky.
Incredibly, this thing was seen

for an hour, without changing
at all.

People got a very good look
at this thing, and nobody could

even hazard a guess as to what
it was.

NARRATOR: Less than a month
before the start of the war,

another major sighting was
reported in New York City.

PITTMAN: New York at that
time was very different.

It was a cramped, urban setting,
before the age of tall

buildings.
In that setting, a witness,

Mrs. T. Richard Kinder, looked
out of an upper window, in her

house on Baxter Street, and she
saw an object in the sky.

She described it as luminous,
glowing, shaped like a cross,

flying in the air.
Startled, she awoke her husband.

He saw the glowing cross, too.
WILCOCK: This ongoing

presence strongly suggests that
extraterrestrials were not just

taking a backseat approach to
what was happening on Earth,

but they were actively involved
and they were monitoring us.

NARRATOR: How is it that in
an era when UFO sightings were

rarely reported, three mass UFO
encounters occurred within a

year of the start of the Civil
War?

Is it possible that
extraterrestrials really did

monitor the United States during
this time?

Ancient astronaut theorists say
yes, and claim that even

stranger than the encounters
leading up to the war are those

that were reported once the
fighting began.

NARRATOR: Charleston Harbor,
South Carolina.

April 12, 1861.
At 4:30 in the morning,

Confederate cannons fire on
Fort Sumter.

Three days later, President
Abraham Lincoln declares that an

insurrection exists and calls
for 75,000 volunteers to put

down the rebellion.
The American Civil War has

begun.
LEWIS: People on both sides

assumed that there would be one
great battle that would decide

everything... winner take all...
one great battle fought

somewhere probably between
Richmond and Washington.

But that doesn't happen.
QUARSTEIN: People actually

came out from Washington with
picnic baskets and champagne to

watch the battle.
But this war would be a horrible

war, a war that no participant
would ever forget.

It cost more American lives than
all other wars combined.

750,000 people, it is now
believed, perished during

the war.

The Civil War was felt

everywhere in America, because
it is that war that defines what

type of nation we're going
to be.

NARRATOR: It was not just the
future of the United States that

was at stake.
This was a war over different

philosophies of government,
with the fate of a people caught

in the crossfire.
And according to ancient

astronaut theorists, there may have
been even more at stake than we know.

New York City.
April 19, 1861.

Responding to President Lincoln's call to
action, the 7th New York Militia travels by

steamboat to Annapolis, Maryland.

While en route, they witness a very
strange occurrence in the sky.

PITTMAN: While these men and

sailors were on board, they saw
what was described as the moon

suddenly soaring clear into the
sky, and around it... clearly

defined... three circles of light.

Now, of course, we know that
it's not possible for the moon

to change position in the sky
that way.

And looking at this sighting, as
it was reported, this would have

to be classified as a UFO.
If UFO sightings represent

encounters with alien
spaceships, then it seems

certain that UFOs were watching
over America during the Civil War.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that

the men of the 7th New York
Militia really did have an

encounter with some type of
alien craft, just days after the

start of the Civil War?

And if so, is it a sign that
extraterrestrials had an

interest in this turning point
in our history?

REDFERN: There's an intriguing pattern
that we see within UFO reports.

And that's an increase in
sightings when wars break out.

The First World War, Second
World War, Vietnam, the Korean

War... they all had their UFO
incidents.

And another example is the
American Civil War.

PITTMAN: It could be that
aliens might simply be

interested in observing
historical events.

It's also possible that
extraterrestrials might be

trying to influence the course of events
or simply to warn people in some way.

NARRATOR: While there were

numerous UFO sightings reported
during the Civil War, even more

common are stories of soldiers encountering
strange beings on the battlefield.

NARRATOR: Also reported were
bizarre dreams and premonitions,

some of which proved to be prophetic.

One of the most notable was

published in a Kansas newspaper
on March 27, 1862.

According to the account,
General George B. McClellan,

chief of the Union Armies, was
visited in his sleep by the

ghostly figure of George
Washington, who warned him that

Confederate forces were closing
in on the capital.

The vision reportedly caused
McClellan to change his plans

and fend off the attack.
QUARSTEIN: There are many

soldiers and politicians during
the Civil War that have

premonitions, premonitions of
death.

Nathaniel Lyon at the Battle of
Wilson's Creek actually said,

"Today I will die."
And he is going to be shot in

the chest during the battle,
trying to rally his men.

NARRATOR: But what can
explain all of these bizarre

incidents?
Ancient astronaut theorists

suggest that the strange dreams
and UFO sightings are evidence

that extraterrestrials were, in
fact, present in America during

the Civil War.
CHILDRESS: It would seem that

throughout the history of this
planet, certain civilizations

and nations have been watched
very carefully by the

extraterrestrials and and
nurtured by them.

And in ancient times, this could
well have been the Egyptians and

the Chinese and the Sumerians.
And really, in our own era, it's

the United States of America
that is is the country that

these extraterrestrials are
the most interested in.

NARRATOR: Could it be that
extraterrestrials took an

interest in the success of the
United States of America?

Ancient astronaut theorists say
the answer may lie with the man

who was tasked with preserving
the Union: Abraham Lincoln.

NARRATOR: Springfield,

Illinois.
November 7, 1860.

The morning after hearing the
triumphant news that he has been

elected president of the United
States, Abraham Lincoln wakes up

from a deep sleep and gazes into
a full length mirror in his

bedroom and has a startling vision.

CHRISTOPHER COLEMAN: He saw two
images of himself in the mirror.

One face was healthy and well.

The other was a pale,
ghostly image of it.

He got up, looked at the mirror,
checked it, to see if there was

something wrong, then he laid
down again thinking, "Well, it's

just my imagination."
NARRATOR: Thinking his mind

was playing tricks on him,
Lincoln checked the mirror a

second time.
Each time, his two faces

confronted him, one five times
paler than the other.

Lincoln told his wife Mary about
the vision.

COLEMAN: Lincoln relied on
Mary quite a bit.

When he told her about the
vision, she became deathly

afraid, because she interpreted
it to mean that he would have

two terms as president.
One he would be healthy and

well, and the second term,
he would die in office.

NARRATOR: If the ghostly
reflection in the mirror was not

a hallucination, then what was it?

HENRY: It's not too big of a
stretch to think that perhaps

President Lincoln was somehow
influenced by otherworldly

beings during the course of the
war.

It was that important. It took
on immense cosmic significance.

NARRATOR: Was Abraham Lincoln actually
able to receive messages from an

extraterrestrial realm that
helped him anticipate the future?

Ancient astronaut theorists say

yes, and point out that the
president himself believed he

was the instrument of a higher
power.

LEWIS: Abraham Lincoln is
such a mystery still to us even

though dozens and dozens and
dozens of books have been

written about him.
But Lincoln himself was

something of a mystic.
I think he had a belief in the

supernatural.
At least three different times

during the war, he told friends
that he had had a dream about

being on a boat with no rudder,
with no sail, with no tiller.

It's adrift.
He is powerless to steer it,

and it's heading toward a shore.
COLEMAN: Every time he had

that dream, something important happened
during the war, mainly the battles.

Antietam, Stones River,
Shiloh, Gettysburg...

NARRATOR: Is it really

possible that Abraham Lincoln
was given premonitions about the

war by extraterrestrial beings?
Could he have been chosen

because he represented the best
hope for preserving the Union

and ensuring the continuation of
the Great American Experiment?

QUARSTEIN: Abraham Lincoln
saw the United States as this

great experiment in democracy.
That for it to fail, that meant

that the concepts of democracy
would fail throughout the world.

NARRATOR: In addition to his
own premonitions, some say that

Lincoln may also have been
influenced by the visions of

a Spiritualist named Nettie
Colburn.

In December of 1862, during the
darkest days of the Civil War,

Nettie became a spiritual
advisor for Mary Todd Lincoln,

who was a devout believer in
mysticism.

COLEMAN: She claimed to have
attended s?ances with Lincoln

multiple times and, while in a
trance, claimed to have advised

him on the war.
Now, proving that is sometimes

difficult, but in my research,
I did find, on several points,

Nettie's story does check out.
NARRATOR: According to

Nettie's autobiography,
otherworldly beings used her

to communicate with President
Lincoln during s?ances and even

advised him to issue the
Emancipation Proclamation.

And another mystic,
J.B. Conklin, claimed these

voices actually dictated to the
president a first draft of the

historic document.
DIANE POWELL: Things that not

only Nettie did, but other
people in the Spiritualist

movement did, was they were
giving him messages about how

important the Emancipation
Proclamation was, and it was

something that Lincoln took as
divine sort of guidance.

And so it appears to have played
a role in his decision making.

HENRY: It's quite possible
that, at one of these events,

he received messages from
otherworldly beings, possibly

even extraterrestrial beings,
in order to preserve the Union

as part of this immense master
plan for humanity.

WILCOCK: What that leads us
to is the possibility that some

of the same extraterrestrials
that were being seen in numerous

UFO sightings before and during
the Civil War were able to form

a direct contact to Lincoln,
through Nettie Colburn Maynard,

to give him the messages that he
needed to be able to steer the

outcome of the Civil War.
NARRATOR: Was Abraham Lincoln

literally destined for
greatness?

Might aliens have been guiding
him through his dreams and

visions during the Civil War?
If so, what was their purpose?

Perhaps the answer can be found
with an incredible encounter...

MAN: Fire!
NARRATOR: ...at Gettysburg.

NARRATOR: Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania.

July 2, 1863.
Two years and three months into

the Civil War, 337,000 men lie
dead, over 13 times as many

casualties as the United States
suffered during the

Revolutionary War.
But after so much bloodshed,

neither side has a clear
advantage.

The majority of the fighting has
taken place in the Southern

states, but Confederate General
Robert E. Lee, who is gaining a

reputation as being invincible,
decides to make an aggressive

move and advance into Union
territory.

LEWIS: Robert E. Lee decides
that he will take the war north,

for a couple of reasons.
Number one, it's gonna relieve

pressure on the farmers in
Virginia, who are trying to grow

crops, feed themselves,
feed the army.

And second, politically, uh, he
knows that there is a lot of

pressure on Abraham Lincoln to
win this war.

Northern voters, Northern
politicians are angry that this

war is carrying on so far.
NARRATOR: If Lee won here,

the door to Washington, and
ultimately victory, was open.

While the Confederates were
massing for attack,

reinforcements from the 20th
Maine Volunteer Infantry

Regiment were called in,
commanded by Colonel Joshua

Chamberlain.
QUARSTEIN: Chamberlain rushes

his troops towards the Little
Round Top.

He comes to a crossroads, and he
said there was an eerie figure,

in a tri corner hat pointing the
way to the Little Round Top, the

right road to take.
And he said it looked like

George Washington.
NARRATOR: George Washington?

Could this ghostly vision have
been merely an illusion?

Although the story sounds
incredible, Secretary of War

Edwin Stanton appointed a
member of his staff to speak

with a number of the men who
experienced this vision, and it

is said that he gathered
unwavering testimony claiming

that the encounter was real.

In the end, the 20th Maine would

repel the Confederate attack on
Little Round Top and save the

day for the Union Army.
CHILDRESS: So you have to ask

yourself: did extraterrestrials
in some way influence

this battle...
by disguising themselves

as a familiar figure like
George Washington, and then

guiding the troops to a certain
position where they knew this

would turn the tide of the
battle?

It would seem that something
like this happened.

NARRATOR: Is the story of
George Washington appearing to

soldiers at Gettysburg the
ultimate proof that alien beings

really did intervene to influence
the outcome of the Civil War?

Ancient astronaut theorists say

yes, and suggest that the United
States of America has had a

connection with extraterrestrials
since its very beginning.

CHILDRESS: We do have clues

that Thomas Jefferson and
Benjamin Franklin and George

Washington all believed in
extraterrestrial life.

Thomas Jefferson gave a famous
lecture about the unusual UFO

sighting by a person named William
Dumbarton, in Baton Rouge, in 1800.

Benjamin Franklin wrote, in his Poor Richard's
Almanac, about life on other worlds and,

apparently, was a believer
in that.

And George Washington had a very
famous angelic vision at Valley

Forge, and so it would seem that
George Washington, Thomas

Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin
were very much believers in

extraterrestrials and life on
other planets.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that
extraterrestrials have been

guiding the course of America
since its very beginning, and

intervened in the Civil War to ensure
that the Great Experiment would continue?

Ancient astronaut theorists

suggest further evidence that an
otherworldly force was present

at this point in history, can be
found by examining a recurring

dream that Abraham Lincoln had
of his own death.

LEWIS: He sees a body on the catafalque
wrapped in mourning clothing.

The body's being guarded by
Union soldiers.

He asks one of the soldiers,

"Who is dead in the White
House?"

And one of the solder says,
"It's the president.

He's been killed by an assassin."

He believed that he was uniquely

suited to become president, to
carry the country through the

great crisis of disunion.
And he, part and parcel with

that belief in his destiny to
become president, was his belief

that he would be slain.
PITTMAN: Abraham Lincoln is

said to have had, uh, prophetic
dreams, visions.

If aliens are coming here to
visit Earth, certainly it seems

reasonable to wonder if they
might have tried to influence

the course of events through
Abraham Lincoln, uh, possibly

through his dreams and visions.
NARRATOR: Could it be that

extraterrestrials were the
source of this recurring dream,

and that they were testing
Abraham Lincoln to see if he

would fulfill his destiny, even
knowing that it would lead to an

early grave?
Ancient astronaut theorists

suggest that further clues can
be found by examining the life

of one of the war's most extraordinary
soldiers: Ambrose Bierce.

NARRATOR: Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia.
June 23, 1864.

While leading a skirmish line on
Confederate troops, Union Army

lieutenant Ambrose Bierce is shot
in the left temple by a sniper.

Miraculously, the bullet travels

around the side of his skull and
ends up behind his left ear,

leaving Bierce injured
but alive.

After being shot in the head,
Bierce went on to become one of

the most prominent authors of
the post Civil War era, and was

a pioneer of science fiction...
influencing such writers as

Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl,
and Kurt Vonnegut.

But could his genius as a writer
have been, in some way,

connected to the injury to his head?

KIRSTEN FISHER: In the
case of brain injuries, when you

suddenly, uh, display a new
ability, I'm not so sure that

it's something that was there
all along and you're

uncovering...
more so that it's a new ability

recircuitry, if you will.
WILCOCK: We're all

disconnected from our core,
unaware of the greater realm of

pure potential, and Ambrose
Bierce may have gotten the right

nudge to give him an interesting
window into that realm, allowing

him to get closer to it than
most of us normally ever do.

NARRATOR: Ambrose Bierce is
best known for short stories

that involve paranormal
incidents, strange

disappearances, and
incongruencies of time.

One of the most famous is "An
Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge,"

in which a Confederate
sympathizer is being hanged for

treason.
At the moment of the man's

hanging, the rope breaks and he
falls into the water below.

Escaping to dry land, the hero
travels through a seemingly

unending forest to his home
30 miles away.

But once he arrives and runs
towards his wife, he feels a

searing pain in his neck.
LOGAN HAWKES: Suddenly he was

back on the bridge again with a
noose around his neck, and then

he fell, he was executed,
he hung by the neck.

OFFICER: About face!
HAWKES: And Bierce was trying

to tell us that alternate
realities exist...

alternate worlds... and we see
this pattern all throughout his

writings, where he believed that
interdimensional travel was a

possibility.
NARRATOR: Another short story

that Bierce wrote for The San
Francisco Examiner, in 1888,

titled "The Difficulty of
Crossing a Field," is reportedly

based on an actual event that
occurred in Selma, Alabama, in

July of 1854.
HAWKES: It was about a

plantation owner, a farmer who,
in the broad daylight, sitting

on his porch, talking to his
neighbors, walked across the

road into the field and suddenly
disappeared with a number of

witnesses watching.
So as they walked over to the

point where he disappeared, they
could still hear his voice

faintly, but they couldn't see
him.

He never returned.
NARRATOR: Ambrose Bierce

interviewed the locals who
searched for the lost farmer, as

well as scientists with theories
on the disappearance.

One claimed the farmer had
entered another dimension.

WILCOCK: Is it possible that
Ambrose Bierce was, in fact,

contacted by extraterrestrials?
This is why luminous beings

appear in his fiction, and this
is why vanishings appear in his

fiction.
NARRATOR: Could it be that

the head injury Ambrose Bierce
suffered allowed him to receive

information from an otherworldly
source?

Ancient astronaut theorists say
yes, and suggest the strongest

evidence may not be found
in his stories of strange

disappearances but with how
he disappeared himself.

In December of 1913, Bierce left
the country and headed to

Chihuahua, Mexico.
He was never seen or heard from

again.
HAWKES: It's quite

interesting to note that he met
with another famous adventurer,

traveler, an Englishman named
Frederick Mitchell Hedges.

Mitchell Hedges was the man who
claimed to discover the first

crystal skull, and that's
significant because they both

were interested in crystals and
interdimensional subjects.

The last letter, that we know
of, he ever sent to anyone, was

to his secretary that said, "I
go tomorrow to a destination of

which I may not return."
And the theory is he may have

gone with Mitchell Hedges to the
Crystal Cave... the Crystal Cave

being a place that
Mitchell Hedges believed you

could contact beings from
another dimension.

WILCOCK: It's possible that
extraterrestrials said, "You

helped steer the outcome towards
a more favorable determination.

In the future, people will be
more comfortable with us.

You've set the stage by writing
all these sci fi stories.

Come live with us.
Come to this place and we'll

meet you there."
NARRATOR: Might the stories

of Ambrose Bierce and his
strange disappearance all point

to a connection with
extraterrestrials?

And if so, were these alien
beings simply observing the

Civil War or might they have
even intervened?

Ancient astronaut theorists say
the answer might be found in

Washington, DC, standing high
atop the Capitol Dome.

Washington, DC.
December 2, 1863.

It has been exactly five months
since the Battle of Gettysburg,

and the tides of the Civil War
are beginning to turn in the

Union's favor.
At the start of the war,

construction of the giant dome
that would sit atop the Capitol

Building had been halted, but
President Lincoln convinced

Congress to provide the funding
to finish it, saying the dome

would act as a sign that the
Union would go on.

Upon its completion, a statue
was placed on top of it, with

the final section raised to a
salute of 35 guns answered by

the guns of the 12 forts around
Washington.

Weighing nearly 15,000 pounds
and standing 19 and a half feet

tall, this bronze statue
features a woman with a Native

American style fringed blanket
thrown over her left shoulder,

and an elaborate headdress made
of eagle feathers and ringed

with stars.
It is called the Statue of

Freedom, and according to
ancient astronaut theorists,

it may represent an
extraterrestrial being.

HENRY: The symbolism they
chose is completely and totally

cosmic...
a goddess cloaked in stars,

suggesting she's a celestial
or a star being.

CHILDRESS: And when you look
at it, and even have the natives

explain it to you, they say
things like:

"Oh, yes, these are the star
people coming from the sky."

NARRATOR: Is it really
possible that there is a

depiction of an extraterrestrial
standing atop the Capitol Dome?

Ancient astronaut theorists say
yes and suggest the evidence can

be found by looking back to the
Founding Fathers.

In the 1730s to the 1760s,
Benjamin Franklin published

a series of pamphlets he called
The Indian Treaties.

One of the best selling of these
pamphlets chronicled the

Iroquois creation story of the
Sky Woman.

PITTMAN: Native Americans
believed that the Sky Woman came

to Earth when there there was
nothing here but water and

animals and that she was the
mother of the very first human

beings.
Native Americans had beliefs in

people who lived in space.
Many of the Founding Fathers

believed in the plurality of
worlds.

And these ideas, these stories
would have matched up very well

with their concepts about
plurality of worlds and

extraterrestrials from space.
CHILDRESS: You have to wonder

if there wasn't some kind of
extraterrestrial influence here.

And did they have some
connection to these star people?

Was this basically a message
for aliens?

NARRATOR: Did Abraham Lincoln
and the Union leaders erect the

Statue of Freedom as a tribute
to star beings that they

believed might be watching over
the country?

Were they reinstating a symbol
of our cosmic heritage during

the time of our greatest crisis?
And if extraterrestrials really

did have a vested interest in
the outcome of the Civil War,

are they still watching over the
Great American Experiment today?

CHILDRESS: It really seems
that extraterrestrials have been

monitoring the United States
since its very inception.

We've seen this, really, from
the American Civil War and right

at the very beginning of the
American Revolution.

And I think that this is still
going on today.

The nurturing of the United
States as an inclusive,

spiritual, and technically
advanced country is very

important to the
extraterrestrials and ultimately

for the entire planet Earth.
WILCOCK: It's possible that

extraterrestrials have been
visiting America since its

foundation and have been,
in fact, steering the outcome

this whole time.
And why might they want to do

that?
You would want to see society

moving in a direction of greater
freedom, greater openness,

greater acceptance, so that,
in time, it allows them to have

a much more warm welcome than
they otherwise would have.

There is every reason to believe
that extraterrestrials are still

watching over us and are having
a key impact in the events that

unfold on Earth today.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that

extraterrestrials really were present
here on Earth during the Civil War?

If so, were they simply passive

observers, waiting to see if our fragile
democracy could survive this test?

Or did they take an active role
in order to preserve the Union?

Perhaps the Great American
Experiment is part of a larger

cosmic agenda, and once we fully
realize the ideals put forth by

men like George Washington and
Abraham Lincoln, we will finally

come face to face with our alien
ancestors.

Captioning sponsored by
A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS

Repair and Synchronization by
Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0