Nothing is more perplexing than the conspiracy of UFO denial consistently displayed by the one entity that has the greatest knowledge of the subject,
the government.

"In the counsels of Government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the Military Industrial Complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for  granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together."
January 1961.

 Jimmy Carter

" I don't laugh at people any more when they say they've seen UFOs.  It was the darndest thing I've ever seen. It was big, it was very bright, it changed colors and it was about the size of the moon. We watched it for ten minutes, but none of us could figure out what it was. One thing's for sure I'll never make fun of people who say they've seen unidentified objects in the sky. If I become President, I'll make every piece of information this country has about UFO sightings available to the public and the scientists."  
At a Southern Governors Conference describing an alleged UFO sighting he had in October of 1969 to reporters while campaigning in 1976.
            "I am convinced that UFOs exist because I have seen one."
Former U.S. President, , five-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize
 

 Bill Clinton

"I want you to find the answers to two questions for me. One, who killed JFK. And, Two, are there UFOs? "
From Friends in High Places, by Webster Hubbell, Clinton's associate attorney general.
            "As far as I know, an alien spacecraft did not crash in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. ... If the United States Air Force did recover alien bodies, they didn't tell me about it either, and I want to know."
In reply to a letter from a child asking about the Roswell Incident.
            "If we were being attacked by space aliens we wouldn't be playing these kinds of games,"
Bill Clinton told educators visiting Washington D.C. .
 

Ronald Reagan

"... when you stop to think that we're all God's children, wherever we may live in the world, I couldn't help but say to him, just think how easy his task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from some other species from another planet outside in the universe. We'd forget all the little local differences that we have between our countries and we would find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this earth together."
White House transcript of "Remarks of the President to Fallston High School Students and Faculty," December 4, 1985.
             "In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world."
Speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Forty-second session, "Provisional Verbatim Record of the Fourth Meeting", September 21, 1987.)
               "I occasionally think how quickly our differences, worldwide, would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world."
From a speech with President Mikhail Gorbachev, in 1988. He made almost the same comment on many occasions.
               "I was in a plane last week when I looked out the window and saw this white light. It was zigzagging around.  I went up to the pilot and said, "Have you ever seen anything like that?" He was shocked and he said, "Nope." And I said to him: "Let's follow it!" We followed it for several minutes. It was a bright white light. We followed it to Bakersfield, and all of a sudden to our utter amazement it went straight up into the heavens.  When I got off the plane I told Nancy all about it. But we didn't file a report on the object because for a long time they considered you a nut if you saw a UFO..."
1974, Reagan was often quoted referring to the possibility of an alien threat. 
 

Harry S. Truman

"I can assure you the flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on earth." White House Press Conference, Washington DC, April 4, 1950.

 Gerald Ford

"No doubt, you have noted the recent flurry of newspaper stories about unidentified flying objects. I have taken special interest in these accounts because many of the latest reported sightings have been in my home state of Michigan... Because I think there may be substance to some of these reports and because I believe the American people are entitled to a more thorough explanation than has been given them by the Air Force to date, I am proposing that either the Science and Astronautics Committee or the Armed Services Committee of the House schedule hearings on the subject of UFOs and invite testimony from both the executive branch of the Government and some of the persons who claim to have seen UFOs... In the firm belief that the American public deserves a better explanation than that thus far given by the Air Force, I strongly recommend that there be a committee investigation of the UFO phenomena. I think we owe it to the people to establish credibility regarding UFOs and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment on this subject.
From a letter he sent as a Congressman to L. Mendel Rivers, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, on March 28, 1966. 

     "Sure I will,"
     In a news conference on July 29, 2000, televised on CNN, George W. Bush reply when a citizen asked if he would tell the public "what the hell is going on" with UFOs. Bush indicated that vice-presidential candidate Dick Chaney would use his experience as Secretary of Defense to address the issue.

“As you may know, I am a card-carrying member of the Amalgamated Flying Saucers Association. Therefore, like many other people in our country I am interested in the phenomenon of flying saucers. It is a fascinating subject that has initiated both scientific fiction fantasies and serious scientific research. I watch with great interest all reports of unidentified flying objects, and I hope that some day we will know more about this intriguing subject. Dr. Harlow Shapley, the prominent astronomer, has stated that there is a probability that there is other life in the universe. I favor more research regarding this matter, and I hope that once and for all we can determine the true facts about flying saucers. Your magazine can stimulate much of the investigation and inquiry into this phenomenon through the publication of news and discussion of material. This can be of great help in paving the way to aknowledge of one of the fascinating subjects of our contemporary world.”  “In a letter to Gray Barker Publisher, Saucer News May 9, 1968”.
U.S. Senator

Daniel K. Inouye

"There exists a shadowy Government with its own Air Force, its own Navy, its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself."
U.S. Senator  

Gerald R. Ford

I think there may be substance in some of these reports ... I believe the American people are entitled to a more thorough explanation than has been given them by the Air Force to date. I think we owe it to the people to establish credibility regarding UFOs, and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment of the subject."  (March 1966)
U.S. Representative.

Barry Goldwater

"It is true that I was denied access to a facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, because I never got in. I can't tell you what was inside. We both know about the rumors (concerning a captured UFO and crew members). I have   never seen what I would call a UFO, but I have intelligent friends who have." (From a letter April, 1979).
            "I think some highly secret government UFO investigations are going on that we don't know about--and probably never will unless the Air Force discloses them."
            "I remember the case in Georgia in the 1950's of a National Guard plane going after a UFO and never returning. And I recall the case in Franklin, Kentucky, when four military planes investigated a UFO. One of them exploded in midair and no one knows why.
            "Hell no, you can't go.  I can't go, and don't ask me again."  (Senator Goldwater quoting General Curtis Lamey's response to the senator's request to visit the "Blue Room" at Wright Patterson Air Force Base where, Goldwater claims he was told physical evidence exists confirming the existence of alien spacecraft).
            "Yes." -Senator Goldwater's response to Larry King's question: "Do you think our government knows UFOs are real and are keeping this fact from the American public?"
            "I certainly believe in aliens in space. They may not look like us, but I have very strong feelings that they have advanced beyond our mental capabilities. " and added, "I think some highly secret government UFO investigations are going on that we don't know about-and probably never will unless the Air Force discloses them." He said he was refused permission to check the Air Force files on UFOs.
U.S. Senator, Retired Air Force Reserve Brigadier General, and pilot.

Richard Russell

I have discussed this matter with the affected agencies of the government, and they are of the opinion that it is not wise to publicize this matter at this time. (Regarding his sighting of a UFO during a 1955 trip to the Soviet Union).
U.S. Senator, Head of Senate Armed Services Committee.  

William H. Ayres

"I share your concern over the secrecy that continues to shroud our intelligence activities on this subject." (in a letter on the subject of UFOs to NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena).
U.S. Representative.  

John W. McCormack

"Some three years ago, (1957), as chairman of the House Select Committee on Outer Space out of which came the recently established NASA, my Select Committee held executive sessions on the matter of 'Unidentified Flying Objects.' We could not get much information at that time, although it was pretty well established by some in our minds that there were some objects flying around in space that were unexplainable. (in a November 4, 1960 letter to Major Donald Keyhoe).
            "I feel that the Air Force has not been giving out all the available information on the Unidentified Flying Objects. You cannot disregard so many unimpeachable sources." (January 1965).
U.S. Representative, Former Speaker of the House. 

Jerry L. Pettis

"Having spent a great deal of my life in the air, as a pilot... I know that many pilots... have seen phenomena that they could not explain. These men, most of whom have talked to me, have been very reticent to talk about this publicly, because of the ridicule that they were afraid would be heaped upon them... However, there is a phenomena here that isn't explained." (July 29, 1968 during the House Committee on Science and Astronautics hearing on UFOs).
U.S. Representative 

Steven H. Schiff

"I wrote to the Dept. of Defense, laying out these allegations and asking them if someone could come over with the file and brief me on it. My intent was to simply release this back to whomever inquired, which is very routine in Congress. ( in response to inquiries from his constituents in 1993 concerning a possible cover-up of the crash of an alleged UFO outside Roswell, NM in 1947, requested information from the Department of Defense).
            "The response I got was not routine. The response I got was a very brief letter from the Air Force saying that my request had been referred to the National Archives, without any further comment... and without any offer of any kind of assistance in retrieving it... So I went to the National Archives and the National Archives wrote a letter back to me saying they didn't have anything in their files on the Roswell incident... I just have to say this much: the way the Dept. of Defense has responded has not been routine."
             "Having been given a "runaround" in his search, he instigated an inquiry by the GAO (General Accounting Office) in 1994 into the handling of Air Force files relating to this matter."
            "I did not ask the General Accounting Office to try once and for all to resolve this matter... What I asked the GAO to do was to assist me in locating whatever Air Force and Defense Department files would have existed on the subject, or an accounting of what happened to them. "
            "To me the issue is government accountability. I think that people who want to see government records are entitled to see government records or to get an explanation of what happened to them, regardless of their reason, regardless of the subject matter. It was my intention simply to make that information public if I could... unless there is a present security reason why not - and I have to add real fast if the matter is classified 'military secret,' we members of Congress can't just go monkeying around in there anytime we want. There are procedures for us too and that's fine with me.
             "I was not told that we have a file that's classified. I was simply referred to an agency which I have to believe - now that I know the prominence of the Roswell incident - I have to believe the Dept. of Defense knew very well that I wasn't going to find anything in the National Archives when they sent me there twice."
            "It's difficult for me to understand even if there was a legitimate security concern in 1947, that it would be a present security concern these many years later. Frankly I am baffled by the lack of responsiveness on the part of the Defense Dept. on this one issue, I simply can't explain it." (Excerpts of Congressman Schiff's remarks on CBS radio's The Gil Gross Show, February 1994).
U.S. Representative