All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.S03E11.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

>> NARRATOR: A star gate

encoded in the dome of our

nation's Capitol...

Strange symbols found on our

most famous monuments...

And a mysterious flying disc

appearing in a painting of

George Washington.

What is the meaning behind

secret messages found throughout

our nation's capital?

And might there be more to

America's origins than we've

been told?

>> CHRIS PITTMAN: For Benjamin

Franklin, belief in

extraterrestrials was part of a

scientific view of the world.

>> BILL BIRNES: Thomas Jefferson

still remains as the highest

public official ever to make a

report of a UFO in American

history.

>> DAVID CHILDRESS: We have to

wonder if extraterrestrials were

there monitoring our progress.

>> 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 could extraterrestrial

forces have been behind

the founding of the United

States of America?

>> NARRATOR: Washington, D. C.,

July 19, 1952.

Tensions between the United

States and the Soviet Union are

at an all time high, fueled by

the Soviets' opposition to

American involvement in the

Korean War.

At this critical juncture, an

air traffic controller at

Washington National Airport

picks up seven strange objects

on his radar screen.

But he quickly determines the

aircraft are not Soviet

military.

>> PITTMAN: From the tower, they

were also able to see very large

bright lights moving very

quickly, speeding away at

very high speeds or simply

disappearing.

>> BIRNES: They didn't just

appear and go.

They appeared over the Capitol

Building.

Over the skies over the White

House.

Over the Washington Monument.

>> NARRATOR: Fighter jets are

scrambled to intercept the

objects.

But as the jets close in, all

seven suddenly disappear.

>> PITTMAN: Some Air Force

officers reported that airmen

had tried to shoot down UFOs but

had not been able to because the

UFOs were able to fly faster

than our aircraft.

>> NARRATOR: Days after the

breach of capital airspace,

Major General John Samford,

Director of Intelligence for the

United States Air Force,

addressed the issue at a

Pentagon press conference.

>> SAMFORD: We have received and

analyzed between 1,000 and

2,000 reports.

There have been a certain

percentage that have been made

by credible observers of

relatively incredible things.

>> BIRNES: Washington was the

capital of the United States.

So the point was to demonstrate

at the height of of the Cold

War, that they were a power

greater than us.

>> CHILDRESS: It's sometimes

thought that during periods of

political upheaval, and turning

points in history that these

extraterrestrials suddenly show

up.

>> NARRATOR: What were these

strange lights that penetrated

the airspace of the U. S.

capital?

Could they have been, as ancient

astronaut theorists suggest,

alien craft‐‐ sent here to

monitor this turning point in

our history?

If so, even as far back as the

founding of the United States of

America?

>> NARRATOR: On July 4, 1776‐‐

in the midst of the American

Revolution‐‐ the colonies

formally severed their ties to

England.

The men behind the movement‐‐

the Founding Fathers‐‐ had

risked, in the words of the

Declaration of Independence,

"their lives, their fortunes and

their sacred honor" on an ideal

and now looked to create, not

just a new nation, but a new

world.

But unlike the monarchies of

Europe and Asia, the new

American government would

eventually be based on the

ancient philosophies of Greece

and Rome.

>> GEORGIO TSOUKALOS: When it

took you four days to get from

Virginia to New York, in the

middle of the night with their

kerosene lamps and their candles

they read the ancient Greek

classics.

How did they found the United

States?

On principles of the ancient

world.

>> AKRAM ELIAS: Having a bunch

of men, geniuses in their own

right at all levels, gathered at

one point in time to try to come

up with a new experiment for

humanity.

It is extraordinary.

The Romans used to call it

Fortuna.

Or in other words, when the gods

conspire on your behalf.

>> NARRATOR: After the war, on

July 16, 1790, plans were

announced for the construction

of a national capital to be

built on the banks of the

Potomac River.

Named after George Washington,

the new nation's first

president, it would be designed

to resemble classic Greco‐Roman

architecture.

But why?

What was the reason behind the

Founding Fathers' near‐obsession

with the ancient world?

>> MICHAEL CROWE: In the 5th

century, 4th century before

Christ there was a very active

debate in regard to the question

of extraterrestrial life.

The atomists, being Democritus,

Leucippus, Epicurus and

Lucretius, all believed in the

plurality of worlds, or believed

in extraterrestrial life.

>> NARRATOR: For the Founding

Fathers, this idea of the

plurality of worlds was

well‐known as one of the

cornerstones of ancient

philosophy‐‐ one that was

finding greater popularity in

what was known in the 18th

century as, "The Age of

Enlightenment."

>> MARK RIVERA: The

Enlightenment was a social

movement that said we should

look at the universe in a

rational way.

And that was the hub of the

wheel, so to speak.

And from that hub, many spokes

came out.

You had a concern with

science, and you had belief in

the plurality of worlds, which

seemed scientifically plausible.

>> CROWE: The En>> NARRATOR: Eve

most prominent astronomers of

the time, William Herschel,

believed that intelligent life

existed elsewhere in the

universe.

>> SARA SEAGER: His claim to

fame is he discovered the planet

Uranus.

He also discovered a couple of

moons of Jupiter and a couple of

moons of Saturn, and he built

hundreds of telescopes including

the largest one of its day.

>> DERRICK PITTS: He has a

40‐inch reflecting telescope.

This is an enormous instrument

anywhere in the world at

that time.

So he now has the ability to

observe all sorts of wonders of

the universe.

So now the idea of the plurality

of worlds gains credence with

this particular scientist

and observer.

>> CROWE: Regularly in his

writings about the planets, he

referred to the inhabitants of

Jupiter, Saturn or Uranus.

>> NARRATOR: Herschel was

instrumental in furthering the

debate about the possibility of

extraterrestrial life.

But perhaps most influential of

all was Benjamin Franklin.

>> PITTMAN: Ben Franklin has

been called the first American.

He was an author and a printer.

He was a scientist and an

inventor, and also a politician

and a statesman.

He was a profound thinker and

an intellectual.

For Benjamin Franklin, a belief

in extraterrestrials was part of

a scientific view of the world.

>> NARRATOR: One way Franklin

used to disseminate his thoughts

on extraterrestrial life was

in his own publication,

the immensely popular

Poor Richard's Almanac.

>> STEVEN BULLOCK: In Poor

Richard's Almanac, well, he

suggests that it's the opinion

of scientists that other planets

are habitable, that there are

beings on there.

And he presents this in a sort

of matter‐of‐fact way.

It's kind of surprising, I

think, probably even to most

historians the way which this

seems to be something which he

takes for granted.

It's just assumed that way.

>> TSOUKALOS: In 1728, Benjamin

Franklin wrote, "I believe that

man is not the most perfect

being, but one.

So there are many degrees of

beings superior to him."

Franklin essentially suggested

that extraterrestrial life

exists.

>> NARRATOR: But the ancient

philosophers were not the only

influence on the Founding

Fathers' growing openness to the

idea of extraterrestrial life.

The Native Americans they

encountered not only shared the

belief that life exists

throughout the universe, but

even believed they were the

descendants of

extraterrestrials.

>>INDE: Franklin's

Indian treaties were pamphlets

that he published from the 1730s

to the 1760s.

They frequently recorded

explanations of native culture.

>> NARRATOR: One of Franklin's

best‐selling pamphlets

chronicled the Iroquois creation

story of the Sky Woman.

>> GRINDE: Before Earth really

became what it is today, there

were beings that were similar to

us living in the sky.

One day, a young woman‐‐ Sky

Woman, as she is to become‐‐

became pregnant.

She is to go down to the world

below.

So this extraterrestrial

that lived in the sky, she

comes down, and then the human

race begins.

>> NARRATOR: Did America's

Founding Fathers really believe

in the possibility of life on

other planets?

And if so, was their belief

based not only on scientific

and philosophical principles,

but on firsthand experiences

with extraterrestrials?

Ancient astronaut theorists

believe that such a notion is

not only possible, but that the

evidence exists in a firsthand

account from one of George

Washington's closest aides,

and his recollection of a

strange, close encounter on

a cold winter night at

Valley Forge.

>> NARRATOR: Valley Forge,

Pennsylvania, winter, 1777.

It is the height of the American

Revolutionary War.

After several bloody battles

against superior British forces,

George Washington's army is

in tatters.

>> BULLOCK: Valley Forge is the

winter encampment of the

Continental Army, the army which

is set up by the nation to fight

the Revolution.

The British have taken

Philadelphia.

Washington decides he is

going to headquarter some

12,000 troops right outside

of Philadelphia.

>> GRINDE: This is the darkest

time of the American Revolution,

when people thought that the

United States was really not

going to win.

>> BULLOCK: Washington is trying

to figure out what he's going

to do, and trying to keep the

army together.

There's very little money.

There's almost no supplies.

They often don't have shoes.

Lots of stories of things like

bloody footprints in the snow.

>> NARRATOR: So severe were the

conditions that Washington

wrote, "Unless some great and

capital change suddenly takes

place, this army must inevitably

starve, dissolve or disperse."

But ultimately, Washington's

will to remain at Valley Forge

forced the British to retreat

and proved to be a turning point

in the war.

What was it that sustained

Washington in these dark hours?

Some believe it was a strange

vision he received during a

moment of prayer.

>> BIRNES: In a moment of

absolute misery, he went off

into the woods to pray.

And there in the forest, he had

this magnificent vision of a

creature garbed in white.

And this creature‐‐ call it an

extraterrestrial, call it a

heavenly spirit, but it was an

otherworldly presence‐‐ laid out

for Washington the victory that

the Continental Army would have

in the Revolutionary War against

the British, and laid out the

history of the new United States

of America.

>> TSOUKALOS: He sees a map of

the United States, and rain

drops onto this map, and cities

are popping up throughout the

entire country.

A model of how the United States

would look 100 or 200 years in

the future.

>> BIRNES: Now, how do we

know this?

We know this because an aide to

General Washington lived to be

over 100 years old, told this

story to a newspaper of our

first general having an alien

encounter.

>> NARRATOR: Could George

Washington really have had

an alien visitation at

Valley Forge?

Or was this just a story he told

to build up morale?

Ancient astronaut theorists

claim to have also uncovered

evidence that throughout the

Revolutionary War, George

Washington himself may have

unknowingly come in direct

contact with extraterrestrials.

>> CHILDRESS: One of the

strangest stories about George

Washington, which allegedly

comes from diaries that he

kept‐‐ that Washington would

meet occasionally with these

mysterious people that he called

"Green Skins."

>> BIRNES: Washington sees a

green glowing ball hovering in

the tree line, and out of this,

Washington sees these small

figures.

What were they?

Were they, as Washington thought

they might have been, small

Native Americans in war paint?

One theory is that these were

extraterrestrials, observing

this cataclysmic event.

>> PITTMAN: George Washington's

vision at Valley Forge during

the Revolutionary War is just

one example of a great many

stories that we have about

miraculous visions and

apparitions during times of war

and bloodshed.

Some people believe that

it's during these crucial times

in human history that perhaps

aliens would be most interested

in interacting with us.

>> NARRATOR: Did George

Washington really encounter

green‐skinned aliens and witness

glowing orbs at Valley Forge?

And, if so, might there be

additional evidence of alien

encounters with other Founding

Fathers?

April 5, 1800.

The city of Baton Rouge,

Louisiana.

Astronomer William Dunbar

reports to then Vice President

Jefferson that he witnessed

a bright glowing light

the size of a large house

hovering 200 yards above ground.

>> PITTS: It was quite bright,

radiated a tremendous amount of

heat and crashed not so far

away.

It destroyed that whole area

where it crashed.

However, given the supposed size

and speed with which the object

was moving, it didn't seem to

create a crater of a size that

would've been appropriate for an

object like that.

>> PITTMAN: The details of the

sighting report make it

impossible that it could have

been a meteor; it wasn't moving

fast enough to be a meteor.

It was something unexplained,

something very unusual.

And Jefferson took this report

very seriously.

He passed this report on as he

would pass on any other account

of a scientific discovery or a

natural observation.

>> BIRNES: Jefferson was so

impressed by the account that

Jefferson, Vice President of the

United States, presented this to

the American Philosophical

Society.

>> PITTS: So who was this

American Philosophical Society,

anyway?

Well, it was founded by Benjamin

Franklin in Philadelphia, and it

really was the intellectual

cognoscenti of America at that

time.

So here we have some of the

greatest thinkers here in the

United States, all pooled

together in one group that could

write research papers, write

philosophical papers, examine

all sorts of phenomena from a

scientific point of view.

>> PITTMAN: It's no

coincidence that Thomas

Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin

both believed in

extraterrestrial life.

They were men of science, they

were astronomers who studied

weather patterns.

And their belief in

extraterrestrials was part of

their scientific view of the

world and of the universe.

>> BIRNES: For Thomas Jefferson

to report a UFO sighting still

remains the highest public

official ever to make a report

of a UFO in American history.

>> NARRATOR: George

Washington's close encounter

with an otherworldly being...

Thomas Jefferson reporting a UFO

sighting... could these

incidents suggest that the

Founding Fathers not only

believed in the existence of

extraterrestrials, but actually

encountered them?

Perhaps the answer can be found

hidden in the symbols and codes

of a secret society, one to

which Washington himself was a

member.

>> NARRATOR: Fredericksburg,

Virginia.

1752.

20‐year‐old George Washington is

initiated into a secret society:

the Freemasons.

Among his fellow members are

many other Founding Fathers,

like Benjamin Franklin, John

Hancock and Paul Revere.

But what is Freemasonry?

What role did it play in the

founding of the United States?

And what meanings lie behind

their many mysterious symbols?

>> ELIAS: There are a lot of

theories about the true origins

of Freemasonry.

What we know for a fact is that

definitely with the Age of the

Renaissance, this is when people

decided to start studying

ancient civilizations and see

was there any knowledge in those

civilizations that was lost?

>> NARRATOR: According to

experts, the Freemasons believe

in the idea of acquiring

knowledge through largely

scientific as well as spiritual

means.

In the Age of Enlightenment,

this included examining the

possibility of extraterrestrial

life.

>> ELIAS: Freemasonry was like a

main vehicle, if you want, that

brought these ideas and

principles of the Enlightenment

into the New World.

>> RIVERA: You had the most

prominent citizens of the

community becoming Freemasons

and then associating with one

another.

They would be discussing the

major issues of the day and

certainly the speculations about

the plurality of worlds.

>> NARRATOR: Could the growing

belief in the possibility of

extraterrestrial life have

influenced the Founding Fathers'

vision for America?

>> RIVERA: In terms of the

Declaration of Independence,

there were 56 signers.

Of those, nine were definitely

Freemasons.

Concerning the signers of the

Constitution, there were 39

signers, 13 of them‐‐ a clear

third‐‐ were Freemasons.

>> NARRATOR: But does the

influence of Freemasonry explain

why Masonic values are woven

into the principles behind

America's most important

documents?

And could this also explain how

and why Masonic symbols can be

found on much of the nation's

monuments and architecture?

>> ELIAS: In the design of

Washington, the language of

symbols is very important, and

that's where we see connections

with Freemasonry.

The original universal symbol of

Freemasonry is the square and

compass.

The compass is the main tool of

the individual.

You are at the point, and the

idea in Freemasonry is that the

individual is sovereign.

You draw a circle, using the

compass, around you.

If you go beyond the perimeter,

that's when you start to go into

knowledge and light.

The square is considered a

symbol of wisdom.

And the letter "G" stands for

the grand architect of the

universe.

>> RIVERA: People have to

wonder whether Franklin's

beliefs about the plurality of

worlds somehow made their way

into Masonic symbolism.

The same people who were

involved in the development

of Freemasonry were very

interested in Egypt.

They were inspired by the idea

of ancient wisdom.

>> NARRATOR: Other Masonic

symbols found in Washington

D.C. are eerily similar to

the icons of ancient Egypt‐‐ the

sphinx, the obelisk, the pyramid

and the All‐Seeing Eye.

>> CHILDRESS: If you were to

pull out a dollar bill right now

and look at it, you would see

that on one side is a depiction

of the Great Pyramid of Egypt

with an all‐seeing eye at its

apex.

This is the Great Seal of the

United States, and it's an

awesome, mystical symbol of, of

the eye of God watching us.

And also how ancient

civilizations were divine

in nature.

And that the Founding Fathers

were to recreate that here in

the United States.

>> ELIAS: The idea is we need a

source of light in order to help

us become enlightened.

We cannot do it alone.

Now that to the Founding Fathers

is whatever is out there that

is keeping an eye.

And there is a belief that this

experiment did not just happen.

It was necessary to help the

human condition make a

major leap.

It's like the alignment of

the stars, providence was there

watching and interacting.

>> NARRATOR: Why did this

group of 18th‐century men

who set out to build

a nation based on principles of

logic and reason attach such

importance to pre‐Christian

symbols and ancient mysticism?

And who‐‐ or what‐‐ did they

believe was watching over them?

God? Or something else?

According to ancient astronaut

theorists, the answer can be

found in an 1866 lithograph of

George Washington that resides

in the Library of Congress.

>> CHILDRESS: There's a famous

painting of George Washington as

a Freemason.

And over his right shoulder

is an unusual scene of Jacob's

Ladder ascending to Heaven and

what seems to be some kind of

spaceship there in the sky.

>> NARRATOR: In the Biblical

story of Jacob from Genesis 28,

Jacob witnesses angels ascending

and descending a ladder

from Heaven.

But in this painting, the ladder

comes not from Heaven, but out

of a dark, round object emitting

multi‐colored lights.

Although Jacob's Ladder is a

popular symbol of Freemasonry,

is it possible that this image

is attempting to depict

something else?

Something of an extraterrestrial

origin?

>> TSOUKALOS: According to the

ancient astronaut ideas, Jacob's

Ladder was nothing else but a

ramp or a device with which to

reach the realm of the gods.

And the gods were

extraterrestrials.

>> NARRATOR: The square and

compass...

the All‐Seeing Eye...

Jacob's Ladder.

What do all these symbols reveal

about the true origins of the

United States of America?

Ancient astronaut theorists

don't only point to the presence

of Masonic symbols and

pre‐Christian influences as

evidence of the Founding

Fathers' extraterrestrial

connections.

They also find proof in the fact

that even the very layout of

Washington D. C.

points to the stars.

>> NARRATOR: Alexandria,

Virginia, 1791

In a full Masonic ceremony on

the edge of the Potomac River,

George Washington lays the first

cornerstone marking the southern

boundary for what will become

the District of Columbia.

>> ELIAS: What happens in the

laying of the cornerstone?

Washington scattered corn.

You pour wine and pour oil.

Now, corn stands for prosperity,

oil stands for peace,

and wine stands for happiness.

>> BULLOCK: You have Masons

chanting in response to it.

You have an oration afterwards

in which artillery is fired

during... during the oration.

So it's an extraordinary kind

of ceremony.

>> NARRATOR: According to

scholars, the nation's capital

has been steeped in ancient

symbolism since its inception.

And ancient astronaut theorists

point to the city's tallest

structure, the Washington

Monument, as proof that the

American capital was built with

a deliberate eye to the stars.

Although construction began in

1848, nearly 50 years after

George Washington's death, the

Freemasons built the

Egyptian‐style monument so that

the constellation Pleiades would

be visible directly over the

giant obelisk.

>> PITTS: The Pleiades is a

group of seven bright stars.

For the Egyptians, they

would use these stars as a way

to figure out all sorts of

judgments that needed to be made

in many different things.

>> TSOUKALOS: I find it

fascinating that in the ancient

world in places of great power

and great influence they built

monuments aligned with

the Pleiades.

So the fact that we find the

Washington Monument also

aligning with the Pleiades...

is that coincidence?

>> NARRATOR: In a city largely

built to evoke ancient cities

like Athens and Rome, is the

dominant architectural structure

based on an icon of ancient

Egypt?

>> RIVERA: It is the largest

obelisk in the world, 555 feet

high.

It draws the eye and it draws

the eye up.

We have to ask, what did

the Founding Fathers

want us to see?

>> HENRY: The idea of the

obelisk is that it's frozen

sunlight.

They believed that the energy

of the God Ra literally came

through that antenna.

The same concept is shown here

in Washington D. C. with the

obelisk sitting in the center of

Washington or near the center

of Washington, bringing that

energy in from the stars and

radiating it outward into the

sacred precinct.

>> ELIAS: They have a reflecting

pool‐‐ why?

To reflect the obelisk.

Washington's Monument points

to the Heavens.

With the reflecting pool,

it points below.

There is a direct correlation

between what happens here below

and what's happening up there.

>> NARRATOR: For ancient

astronaut theorists, it's not

just the placement of the

Washington Monument and the

Capitol Building that point to

the stars, but the layout of the

entire city, which harkens back

to ancient places like Egypt,

Greece and Rome.

>> RIVERA: Washington D. C. is

laid out in perfectly straight

lines, radiating from different

little hubs around the city.

They converge on places like

the Capitol Building,

the White House.

It is a revelation of clarity

that highlights the cornerstones

of American democracy.

>> HENRY: Washington D. C. was

conceived from the very

beginning as a sacred space.

In fact, it is a ten‐by‐ten

square‐mile diamond matrix into

which the Founding Fathers

believed they could pour all

their Enlightenment teachings

and bring them to life within

its Capitols and its

other buildings.

>> NARRATOR: Another Freemason,

Pierre Charles L'Enfant, was

selected by President Washington

to create a layout of the city

within the ten‐mile diamond of

the District of Columbia.

He began by aligning the corners

of the square with the four

cardinal directions: north,

south, east and west.

>> ELIAS: It is not by

coincidence.

There is a scientific

rational way of developing the

city of Washington with

geometric shapes‐‐ circles,

rectangles, triangles‐‐ and this

is to emphasize that this new

form of government was not going

to rely on religion...

but we're going to rely on

reason and scientific discovery.

And the design of the city

reflects that.

And there is absolutely no other

capital city in the world that

was designed like this.

There is no question that

the main triangle at the

heart of the city was very key,

and connecting the Capitol to

the White House, and then to the

Washington Monument.

>> NARRATOR: Some historians

believe the triangle found

in the center of Washington D. C.

was designed for the Masonic

symbol of the square and

compass, representing the

Founding Fathers' search for

enlightenment from above.

But ancient astronaut theorists

claim beyond this triangle lies

an even more significant

geometric shape‐‐

the shape of a star.

>> BIRNES: The interesting thing

about Jefferson's influence on

the design of Washington D. C.

was the star...

With rows emanating in all

directions from the star that

seemed to be a mirror of the

Heavens, because Jefferson did

believe that the Heavens were

inhabited, and he wanted

Washington D. C., not just to be

the capital of the United States

of America, but the capital of

the universe.

>> NARRATOR: George Washington

and Thomas Jefferson were both

expert surveyors and mapmakers,

and were hands on in the layout

and design of the new capital.

>> BIRNES: George Washington

and Thomas Jefferson, who

was an architect that built

Monticello, laid out Washington

D.C. with the expectation that

somehow, if there were

extraterrestrials, they would

see the image of the star at the

center of the city, and know

this was a sign that we

respected extraterrestrial life.

>> NARRATOR: Did the design and

placement of the Washington

Monument, Capitol Hill and the

National Mall really reflect the

Founding Fathers' belief in

extraterrestrial forces?

Perhaps the answer can be found

by a close examination of the

Capitol Building itself, and

the strange connection to other

worlds that can be found inside.

>> NARRATOR: Washington, D. C.,

1791.

Jenkins Hill.

Pierre L'Enfant declares this

location "a pedestal waiting for

a monument."

For the next two years, he

works closely with

George Washington and Thomas

Jefferson, designing the

building that will sit at the

top of this hill and house the

United States Congress.

On September 18, 1793, the day

of the Autumn Equinox,

Washington lays the cornerstone

for the Capitol Building, and

Jenkins Hill officially becomes

Capitol Hill, the heart of the

new democracy.

>> HENRY: The concept of the

ancient and sacred hill was

deeply in the minds of the

Founding Fathers.

In Boston we have high hills

that were important.

We have Monticello being built

on a hill, we have Capitol Hill.

So the Founding Fathers clearly

understood the importance of the

Temple Mount concept.

>> NARRATOR: But was the design

and placement of the Capitol

Building directly influenced by

Washington and Jefferson's

reported contact with alien

beings?

Ancient astronaut theorists

point to evidence in the form of

the statue that still sits atop

the Capitol Dome, placed there

after the current dome was

completed in 1866.

>> HENRY: The Freedom Statue is

a 19‐and‐a‐half‐foot‐tall

statue of a goddess who actually

is morphing into an eagle.

This is very important in

ancient alien theory, because

the ancient gods were portrayed

as eagle‐headed.

So it looks like freedom is

being referenced here as a star

being.

>> NARRATOR: Inside the dome,

directly in line with the

Freedom Statue, is an empty tomb

that had been designed to hold

the remains of George

Washington.

One floor above it is the crypt,

then the Capitol Rotunda, and

soaring 180 feet

above that is a painting of

Washington, looking very much

like an ancient god.

>> PITTS: If one goes to the

Capitol Rotunda and looks at the

artwork on the ceiling you see

what's called the "apotheosis of

Washington."

It's an enormous painting

that depicts Washington

in a very interesting setting.

>> HENRY: The painting was

completed by Constantino Brumidi

in 1865.

The word "apotheosis" is a Greek

word that means to deify, to

raise from a man to a god man.

>> PITTS: You see him depicted

as you would see a god depicted.

He sits in a setting of clouds

with what look like angels

immediately surrounding him,

with a big rainbow that runs

right underneath his feet.

>> HENRY: When we're in the

Rotunda, the dome of the U. S.

Capitol, we are literally in

a vortex of energy.

Domes are places where

Heaven and Earth meet.

They literally are considered to

be portals or gateways to the

stars.

>> NARRATOR: There is another

depiction of Washington that

specifically represents him as a

divine figure.

>> BIRNES: Congress

authorized an incredible statue

of George Washington by

Greenough in which he's depicted

as Zeus, or Jupiter.

>> HENRY: The statue had several

key features that identified him

as a man of peace and a

conductor of Heaven and Earth.

His sword is offered to the

viewer of the statue, indicating

he's here in peace.

And then on the sides of the

statue you have a very important

representation of the god Apollo

riding his sun chariot or star

chariot.

So the idea that we get from all

of this is that Washington is a

cosmic being who is riding

through the Heavens on his own

star chariot.

>> NARRATOR: Could the symbols,

monuments and alignments found

throughout Washington D. C.

be evidence that the Founding

Fathers actually believed

otherworldly beings were

instrumental if the new American

experiment in government were to

survive and prosper?

Was their interest in the stars,

and their belief in the

possibility that intelligent

life exists elsewhere in the

universe, based on the ideas of

the Enlightenment, or actual

close encounters?

>> PITTMAN: We've gone from

Benjamin Franklin's electricity

experiments to space travel in

less than 250 years.

And it's brought about really

vast changes in American

society.

But what hasn't changed is that

desire to know more about space

and that desire to find out is

there really life outside of our

planet?

>> PITTS: Not only is the

Founding Fathers' belief in

the plurality of worlds alive

today, it also is being pursued

scientifically in a way that

they had no capability to do.

And this is a concept that has

been considered ever since the

first person looked up at the

night sky and wondered about

what's out there.

>> NARRATOR: Did George

Washington receive some secret

knowledge at Valley Forge that

guided him in the founding of

the United States?

Did he share this information

with other Founding Fathers,

like Thomas Jefferson and

Benjamin Franklin?

And did they, in turn, pass this

knowledge down to the men who

followed them?

If extraterrestrials really were

present during the founding of

the United States, did they come

here to watch over us?

Was there some ultimate plan?

And if so, will they return once

more?

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