All language subtitles for Ancient.Aliens.Special.Presentation.S02E09.Aliens.and.World.Leaders.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: International
UFO files declassified.

France released
all their UFO data.

NARRATOR:
Global acknowledgment of mysterious craft in our skies.

DAVID CHILDRESS: The Chinese
have really stepped up

their own UFO investigations.

NARRATOR: And top
government officials are

stepping forward with
extraordinary claims of contact.

GIORGIO A. TSOUKALOS:
Canada's Defence Minister said

that there is contact going on

between Earth
and extraterrestrial factions.

NARRATOR: Despite years
of dismissing UFO phenomena,

world leaders
have begun acknowledging

that we may not be alone.

But why now?

LINDA MOULTON HOWE:
It isn't world leaders

that were
holding disclosure back.

It's the extraterrestrials
who said

humans were not ready
for the introduction...

yet.

NARRATOR:
There is a doorway in the universe.

Beyond it,
is the promise of truth.

It demands
we question everything

we have ever been taught.

The evidence is all around us.

The future is right
before our eyes.

We are not alone.

We have never been alone.

NARRATOR:
The United States government breaks a 70-year precedent

of denying UFOs and releases

a groundbreaking report on
unidentified aerial phenomena.

The nine-page unclassified
document identifies

144 UAP incidents

and concludes that only

one of them can be explained.

For the first time, you actually
had the U.S. government

putting out physical evidence

that any person
in the United States

or around the globe
could click on

and see and say,
"Okay, what's that about?"

And I think you're left
with the impression that

this is something
extremely unusual,

highly unlikely that it's

sourced to a foreign government
or to the U.S. government.

And, therefore,
you're left with what?

GEORGE KNAPP: I hope that
because of the recent openness

of the U.S. government,

some of our allies
will take a cue from that.

These things are not
an American phenomena.

They are seen
all over the world.

They've been seen
on every continent,

in every culture
throughout human history.

The fact is, that Russia,
like the U.S.,

like China, like most
other world governments,

has been interested
in this topic forever.

In the last few years
we've seen a dramatic increase

in UFO reports in a number
of countries around the world.

In South America, also in Iran

and the Philippines

and Japan and even China.

When I look at the best cases

of military pilots,
commercial pilots

all over the world
caught on radar...

...ground radar,
ground and airborne radar,

multiple aircraft
ground and airborne radar,

it's clearly
a worldwide phenomenon.

NARRATOR: While the United
States officially denied

investigating UAPs until 2017,

some nations had
always been ahead

in their approach
to the subject.

Leading the world
in UAP research

is the South American country
of Chile.

In 1997, the Chilean
government officially

instructed air traffic control
and military personnel

to create
the Committee for the Study

of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena.

The committee studies
all reports of UAP activity

by commercial, military,
and civilian pilots.

One of the most
well-publicized was

a shocking incident
that occurred in 2014,

when Chilean Naval officers
flying along the coast

of Santiago
captured video of a UAP.

ALEJANDRO ROJAS:
There was an incident in 2014

where a military helicopter

got video of a strange object.
It kind of looked

like a rocket with some sort
of plume behind it.

And they said they were
at about 4,500 feet.

RICHARD DOLAN:
They have nine minutes

of fairly clear video
that exists on this.

The Chilean military
studied it for two years.

And they were not able
to identify this at all.

(indistinct radio chatter)

HESELTINE: Chile, like many
other South American countries,

seem to be far more open

to the idea
that there are objects

coming into our airspace.

I think one of the reasons
why South American countries

are more open-minded
about the UFO

and the extraterrestrial
question

is because it is part
of their cultural heritage.

In fact, Peru and Bolivia,
they're treasure troves

for the ancient astronaut
theory.

The whole pre-Inca culture
and even the Inca culture

spoke of these beings of light
that descended from the sky.

And so these countries
essentially

grew up with
this intrinsic knowledge

of someone up in the sky.

Brazil has had a history of
really dramatic UFO encounters.

Chile,
I think Uruguay maybe, as well.

But the whole world didn't
pay much attention to it.

NARRATOR:
In addition to South America,

now other parts
of the world are also

starting to disclose
information about UFOs.

Governments are openly
investigating encounters

reported by both civilians
and military personnel.

But many researchers believe
the most noteworthy country

to join
this international effort is

also one of the most skeptical.

Japan.

In 2018,
the Japanese government released

an official statement
denying the existence of UFOs.

For the longest time
in Japan, those in charge,

those at the top
of the defense departments

have denied UFOs,

showed a disinterest in UFOs,

basically a complete dismissal
of the UFO topic completely.

GREG SULLIVAN: The Japanese
government made a sudden

press release that said
they would not recognize

any UFO encounters
or extraterrestrial presence

on Earth
or in the airspace of Japan.

I thought this was very strange,
as we had

already interviewed
two pilots, uh,

who had several incidents

and, uh, testimonies
that they gave us

regarding various pilots'
encounters in the air

and from the ground
over the years

when they were active
in the military.

NARRATOR: Mamoru Sato,
a former wing commander

in the Japanese
Self-Defense Force

said that he regularly
heard stories from other pilots

as well as civilians
about UAP sightings.

(speaking Japanese)

(translated): Some people said,

"There's something strange
up there."

There were a lot
of opportunities to see

inexplicable things,
such as UFOs

that were monitoring the sky
and training in the sky.

And it was my subjective view
that we should make a report

and organize these things
as correct data.

But even when this happened,
it was only shared

among colleagues
and not reported publicly.

(speaking Japanese)

NARRATOR: According to Sato,
numerous pilots have reported

highly unusual encounters
with what they described

as cigar-shaped objects.

During one such incident,
a student

in his fighter pilot course

even lost control of his craft.

(speaking Japanese)

(translated): He said, "The
aircraft started going crazy.

"The alarm rang
to indicate that something

"was wrong with the machine.

"I saw a cigar-shaped object
flying

"about 1,500 meters high
from east to west.

The anomaly continued
until it disappeared."

NARRATOR: For years,
pilots in the Japanese military

were instructed to remain
silent about such incidents.

But in September 2020, Japan's

decades-long policy
of secrecy and denial

came to an end
when Defense Minister Taro Kono

tasked the Japanese
Self-Defense Forces

to make a visual recording

of any encounter
with an unexplained craft.

Many believe this very
public shift in policy

was prompted by a meeting
held one month earlier

between Minister Kono
and his U.S. counterpart,

Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

The Japanese after this meeting,

uh, gave a press conference.

And they said one
of the topics that came up

was unidentified
aerial phenomenon.

And we talked about
the need to cooperate on this.

That's a major development
I think,

when you have close allies
like the U.S. and Japan

openly speaking about the UFO
issue and agreeing to cooperate.

We've come so far
in such a short amount of time.

RYAN SPRAGUE: The fact
that Japan denied that there was

UFO activity happening
in their country,

and now they're establishing
the Japanese

Space Operation Squadron
says to me that

there clearly is something going
on over the skies of Japan.

NARRATOR: Does the establishment
of a Space Operation Squadron

suggest the Japanese government
is ready

to acknowledge the ongoing
UFO activity in their airspace?

And if so,
might this be in preparation

for a broader
and global disclosure?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining intriguing
statements

recently made by the country's
top public figures.

NARRATOR:
December 18, 2007.

Ryuji Yamane of
the Democratic Party of Japan,

under increasing pressure
from his constituents,

publicly demands a response
from the prime minister

and his cabinet to address
the surge of UFO activity

over Japan...

totaling more than 300
reported sightings per month.

The cabinet's official statement

is that it "has not
confirmed the existence

of unidentified flying objects
from outer space."

But within a few hours,
everything changes.

Just hours after this meeting,
the Chief Cabinet Secretary

Nobutaka Machimura announced
on live television

that regarding the question
of extraterrestrials,

he definitely thinks they exist.

Then a week later

the Japanese Defense Minister
Shigeru Ishiba

revealed that he had
been carefully considering

different response scenarios
for an alien invasion.

And what he said is incredible.

He said, and I quote,

"There are no grounds
for us to deny

"that there are
unidentified flying objects

and some life-forms
that controls them."

Two years later,
the wife of the prime minister

came out with
an extraordinary series

of statements,
in which she claimed

that she had
been abducted by aliens,

that she had traveled on a UFO.

For the wife
of the prime minister

to come out and make
a statement like that was

absolutely unprecedented.

I think the only reason this
isn't on the front page

of every newspaper in the world

is that,
certainly in the United States,

we do tend to be
rather heavily focused

on English-speaking countries,

and, indeed, very U.S.-centric
in our outlook.

If the statements being made
in Japan were being made

in America, it would be
on every major news network

24-7.

NARRATOR: Could these
profound statements coming

from top Japanese
government officials

reveal that they have knowledge
of alien visitation?

Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest evidence

of alien contact
on these islands

dates back thousands of years,

and can be found within
the teachings of Shintoism.

Shintoism is
the primary religion of Japan,

with over 107 million
followers...

and is designed around
a set of ritual practices

that connect present-day Japan

to its ancient mystical past.

At its center are
celestial beings

that according
to the Japanese people

still roam
their islands to this day.

The term "Shinto" translates as,

"the way of the kami,"
or, uh, "the way of the gods."

(gong tolls)

It's a tradition that has

a millennia-long history
in Japan.

There are
over eight million kamis,

according
to the Shinto tradition.

And each one of them has

its own particular
personality traits, if you will.

So, in that sense,
they are quite different

from the notion of
monotheistic god that we have

in traditions that are
most widespread in the West.

The kami are these
celestial beings that are

able to inhabit
basically anything.

From a human being,

to an animal,
and even inanimate objects.

So on the one hand, they're
these multi-dimensional beings,

but then they also
describe them as having

come down
from their celestial palace

in the sky,
which is called Takamagahara.

The celestial kami will come

into the terrestrial world,
our world.

And they need a home.

So they have these major shrines

for these kami
when they come into the world,

so that they can feel at home
in the terrestrial world.

The Japanese archipelago is
dotted with over 81,000

shrines that are devoted
to the kami gods.

And it's believed that these
are houses or places

where these
extraterrestrial beings come

to live when they're on Earth.

The Japanese people
will visit the shrines

of the kami with the belief
that they are actually praying

to an extraterrestrial being
who can fulfill their blessings.

NARRATOR:
If what Shinto followers call

"the kami" really are
otherworldly beings

that have been visiting Japan
since ancient times,

are they still being
encountered today

in the form of UFOs?

And might the Japanese
leadership be taking steps

to disclose this
extraterrestrial connection?

Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest

governments throughout the world

are finally beginning
to acknowledge

that there may be objects
in our skies that are

not of this Earth,
and they say that when it comes

to promoting investigation
and transparency,

one of the biggest proponents

is also one
of the most unlikely:

the royal family of Britain.

At a meeting
of the House of Lords,

the second
chamber of Parliament,

Minister of Defence,
Baroness Annabel Goldie,

is questioned about
the just-released report

on unidentified aerial phenomena
issued by the United States,

and is asked if the UK plans
on issuing a report of its own.

HESELTINE: Baroness Goldie
answered in a way that said

that there is no threat.

She was very careful
how she phrased it.

She said there has
never been a proven threat.

Reading between the lines,
that said

to me that unless
these things are gonna

start shooting at our airplanes,

they're not considered a threat.

NARRATOR: But while the British
Parliament has no plans

to release its own UAP report,

it was recently discovered
that for nearly 70 years,

UFO activity
was closely monitored

by some of the most prominent
members of the royal family.

April 9, 2021.

Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh,

passes away at the age of 99.

As publications across the world

report on his incredible life,

it comes to light
that the prince

had a long-held fascination
with the UFO phenomenon.

When Prince Philip died

in the spring of 2021,

there was a bit of a surprise
to the British public

and that was
that Prince Philip had

a huge collection

of books on UFOs
that went right back

to the mid-1940s.

DOLAN: He had an associate
named Sir Peter Horsley

who was a former RAF pilot.

He was a good friend
of Prince Philip.

And back in the mid-1950s,

was charged by the prince to do

a lot of research into this
whole flying saucer situation.

POPE: The two of them
over the years researched

and investigated this quietly,

kept an eye
on all the developments,

secretly subscribed

to various UFO magazines
and newsletters,

and even had
witnesses interviewed.

But a lot of this,
of course, was highly sensitive.

I mean, here you have
the queen's husband,

Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh,

researching
and investigating UFOs.

Had the news got out,

it would have
caused a sensation.

NARRATOR: While those
within the UFO community

had long been aware of
Prince Philip's investigations

into strange phenomena,

most of the public only
learned of it with his passing.

And it also came
to light that another member

of the British royal family
was responsible

for one of Great Britain's
earliest UFO reports.

Hampshire, England, 1955.

On the morning
of February 23 at 8:30 a.m.,

bricklayer Frederick Briggs
is riding his bike

when he encounters
a startling sight.

An enormous object in the sky
above his employer's estate.

POPE:
He said this thing was huge.

It was hovering a short distance
above the ground.

Some sort of column descended

and a figure emerged.

Uh, a humanoid figure wearing

some sort of dark uniform,
and-and perhaps

wearing a hat or a helmet.

And at one point
he talks about a force

knocking him off his bicycle
and holding him down.

And he talks about the UFO
as having windows

around the side of it,
and seeing a strange light.

It's a quite
extraordinary account.

This close encounter event
was

so remarkable
to Fred Briggs that

he thought
it was necessary to tell

the actual owner of this estate.

And that just so happened
to be Lord Mountbatten,

who was the uncle
of Prince Philip,

who was married
to Queen Elizabeth.

NARRATOR:
At the time of the sighting, Lord Louis Mountbatten,

former Governor General
of India, was the First Sea Lord

of the British Royal Navy.

This is a UFO sighting
at the home of one of

the most senior figures
in the British establishment.

We know so much
about this because

they recorded the whole thing.

They actually took a statement
from the bricklayer.

Lord Mountbatten
wrote up a report.

They all signed them all.

DOLAN: This apparently was
a very credible account,

according to Lord Mountbatten.

And he talked extensively

to Prince Philip about this.

I mean, you have to assume
this whole thing went

through the entire
royal household.

You have to assume Queen
Elizabeth knew all about this.

HOWE: Lord Mountbatten would
have access as friends

and colleagues to the people
in the MOD who were keeping

the secret information
about UFOs and ETs.

And that is my guess is
the fuel that kept Prince Philip

so interested because
they were telling each other

this is real, this is true.

NARRATOR:
While the royal family was secretly investigating UFOs

in the 1950s, so too
was the British government.

In 1988, researchers unearthed
a five-page report from 1951,

buried in the National Archive,
detailing the findings

of a group called "The Flying
Saucer Working Party."

One of the British
government's first forays

into the whole UFO mystery was
the Flying Saucer Working Party.

It examined a range
of UFO sightings,

mainly reported by
military witnesses.

HESELTINE:
The Flying Saucer Working Party met briefly for about 12 months.

It comprised of five scientists,

and it originally met in October

of 1950, and by June of 1951
had produced a report.

And the report basically said,
we're gonna debunk it,

following America's lead.

I've always interpreted this
report as orders from above.

You know, someone said, "Look,
we don't need the lower levels

to start getting worked up
over these UFO reports."

NARRATOR:
The Flying Saucer Working Party was shut down following

the 1951 report,
but it inspired interest

from prominent figures
within the British government,

and led to
further investigations.

POPE:
In 1952, Winston Churchill,

back as Prime Minister
in the UK,

said to the Air Ministry and
to his Chief Scientific Adviser,

"What does all this stuff
about flying saucers mean?"

Just the year after
Churchill wrote that memo,

the Ministry of Defence
actually set up

the UFO program where
I worked in later years.

The government's official
position was:

there's nothing here to suggest
a reality to the phenomenon.

I think the reality
behind closed doors

was very different.

And there have always been
those of us who felt this

was an extremely serious defense

and national security issue.

NARRATOR:
Why is it that after decades of denial,

the UK is now disclosing
information

about its leadership's
true fascination

with the alien question?

Whatever the reason may be,

ancient astronaut theorists
believe the British government's

level of interest goes
far beyond mere curiosity.

Recently declassified
documents suggest elite

special agents were assigned
to covertly investigate

the country's infamous
"UFO files."

NARRATOR:
The British Ministry of Defence, or MOD,

makes a startling announcement.

They are releasing
the entirety of their UFO files

to the National Archives
of England.

ANDREW RUSSELL:
My belief is that the MOD's motive was

to have people stop
asking them questions.

They could get away from
all these difficult

Freedom of Information Act
requests

that people were making.

And they framed it
in a way that it was

all about cost cutting.

But in reality, it was
almost as if they just

didn't want anything to
do with the subject anymore.

I still believe they take a very
active interest in the subject,

but they don't want to be seen
publicly to take that interest.

NARRATOR:
After a rollout that took more than a decade,

it came to light that
the Ministry of Defence

had accumulated over 60,000
documents pertaining to

UFO encounters.

But researchers sorting
through the archives were able

to determine that 18 key files
were missing.

RUSSELL: There were a number
of very famous cases

where people had taken
some really good photos,

some really good film imagery,
that the MOD can't now find.

Large parts of their files
were seemingly destroyed.

And it seems they have
a very good history

on losing really important
bits of information.

NARRATOR:
After a request was submitted,

Ministry of Defence officials
located the missing files.

Each file, by the way,
contains upward of maybe

100, 200 documents.

So we're talking
thousands of documents.

They sent those files
to the National Archives,

and everyone was expecting
an imminent release.

But in an unprecedented move,

the Ministry of Defence
then recalled the files.

Now, I've never heard
of this happening before.

To date, these 18 files
remain under lock and key.

So something very mysterious
is going on.

NARRATOR:
Why would the British Ministry of Defence

send UFO files
to the National Archives,

and then suddenly
recall them without explanation?

Some government insiders
have suggested

that the files were moved
for safekeeping, while another

even more secure facility
was being prepared.

When the National Archives

returned the files to
the British government,

they were spirited away
to an undisclosed location.

There are those who believe
that location

is a former Royal Air Force base

in the southwest county of
Wiltshire called Rudloe Manor.

A site that the Ministry
of Defence used to perform

UFO investigations
dating back to the 1940s.

On the surface, it appears to be
nothing more than a quaint

English manor house.

But deep beneath this
structure lie an astounding

2.2 million square feet
of vast caverns

divided into
many smaller chambers.

These underground quarries were
excavated in the 19th century

to mine Bath stone, a type
of limestone used to build

the nearby city of Bath and
several other English cities.

One century later, in 1939,

England was drawn
into World War II,

and the British Royal Air Force
took over the depleted quarries,

transforming them into
an underground aircraft factory.

At the end of the war,
many such facilities were

returned to civilian control,

but Rudloe Manor and its
over two million square feet

of secret tunnels and
chambers were never surrendered.

For years it was home
to a group called

the Provost
and Security Services.

They're kind of like
the James Bonds

of the British Royal Air Force.

They do espionage
investigations,

counterintelligence programs,

things like that.

Even terrorism investigations.

But back in the 1990s,
and certainly going back

to the 1950s, the Provost
and Security Services

were heavily involved
in UFO investigations.

Now, for years, the Air Force
and the Ministry of Defence

denied that any
UFO investigations

were going on at Rudloe Manor.

Then a document got released,
and it showed that,

actually, yes,
UFO investigations

had been done from Rudloe Manor.

And the staff there had been
working hand in glove

with those of us
in the headquarters building

in London.

NARRATOR:
Shortly before the Ministry of Defence released

their UFO files in 2007,

they announced that Rudloe Manor

was no longer
in use by the military.

But if that's true,
why are the grounds surrounded

by chain link fences,
monitored by security cameras,

and even protected
by guard dogs?

To find the answers,
in January of 2017,

ancient astronaut theorist
Giorgio Tsoukalos traveled to

the protected boundaries
of Rudloe Manor.

POPE:
There it is.

NARRATOR:
Joining him in his search

for the truth was Nick Pope,
who in the early 1990s

worked for the Ministry of
Defence investigating UFOs.

TSOUKALOS:
We're here.

During your time at the MOD,

what did you learn
about this place?

Or any type of UFO cases
that may have happened

around this area?

Well, this whole area
is rich in UFO sightings.

Rudloe Manor was
the headquarters of a unit

known as Provost
and Security Services.

Now, this is
all tied up with Air Force

security and intelligence.

UFO sightings
were investigated by staff

based here at Rudloe Manor,
but for years, we denied it.

We told Parliament,
the media and the public

that these things were
of no interest,

that Rudloe Manor had
no involvement in this.

And yet when the files
were declassified,

it turned out
that people were right.

- Right here?
- Right here.

And so, this building
really was at the heart

of Britain's secret
UFO research,

and particularly the underground
facilities below us.

All sorts of secrets
and research and investigation

projects went on from
this particular facility.

NARRATOR:
While the manor house was the face of Rudloe Manor

and the headquarters for
Britain's UFO investigations,

access to the underground
facilities

is found two miles away

at the equally secretive
installation known as the C.C.C.

POPE:
It's close to where we are.

It's all part of
the underground facility,

so there are tunnels
which start right

underneath the manor house here,
and go to the C.C.C.

No one knows exactly
how many people work

down there, but it's thousands.

Nobody knows
exactly what they do.

And I worked for the government,
for the Ministry of Defence,

for 21 years, and I don't know.

- And even if I did,
I wouldn't be able to tell you. - Of course!

NARRATOR:
Are the UFO files withheld by the Ministry of Defence

being kept at Rudloe Manor,

as ancient astronaut
theorists believe?

And could even greater secrets
be hidden

at the mysterious site
known as the C.C.C.?

POPE:
Officially, it's called the Corsham Computer Centre.

And you can't get in there.
It's absolutely off-limits.

Whatever's going on
down there, it's big.

NARRATOR:
Despite the fact that it is not open to the public,

Giorgio asked Nick
to take him to the C.C.C.

- for a firsthand look at
the installation. - TSOUKALOS: All right.

- Good luck.
- Thank you very much.

NARRATOR:
As a former employee of the Ministry of Defence,

Nick did not feel
it was appropriate for him

to approach the facility
himself without clearance.

I'll see you later, Nick.

- Yes.
- Take care.

TSOUKALOS:
Here we are. The C.C.C.

The lights are on.

And just like Nick explained,

it's got barbed wire,
it is fenced down, impenetrable.

NARRATOR:
According to the British Ministry of Defence,

the C.C.C. is simply
a data processing center

for the Royal Navy.

But if true,
why is it so heavily guarded?

Clearly, it's an access to
what seems to be

an underground system.
And if the stories that

Nick told me are true,
then underneath our feet is

a vast system of tunnels
and underground facilities.

(siren blaring)

NARRATOR:
Within minutes of Giorgio's arrival at the security gate,

the crew is met by
a military police unit.

TSOUKALOS: Can you tell me
anything about this place?

NARRATOR:
Unfortunately, the situation ends

with filming being halted.

TSOUKALOS:
Well, we're only trying to find out the truth.

NARRATOR:
But why?

What is it that's so
top secret that Giorgio

and his camera crew
are not even allowed to

film the entrance
from public property?

So it was exactly how you said.

Fortification,
barbed wire fence.

I had about five minutes,

and then a police car showed up.

He said, "Well, I think
it's time for you to leave."

So I think you did
exactly the right thing

to get out there
while you could.

But you know that,
A-- it is operational

and B-- it's obviously
important.

They sent the security
people out.

I-I guarantee you
they had eyes on you

from the moment you started.

NARRATOR:
Could this seemingly innocuous building,

and the underground facilities
it leads to

be continuing the
extraterrestrial investigations

that were previously carried out
at Rudloe Manor?

While the British government

continues to be
less than forthcoming

regarding its UFO
investigations,

perhaps the world's
best model of transparency

has emerged just
across the English Channel.

In France,
collaborative efforts by space,

military,
and government agencies

have recently uncovered
more than 400 encounters

that remain entirely
unexplained.

NARRATOR:
The National Center for Space Studies establishes

an organization to
record eyewitness accounts

of abnormal phenomena
observed in the sky.

Known today as "GEIPAN,"

which translated stands
for "The Group for Studies

and Information on Unidentified
Aerospace Phenomena."

The unit has amassed

more than 100,000 pages worth
of UAP reports.

And in 2007, the group
did something unprecedented.

It shared all of its files
with the public.

France is quite unorthodox

when it comes to how governments
are dealing with UFOs.

They released
all their UFO data.

And they said,
"Here's where we're at.

"As we get new information,

we're just gonna release it
to you, the public."

They did something that no one
had ever done before.

It was the first time
it had ever happened.

JEREMY CORBELL:
France is one of these countries

that both culturally,
and also governmentally,

have made a point
to be in front of the UFO issue.

This is a rarity
because of the national

security implications,
but it shows us an opportunity

where the public can be informed
alongside the government

with the fundamental
reality that UFOs are real,

that the presence on planet
Earth has been durational.

It has been here a long time.

And there is a mystery
that we need to look at.

It is our right to know,
and our duty to find out.

NARRATOR: GEIPAN posted
information on their website

on over 1,600 cases, and
concluded that 28% of them

cannot be explained
by conventional events.

And a number of these
unexplained sightings

were reported
by multiple witnesses.

One of the most sensational
encounters took place

more than 45 years ago,
on a clear, cloudless night

at a combat flight school
to the southwest of Paris.

There was an incident
on March 3, 1976,

when French fighter pilots were
engaged in a training mission.

Every five minutes T-33 planes

were taking off from
the airbase near Tours.

NARRATOR:
Flying solo at an altitude of 20,000 feet,

each student pilot
had to navigate

a route of
several hundred miles.

One of these pilots was flying

with several other flights
just behind him.

He suddenly saw
this huge green fireball...

coming straight at him.

And in fact, he thought
that it was going to

hit his plane,
and he covered his eyes

and braced for impact.

And just then,
this green fireball

went off to one side and clipped

the wing of his jet fighter.

He was amazed that he had
actually survived this,

and had no idea what happened,

but two pilots behind him
had seen the same thing.

HENRY:
Nothing was recorded on the radar on the ground,

but the fact remains
is that highly trained

military pilots saw this object.

They couldn't explain
what they actually saw.

NARRATOR:
Commercial airline pilots were also involved

in an extraordinary incident

that occurred
over the French capital.

This time, the reported
UFO encounter

took place in broad daylight.

On January 28, 1994,
Air France Flight 3532

was flying from Nice, France,
to London, England.

They were just over Paris
when all of a sudden

the pilots reported seeing
an orangish-reddish disc

about 30 miles away.

It was changing its form.

HOWE:
It transforms into a bell.

From a bell into a lens,

from a lens back into a bell.

And they kept watching
this transformation,

which today we know--
this is one of the key

signatures
in the UFO phenomenon.

CHILDRESS:
Later, when they made their report,

they found out that radar
had also tracked

this disc, and they had no
explanation for it at all.

HENRY:
These are just two examples of the 400 incidents

that could not be explained.

NARRATOR:
France's decision to share its data

with the public
is unprecedented.

Then again, their entire
approach to UAPs stands in stark

contrast to the way
the rest of world operates.

POPE:
If you look at the history of government UFO programs,

most nations that have
had one embed those programs

in either the Air Force
or the Department of Defense.

The French have
a different model.

Their UFO program is embedded

in their National Space Agency.

GREENSTREET:
And they're provided with data from the military.

And so, it's this trilateral
commission, almost,

of space, public, military,
and government working together

to release to the public
current information on UFOs.

POPE:
What you get is a less secretive

and threat-oriented approach,

and a more open
scientific inquiry.

If you embed a UFO program
in the military,

their first question is,
"Is this a threat?"

If you embed it
in the scientific community,

their question is,

"What is the true nature
of this phenomenon?

And can we do any scientific
experiments to validate this?"

So, if you look at the way
things are done in France,

that might be a model
for the future here in the U.S.

NARRATOR:
Ancient astronaut theorists hope

that France's
collaborative approach

to UAP investigations becomes
the norm around the world.

But even
as more nations seem willing

to share information about UAPs,

China, the Western world's
most secretive adversary,

remains mostly silent.

Recent developments, however,
suggest they know more

than they are letting on.

NARRATOR: Air Traffic at
Xiaoshan International Airport,

one of the busiest in the entire
nation, grinds to a halt

when pilots spot a UFO
hovering over the runway.

DOLAN:
You have Chinese pilots coming into the airport there,

and they actually are reporting

unusual-shaped object,
unusual object maneuvering,

to the extent

that it prompted the airport to

essentially shut down
for an hour.

I think there were 18 flights

that were diverted
away from the airport

during that hour.

There was a lot of speculation
as to what this thing was.

And we don't really have
an answer to this day.

NARRATOR: Neither civilian
nor military authorities

were able
to identify the object,

and the Chinese government

made no official comment
on the situation.

But behind the scenes,

the incident
and its implications

worried Chinese officials,

and an investigation
was launched.

CHILDRESS:
That incident really shocked the Chinese.

And at that point, they thought,

"Okay, we've got
to see what's going on here."

NARRATOR:
For decades,

investigators
around the world suspected

China had a deep interest in
unidentified aerial phenomena.

But the Chinese government
is historically secretive,

and members of the UFO community
have had difficulty

obtaining information on
their methods of UAP research.

POPE:
It's very difficult

to extract reliable information
about what countries like China

are doing in relation to UFOs.

About the only thing
we know for sure is

that there are government
programs looking at this.

The Chinese government is
notoriously closed and secretive

on a range of issues,
so it doesn't surprise me

that it's the case
on UFOs, as well.

NARRATOR:
But in the 21st century,

secrets have become harder
and harder to keep.

The UFO sighting
at Xiaoshan Airport was only one

of over 3,000 reported in China
over the past two decades.

And in the years that followed
the sightings at Hangzhou,

China has undergone
a significant change

in its approach to UAPs.

China's Early Warning Academy,

a division of the People's
Liberation Army Airforce,

issues a government report
acknowledging an increase

in what they refer to as
"Unidentified Air Conditions."

MICHAEL DENNIN:
So, in China,

what we call "unidentified
aerial phenomena," they call

"unidentified air conditions,"

and they've set up a new
task force to look at this.

DOLAN:
China's getting a lot of UFO reports,

and one interesting thing
about what China does

to collect UFO reports is
that they work very closely

with all of these independent
Chinese UFO groups

that are around the country.

KNAPP:
Their public has UFO clubs

that have a million
or more members.

They have multiple clubs

that are so much bigger
than our little,

tiny UFO groups--
MUFON and things like that--

which are very valuable.

But compared
to these Chinese groups,

oh, my gosh, it's gigantic.

DOLAN:
There's no problem in China

for you to start up
your own UFO group,

but you are absolutely

going to be in communication
with Chinese authorities.

And they actively monitor
every one of those groups.

NARRATOR:
In 2019, in the same report

that revealed
China's UAP program,

Air Force Early Warning Academy
researcher Chen Li also stated

that the country would become
the first in the world

to use AI,
or artificial intelligence,

to analyze all information
related to UAPs.

POPE:
It seems that they are looking

for patterns in the data

to see, historically,
whether examination

of past reports can
throw up any patterns

that human analysists
might have missed.

And this is
a very important aspect

for the future,
as the technology improves.

One of the things in the recent
report to the U.S. Congress was

that the United States needs
to start doing this.

We don't want a situation

where the Chinese government
gets ahead of the game,

so there's a gap
to be closed there.

(indistinct,
overlapping shouting)

DOLAN:
I can easily see the benefit

from having a very,
very excellent program

to analyze these patterns.

'Cause that's
what you're looking for is,

you're looking
for anomalous patterns.

And so the fact
that China is announcing

that they're doing it,
was quite significant.

CHILDRESS:
The Chinese have really stepped up

their own official
UFO investigations,

and it's the People's
Liberation Army itself

that's spearheading this.

NARRATOR:
Could it be that China is becoming more transparent

in its quest
for answers about UFOs?

But even so,

might their leadership
be keeping the full extent

of their knowledge
regarding extraterrestrials

hidden from their own people?

Perhaps further insight
can be gleaned

from the astonishing
whistleblower claims

of a former
Chinese government official.

NARRATOR:
Sun Shili,

a former Chinese
foreign ministry official,

who worked directly
with Mao Tse-tung,

comes forward
with a shocking revelation

that is reported
in The Canadian newspaper.

The Chinese government is aware

of extraterrestrials
visiting Earth.

(translated):
The government held an objective

and practical attitude,

and allowed us
to do abundant research,

reports and discussions
on the topic.

They pay great attention
to this topic,

especially the military,
the Air Force

and civil aviation departments,

which encounter UFO cases
frequently.

POPE:
Sun Shili said

that not only were
the Chinese government aware

that extraterrestrials
were visiting the Earth,

but also, that some aliens
were actually living among us,

disguised in human form.

His revelations are
an absolute bombshell.

I mean, clearly,
this shines a new light

on what may have been going on
in relation to this subject

in one of the most
secret societies

on the face of this planet.

NARRATOR:
Shili claimed

to have discovered
sensitive information

about government knowledge
of extraterrestrials

while serving Chairman Mao,

and he also
had his own close encounter.

(translated): In 1972, I was
in the central government.

I was working in
the foreign affairs department.

We were on evening duty

when we saw
a shiny UFO in the sky,

like a small moon.

It was smaller than the moon,
but was very bright.

It moved up and down.

It disappeared
after about ten minutes or so.

NARRATOR: Initially,
Shili regarded the spectacle

as a type of Cold War
intelligence monitoring device.

But years later, after working

within elevated levels
of the Chinese government,

he was certain he had witnessed
an alien spacecraft.

(indistinct chatter)

POPE:
I met Dr. Sun Shili

in 2013 in Washington, D.C.

We were both speakers

at the Citizen Hearing
on Disclosure.

I had a chance
to meet with Sun Shili,

and discuss some
of this with him firsthand.

He's entirely sincere
about this.

NARRATOR:
Could Sun Shili, a man who worked closely

with one of the most powerful
world leaders in history,

really have inside knowledge

about extraterrestrials
visiting Earth?

Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes, and suggest

that China-- a historically
isolationist country--

may have secretly
been in contact

with extraterrestrials
for decades and possibly longer.

JONATHAN YOUNG:
China has always been insular.

There's always been a sense

that the rest of the world
was unimportant,

that China was for China

and for the Chinese,
and they were very careful

about any secrets that came out.

POPE:
China is a notoriously closed and secretive society.

Is this in relation to UFOs
because they know something?

Could it be
that they found something?

PAUL STONEHILL:
The Chinese government

does not feel obligated

to explain their views on UFOs,

or their research.

I am sure they are concerned
that those who study UFOs

sometimes see military tests
in the skies of China.

They are
a self-immersed civilization,

and they don't feel, perhaps,

that they need to share
all their historical knowledge

with the others.

NARRATOR:
China is one of the world's most populous countries,

with a unique blend of ancient
and modern civilization.

Westerners have long held
a fascination

with this distant land, in part

because it seems
to hold so many secrets.

From the construction
of the 13,000-mile-long

Great Wall of China,
erected thousands of years ago,

to the so-called
digital Great Firewall,

restricting the Internet today--

China has taken
extraordinary measures

that have prevented
both people and information

from entering
or leaving its domain.

But why?

According to ancient
astronaut theorists,

the answer may be found

by looking back 5,000 years

to China's beginnings,

and the reign
of their very first ruler--

the Yellow Emperor.

STEAVU:
The Yellow Emperor is understood

to be a human figure, but,

originally,
in his earlier incarnation,

he was actually
a divine celestial figure.

He was a god
associated with thunder,

and lightning,
more specifically.

And he was thought
to reside in the sky.

The reign of the Yellow Emperor,

which purportedly
lasted 100 years,

was thought to be a high point
of Chinese culture

and of civilization.

So he's associated with a number
of technological developments,

spanning from the calendar,

advances in mathematics,
astronomy,

agricultural techniques,
writing, as well.

NARRATOR:
According to ancient accounts,

the Yellow Emperor
possessed knowledge

of advanced technology,

and invented
many mechanical devices,

including a cauldron
that was oriented

towards the Syuan Yuan star--

the star from which he is said
to have descended.

It was written

that the cauldron could make
a dragon appear from the sky.

STEAVU:
When the time was right,

he crafted the cauldron,

and in it, he threw in
some alchemical ingredients,

elixir ingredients.

And immediately, the heavens
opened, and a dragon emerged.

TSOUKALOS:
So, a flying dragon,

sometimes described
with metallic skin.

One has to wonder,

do we have descriptions
of nuts-and-bolts machines?

Could these be nothing else

but descriptions
of misunderstood technology?

SUN SHILI (translated):
Based on our research,

the Yellow Emperor arrived
in the wonderful land of China

through an aircraft.

We Chinese people
consider ourselves

the descendants of the dragon.

In UFO research, a dragon
is the symbol of aircraft,

that is, the symbol of a UFO.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible the Yellow Emperor

was an extraterrestrial
that was responsible

for starting
Chinese civilization

over 5,000 years ago?

And if so,
might subsequent emperors--

who all claimed to be
descendants of Huangdi--

have been at least
part alien, as well?

In China's ancient history,

it was often forbidden
to look upon the emperor.

And from 1420 to 1912,

emperors were actually
walled off from the public

within a massive citadel
in Beijing,

known as "the Forbidden City."

The design of the Forbidden City
was meticulously planned

to shield the emperor
from the outside world,

as well as symbolize
Chinese philosophy and religion.

The Forbidden City
was considered

to be an earthly counterpart
to an extraterrestrial city.

A monk received the plan
for the city in a vision,

and it was built of stones, some
of them weighing over 300 tons.

The full name
of the Forbidden City

is actually,
"the Purple Forbidden City,"

and this refers
to a constellation,

which is known as the "Purple
Enclosure," in the skies.

This constellation is said
to house the celestial emperor

and his immediate entourage.

So, the forbidden city
in Beijing is considered

to be an earthly,
or terrestrial, counterpart

of this celestial palace
up in the stars.

CHILDRESS:
So you have to wonder,

might these Chinese emperors
have been aliens,

living both among people
of the Earth and in the sky?

NARRATOR:
Was the practice

of hiding Chinese emperors
implemented

to conceal flesh-and-blood
extraterrestrials?

And, if so, might there
still be aliens living among,

and, in fact,
ruling the Chinese people,

just as former Chinese official

Sun Shili claims
there are today?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining curious,
off-the-record remarks

made by the former
prime minister of Russia.

NARRATOR: The leaders
of over 50 nations gather

for the Nuclear
Security Summit--

a two-day conference
to discuss issues

regarding the proliferation and
safekeeping of nuclear weapons.

During a photo op between

American President Barack Obama

and Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev--

who was soon to be replaced

by then Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin--

the two leaders have
an off-the-record conversation

that raises more
than a few eyebrows.

NARRATOR:
But even more intriguing were recorded--

but not filmed-- comments

in which President Obama
told Medvedev...

And to which Medvedev replied...

POPE:
The revelation was extraordinary.

President Obama's quote was,

"It's important
for him to give me space."

What does that mean?

Some people think
it simply means breathing space,

space to operate,
room to maneuver politically.

But there is an interpretation

that suggests
he meant literally.

"It's important
for him to give me space."

Outer space.

MIKE BARA:
Any time you hear governments talk about space,

you hear them talk
about space exploration,

trust me, the underlying,

implied, unspoken reality behind
that is the alien presence.

POPE:
It is possible that Russia and America,

in some aspects
of the space question,

and maybe
the extraterrestrial question,

maybe they are
working together after all.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that even between two

of the world's most powerful
political rivals,

there is a secret understanding?

One based on America
and Russia's past

and future roles in outer space?

Ancient astronaut
theorists say yes,

and they also believe that this
secret understanding extends

to numerous experiences

involving
extraterrestrial contact.

As evidence,
they point to an occasion

that took place
just a few months

after Medvedev's now famous
exchange with Barak Obama.

On December 7, 2012,

after giving a primetime
network interview in Moscow,

Medvedev made remarks
offstage which seemed

to openly acknowledge the
existence of extraterrestrials,

and the Russian
government's efforts

to keep that existence a secret.

NARRATOR:
Although most of the journalists in the room

believed the Russian
president's remarks

to have been made in jest,

there were others
who were not so certain.

DOLAN:
This is one of the most dramatic statements

that emanates out of Russia,
and so it's fascinating.

Dmitry Medvedev said, "When
you become president of Russia,

"you're given information
on aliens in our country,

and the human groups
that are monitoring them."

He was totally with a straight
face during all of this.

SALLA:
Here he is, on film,

saying that there is a secret

governmental cooperation
occurring in the background

that has the highest levels
of classification

to really monitor
extraterrestrials

that are visiting our planet.

Forget all the differences.

Forget ideologies.

At the highest level,
the two nations work together.

After World War II,

there was a number of
UFO encounters,

very important encounters,

and this gave impetus

to joint cooperation
between our nations.

NARRATOR:
Joint cooperation?

Even during the tension-filled
decades of the Cold War?

Ancient astronaut
theorists believe

that not only did such
a secret relationship exist,

but that it began
several decades ago

as a consequence of
what they believe to be

the Soviet Union's
first documented UFO encounter.

An event they commonly refer to

as "The Russian Roswell."

Southern Russia.

June 19, 1948.

At a remote Soviet
military installation

known as Kapustin Yar,

an unidentified flying object

is detected over the base.

POPE:
Strange blips were seen on radar.

Something was tracked

performing extraordinary
speeds and maneuvers.

And a Russian fighter jet
was sent to intercept it.

The pilot saw a silver
cigar-shaped object

and was told,
"Shoot this thing down.

It's in restricted
military airspace."

The UFO fired some sort
of directed energy weapon,

a death ray.

But before
the Russian jet was downed,

it managed to launch a missile

and shoot down the UFO.

Some people have speculated
this was the time

that the Russians found out
about extraterrestrials.

BARA:
According to the myths and legends,

at Kapustin Yar,
they actually recovered bodies,

they recovered
the spacecraft itself,

and it was kept there for study
and reverse engineering.

PETER ROBBINS:
We are told that there is

a underground facility
under Kapustin Yar,

similar probably to facilities
here in the States,

where a full examination
could be performed

on the pilots of these craft.

NARRATOR:
To ancient astronaut theorists and researchers,

what makes the Kapustin Yar
story all the more significant

is that it occurred
within a year of

the now-infamous
Roswell incident,

in which a UFO
reportedly crashed

in the New Mexico desert

sometime in June of 1947.

That took place
near the only active

military unit in the world
that had nuclear weapons.

That was the Roswell
509th Bombing Unit,

and they had nukes.

Similarly, over at
the Soviet Union

at places like Kapustin Yar,

we've got significant
UFO activity being reported,

military engagements,

just like in the United States.

And I personally believe

that extraterrestrials
had a strong interest

in the nuclear technologies
that were then developing

on planet Earth,

which is exactly why
they were there.

NARRATOR:
Could it be that both the Kapustin Yar

and Roswell incidents were
attempts by extraterrestrials

to make contact
because of mankind's

recent development
of nuclear weapons?

But, if such contact did occur,

did it signal
an era of secret cooperation

between the world's
two great superpowers,

or did it only trigger

a greater degree of
rivalry and competition?

In Roswell, you had the crash.

You had the recovered
alien bodies,

but the aliens were dead.
There was no way

to communicate with them

because they had been killed.

So, we had the technology,

but probably no really good idea

on how to start
reverse engineering it.

Whereas at Kapustin Yar,
as the story goes,

they not only got
the spacecraft itself,

but, apparently,
there was at least

one survivor of the incident.

So, what could the Russians
possibly have learned

from that alien extraterrestrial
biological entity

that we were not able to learn
from our Roswell incident?

Why were the Russians
first into space?

Why did they manage
to do Sputnik 1

and then send
Yuri Gagarin up into orbit

and leave
the Americans standing?

Because, on paper, you'd think
that the U.S. government

should have won that race,
but they didn't.

If the Russians
got live aliens,

maybe they found out something

from what happened
at Kapustin Yar

that gave them
the edge in the space race.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that the Soviet Union gained

a strategic advantage in
the so-called "Space Race"

because of help it received from
an extraterrestrial visitor?

And if so, did the United States

have knowledge of this secret?

Ancient astronaut
theorists suggest

evidence of a mutual interest
can be found

by examining
the unprecedented partnership

between the two nations

when it comes to outer space.

(translated): I am now
concluding my activity

as president of the USSR.

NARRATOR:
In one of the most significant events of the 20th century,

Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev

announces his resignation.

Just five days short of
its 69th anniversary,

the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics

is officially dissolved.

The Soviet Union collapsed
1989, 1990, 1991,

and split up into its
constituent republics.

Russia at that time in
the 1990s was a hellhole.

Ethnic conflicts were brewing

all around the borders
of the Russian Federation.

Incredibly high levels of crime.

The birth of the Russian Mafia.

NARRATOR:
But of all the problems that now plague the former Soviet Union,

their space program
was not one of them.

Their Mir orbiting space station
was considered a huge success,

which often stood
in stark contrast

to the United States'
tragedy-plagued Shuttle program.

This contrast
was so stark, in fact,

that when the Shuttle program
quietly ended in 2011,

the United States suspended
its own manned space program

in favor of sending
its astronauts

up to the International Space
Station as little more than

passengers aboard
Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

POPE:
It seems that the U.S.

ceded control of space
to the Russians.

Certainly in relation
to manned missions.

But it is bizarre.

For whatever reason,
the Russians,

despite all their problems,

seemed to be ahead of the U.S.
in some respects

when you talk about space.

A couple of examples of

where the U.S. seem to
have ceded control,

or certainly ceded
the leadership position

in space to the Russians,

are the International
Space Station,

where now, American astronauts
can't even get there

without even going up
in Russian rockets.

NARRATOR:
For ancient astronaut theorists,

the partnership between
the two rival space programs

was simply an admission

of what had already been
taking place in secret

for decades.

It also proved that both the
U.S. and Russian space programs

were going to continue
working together

in the interest
of furthering the goal

of extraterrestrial contact.

But this time
there was a difference.

Russia was now
largely controlled

by deep-pocketed oligarchs,

and run by tight-gripped
autocrats like Vladimir Putin.

They were free of
the kind of public scrutiny

that would force full disclosure

about just what they
were doing in outer space.

If there are alien/human
encounters taking place

in space or in low-Earth orbit,

the Russians could
bring back the information

and share it with us.

STONEHILL:
There is a certain level of secrecy

that is very different in Russia

than it is in the United States.

So it could be that
most sensitive information

is being handled by
the Russian side

so to make sure that
it doesn't get released

and doesn't, uh, spook

the populations
in different nations.

NARRATOR:
But while information coming out of Russia

is now under tight control,

the same could not be said

for the period when
the Soviet Union was imploding.

And it was during
this brief period

that Russia's extensive history
of extraterrestrial encounters

became all but fully exposed.

In the waning days of
the Soviet Union,

a lot of interesting documents

pertaining to UFOs
were declassified.

For example,
the KGB so-called Blue File,

124 pages of information
about UFO cases

that came within to the KGB.

It was declassified.

We know that
most of the documents

pertaining to the SETKA program,

which was the official
Soviet top secret

UFO program
which existed for 13 years,

from '78 to 1991,

most of those cases
are not available,

but the cases that we know
about, that I've studied,

are enough to
make you amazed to know

and of what they have discovered

and what may be in store.

NARRATOR: Could recent
UFO disclosures in Russia,

China, the United Kingdom

and other nations worldwide

indicate that there is

a global mandate
to now share information

about unidentified
aerial phenomena?

While it may appear

that governments
around the world

are becoming
more transparent,

shocking statements
recently made

by a pioneer of
space exploration

may indicate that
much bigger secrets

with far greater implications

continue to be closely guarded.

NARRATOR: General Haim Eshed,
the former head

of Israel's defense ministry's
space directorate,

sits for an interview with
the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

What he reveals
is highly unexpected.

General Eshed
is quoted as saying...

He then proceeds to divulge

even more shocking revelations.

CHILDRESS:
Haim Eshed said that

the Americans and the Israelis

and-and other Western nations

are part of a federation

with extraterrestrials.

And what he described

was something similar to
what's in Star Trek,

a galactic federation

of extraterrestrials,

and they're wanting Earth

to join this federation.

Eshed was the head of

Israel's defense ministry
space programs

for 30 years.

And so, this is
an extremely credible

person with this information.

KNAPP:
I can't imagine someone more credible in Israel

than Haim Eshed
to make those statements.

He was the head of
space security,

he was a general,
he was a professor,

an engineer.
Uh, he knows his stuff.

He knows what's ours and what
isn't flying around out there.

HOWE:
Haim Eshed is one of the most fascinating

humans on this planet.

He was personally responsible

for the overseeing
and the launch

of 20 critical
satellites in Israel.

He's saying it,
we are not alone,

and then comes the other twist.

It isn't humans
that are holding it back.

It's the extraterrestrial
biological entities

who said humans are not ready

for the introduction yet.

It is obvious now

that we have to harness

the advanced technologies

to join forces

and create this world,
a better world.

When someone like that comes
out with a story like this,

everyone should sit up
and take notice.

And yet, for a lot of people,
they're not either aware of this

or just write this off because
it just sounds too crazy.

And yet it comes from someone

who has operated at

the heart of the establishment.

NARRATOR:
Despite General Eshed's high status

as the father of
the Israeli space program,

government officials
around the world

remained largely silent

about his sensational claims.

But did they refrain
from commenting

because they found
his claims to be outlandish

or because they were
protecting the same secret?

It cannot be dismissed offhand

because there were others.

One of them is Canada's
Defense Minister

Paul Hellyer who has said that

there is
extraterrestrial contact

going on between Earth
and extraterrestrial factions.

NARRATOR: On December 30, 2013,

in an international television
news broadcast,

former Canadian Minister of

National Defense, Paul Hellyer,

made the astonishing statement

that he has knowledge of
extraterrestrials

visiting Earth.

Why do you say that
UFOs are as real

as the airplanes
flying over our heads?

Well, because
I know that they are.

And they've been visiting this
planet for thousands of years.

And there is
what is called a federation

of these people,
and they have rules.

When I first went public,

I said that UFOs are as real

as the airplanes going overhead,

and got the dubious
distinction of being

the first person of cabinet rank
to say it categorically.

The elected people
have been kept in the dark.

I would say both the president

and the Congress.

There have been presidents
who've wanted to know

what was going on, so, yes,
the situation, I think,

is not well understood,

and this has been
going on for decades.

So, that is, uh,
is a matter of concern,

and I think should continue
to be a matter of concern,

especially for Americans,
but also for

the people of the world.

CHILDRESS:
So, here we have two senior military personnel,

one from Israel,
one from Canada,

who are basically saying

yes, extraterrestrials are here,

UFO activity is real,

and certain governments
of planet Earth

are in contact with
these extraterrestrials.

What's going on?

Are these people almost like

trying to disclose themselves?

Or are they part of
a wider strategy

involving many different
nations all around the world

working to try and find a way
to get this out?

It's a difficult one because
you can't ignore the backstory.

If it was just
a question of saying

UFOs are extraterrestrial,
it's all true,

then fair enough.

But the backstory

is that we've been
lying to you about this

for nearly 80 years.

So, you got to find a way
to get it out there

in a way that
exonerates governments

all around the world
from complicity

in this decades-long
cover-up and conspiracy.

How to do that?

Well, maybe use these
people who have retired.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that the extraordinary claims

of former high-ranking
government officials

like Haim Eshed and
Paul Hellyer are true?

Are there world leaders

who are not only
aware of extraterrestrials,

but in contact with them?

Perhaps further clues
can be found

by examining a recent agreement

that details how NATO nations

will protect each other's
interests beyond Earth.

President of
the United States Joe Biden

attends the 31st NATO summit

along with 30 other world
leaders and dignitaries.

Among the items on the agenda

is an agreement between members

to expand the Collective
Defense Clause,

also known as Article 5.

In addition to land,
sea, air and cyberspace,

NATO nations will now protect
one another's safety

and national interests in space.

What's particularly
significant about this

is it was the first NATO summit

that President Biden attended.

So here we have
an incoming president

who makes this a key part
of his initial business.

There's no getting away
from the fact that

space will be a key battlefield

in any future conflict.

The only question arises,
conflict with who or what?

Some people say the real forces

that they're concerned about
are extraterrestrial.

NARRATOR:
NATO leaders claim the expansion of Article 5

was made to address
their concerns about

increasingly aggressive behavior
in space by China and Russia.

But could this actually be
the first collective agreement

between nations
preparing for the possibility

of a threat
from an alien civilization?

And is it one more step towards
greater government transparency?

HOWE:
We are, at 2021, headed toward 2050

when Elon Musk says he will have

a million humans on Mars.

Are we now, in the next decade,

going to be introduced to

revelation after revelation,

country by country,

treaty by treaty,

until the entire planet

has finally
stepped up to the plate

on all political
and military secrets?

Could it happen that way?

POPE:
After nearly 80 years of denying

and debunking and downplaying,

now is the time for governments

to step forward and own this.

Time and time again,
we see this concept,

that cooperation is key.

It's only when
nations collaborate

that we will be able

to fully understand

and respond to
the UFO phenomenon.

Mr. Secretary General,

honored guests and
distinguished delegates...

TSOUKALOS:
In one of his speeches

in 1987, President Reagan

made the suggestion

that if Earth would receive
a threat from outer space,

that this would unify

world cultures
from around the planet.

Can we and all nations
not live in peace?

I occasionally think how quickly

our differences worldwide

would vanish if we were
facing an alien threat,

from outside this world.

TSOUKALOS:
I don't look at the extraterrestrial question

as a threat, but rather

an extension of who we are

or how we even
got here long ago.

What if you have all the nations
around the world pull together

their resources and research

the extraterrestrial question?

And guess what?
There is an incredible chest,

a war chest
of indications from the past,

all the way to the present,

that what we see today
is not new.

NARRATOR:
Are world leaders beginning to seriously consider

the possibility that
unidentified aerial phenomena

are, in fact,
of extraterrestrial origin?

And could
the profound implications

of an alien presence on Earth

lead to greater collaboration
between nations,

uniting to prepare for
an incredible new reality?

Perhaps the visitors
in our skies

have been watching us all along,

and only when the world

comes together will it
finally be revealed

that we are not alone.

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