"Fire!" "A people torn apart..." "Not a household in the North or the South was not touched by blood in this conflict." "... and the future of a nation hanging in the balance." "That union, for it to fail, that meant that the concepts of democracy would fail throughout the world." "The Civil War nearly destroyed the Great Experiment known as the United States of America, but might there have even been more at stake than we know?" "Could it be that the preservation of the Union was ensured by extraterrestrial beings?" "It's possible that extraterrestrials have been visiting America since its foundation and did steer the outcome of the Civil War." "Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings." "What if it were true?" "Did ancient aliens really help to shape our history?" "And if so, might they have even influenced the outcome of the American Civil War?" "Jackson County, Missouri." "30 years before the Confederate cannons fired on Fort Sumter, marking the start of the American Civil War," "Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith brought many of his followers here, declaring this location to be the site of the New Jerusalem." "He also stirred up controversy with his comments on slavery in this long-established slave state." "Joseph Smith... when he takes his Mormon colony to Missouri, he actually makes some statements about slavery." "He taught that the slavery issue would cause discord." "He also came out and said that the slaves would eventually rise up against their masters." "Eight years earlier," "Joseph Smith claimed that a strange figure named Moroni came to him in the night, enveloped in light and professing to be from the Pleiades star cluster." "It was also Moroni who directed him to the golden tablets that would become the Book of Mormon." "Joseph Smith also reported that the angel Moroni continued to visit him and three others amongst his congregation also reported similar visits." "According to Smith," "Moroni appeared to him numerous times over the course of his life... and in 1832, he came, bearing an ominous prophecy." "On December 25," "Smith passed this prophecy on to his flock," ""Wars will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina," "which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls." "For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States."" "There are some people that say this is a prophecy, this is a vision by Smith." "Whatever way it was, it really did portend what came about in the 1860s." "What we're seeing is a human-looking being with brilliant light coming off of it, who conveyed an intelligent message to Joseph Smith." "There are some speculations that Joseph Smith was in fact visited by an advanced extraterrestrial being." "Did Joseph Smith really receive a prophecy that predicted the coming of the Civil War?" "And if so, how did an otherworldly entity know that the war would begin in South Carolina nearly 30 years in advance?" "Is it possible that the angel Moroni, this perhaps extraterrestrial being, was very concerned about the Civil War, and that's why it gave Joseph Smith an advanced prophetic glimpse into what was coming?" "Was this another one of the efforts to intervene and to try to steer our history towards the most favorable outcome, perhaps not just for us but also for the extraterrestrials themselves?" "But Joseph Smith is not the only person who is said to have been visited by an otherworldly being foretelling of a future Civil War." "Stories have emerged that during the American Revolution, in 1777," "George Washington had a similar encounter at Valley Forge." "The story is, is that, while at Valley Forge, General Washington had given his men orders not to disturb him." "And suddenly, there's a..." "a being standing there." "And this being is described as being extremely luminous." "And next thing we know, is this being starts giving Washington a prophecy about the future of America." "According to the story, this luminous being not only gave Washington a vision of the future United States, but also warned that the Union would be tested by Civil War." "Is it possible that both George Washington and Joseph Smith were visited by extraterrestrial beings who somehow knew that the Civil War would take place?" "Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and suggest even stronger evidence can be found with strange encounters that were reported not by lone individuals, but by entire communities." "While UFO sightings were extremely rare before the 1900s, a number were reported during the final years leading up to the war." "One of the best early UFO encounters is Wilmington, Delaware, from 1860, where witnesses reported seeing this vast 200-foot-long object, flying through the sky." "And it had, like, a trail of globes or balls of light bind it." "One of them was actually ejected from the object." "Now, this was almost like a rocket." "Certainly nobody should have been flying a rocket in 1860." "An even more striking UFO encounter was reported in Shreveport, Louisiana, that same year." "A group of people saw an enormous craft, 300 yards long, hovering just above the tallest trees." "This thing was described as having a color like a glowing red stove." "And out of the center of this massive object there were rays, like rays of the sun, that reached toward the sky." "Incredibly, this thing was seen for an hour, without changing at all." "People got a very good look at this thing, and nobody could even hazard a guess as to what it was." "Less than a month before the start of the war, another major sighting was reported in New York City." "New York at that time was very different." "It was a cramped, urban setting, before the age of tall buildings." "In that setting, a witness, Mrs. T. Richard Kinder, looked out of an upper window, in her house on Baxter Street, and she saw an object in the sky." "She described it as luminous, glowing, shaped like a cross, flying in the air." "Startled, she awoke her husband." "He saw the glowing cross, too." "This ongoing presence strongly suggests that extraterrestrials were not just taking a backseat approach to what was happening on Earth, but they were actively involved and they were monitoring us." "How is it that in an era when UFO sightings were rarely reported, three mass UFO encounters occurred within a year of the start of the Civil War?" "Is it possible that extraterrestrials really did monitor the United States during this time?" "Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and claim that even stranger than the encounters leading up to the war are those that were reported once the fighting began." "Charleston Harbor, South Carolina." "April 12, 1861." "At 4:30 in the morning," "Confederate cannons fire on Fort Sumter." "Three days later, President Abraham Lincoln declares that an insurrection exists and calls for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion." "The American Civil War has begun." "People on both sides assumed that there would be one great battle that would decide everything... winner take all... one great battle fought somewhere probably between" "Richmond and Washington." "But that doesn't happen." "People actually came out from Washington with picnic baskets and champagne to watch the battle." "But this war would be a horrible war, a war that no participant would ever forget." "It cost more American lives than all other wars combined." "750,000 people, it is now believed, perished during the war." "The Civil War was felt everywhere in America, because it is that war that defines what type of nation we're going to be." "It was not just the future of the United States that was at stake." "This was a war over different philosophies of government, with the fate of a people caught in the crossfire." "And according to ancient astronaut theorists, there may have been even more at stake than we know." "New York City." "April 19, 1861." "Responding to President Lincoln's call to action, the 7th New York Militia travels by steamboat to Annapolis, Maryland." "While en route, they witness a very strange occurrence in the sky." "While these men and sailors were on board, they saw what was described as the moon suddenly soaring clear into the sky, and around it... clearly defined... three circles of light." "Now, of course, we know that it's not possible for the moon to change position in the sky that way." "And looking at this sighting, as it was reported, this would have to be classified as a UFO." "If UFO sightings represent encounters with alien spaceships, then it seems certain that UFOS were watching over America during the Civil War." "Is it possible that the men of the 7th New York Militia really did have an encounter with some type of alien craft, just days after the start of the Civil War?" "And if so, is it a sign that extraterrestrials had an interest in this turning point in our history?" "There's an intriguing pattern that we see within UFO reports." "And that's an increase in sightings when wars break out." "The First World War, Second World War, Vietnam, the Korean War... they all had their UFO incidents." "And another example is the American Civil War." "It could be that aliens might simply be interested in observing historical events." "It's also possible that extraterrestrials might be trying to influence the course of events or simply to warn people in some way." "While there were numerous UFO sightings reported during the Civil War, even more common are stories of soldiers encountering strange beings on the battlefield." "Also reported, were bizarre dreams and premonitions, some of which proved to be prophetic." "One of the most notable was published in a Kansas newspaper on March 27, 1862." "According to the account," "General George B. McClellan, chief of the Union Armies, was visited in his sleep by the ghostly figure of George Washington," "who warned him that Confederate forces were closing in on the capital." "The vision reportedly caused McClellan to change his plans and fend off the attack." "There are many soldiers and politicians during the Civil War that have premonitions, premonitions of death." "Nathaniel Lyon at the Battle of Wilson's Creek actually said, "Today I will die."" "And he is going to be shot in the chest, during the battle shot in trying to rally his men." "But what can explain all of these bizarre incidents?" "Ancient astronauts theorists suggest that the strange dreams and UFO sightings are evidence that extraterrestrials were, in fact, present in America during the Civil War." "It would seem that throughout the history of this planet, certain civilizations and nations have been watched very carefully by the extraterrestrials and... and nurtured by them." "And in ancient times, this could well have been the Egyptians and the Chinese and the Sumerians." "And really, in our own era it's the United States of America that is... is the country that these extraterrestrials are the most interested in." "Could it be that extraterrestrials took an interest in the success of the United States of America?" "Ancient astronaut theorists say the answer may lie with the man who was tasked with preserving the Union:" "Abraham Lincoln." "Springfield, Illinois." "November 7, 1860." "The morning after hearing the triumphant news that he has been elected president of the United States," "Abraham Lincoln wakes up from a deep sleep and gazes into a full-length mirror in his bedroom and has a startling vision." "He saw two images of himself in the mirror." "One face was healthy and well." "The other was a pale, ghostly image of it." "He got up, looked at the mirror, checked it, to see if there was something wrong, then he laid down again thinking, "Well, it's just my imagination."" "Thinking his mind was playing tricks on him," "Lincoln checked the mirror a second time." "Each time, his two faces confronted him, one five times paler than the other." "Lincoln told his wife Mary about the vision." "Lincoln relied on Mary quite a bit." "When he told her about the vision, she became deathly afraid, because she interpreted it to mean that he would have two terms as president." "One he would be healthy and well, and the second term, he would die in office." "If the ghostly reflection in the mirror was not a hallucination, then what was it?" "It's not too big of a stretch to think that perhaps President Lincoln was somehow influenced by otherworldly beings during the course of the war." "It was that important." "It took on immense cosmic significance." "Was Abraham Lincoln actually able to receive messages from an extraterrestrial realm that helped him anticipate the future?" "Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and point out that the president himself believed he was the instrument of a higher power." "Abraham Lincoln is such a mystery still to us even though dozens and dozens and dozens of books have been written about him." "But Lincoln himself was something of a mystic." "I think he had a belief in the supernatural." "At least three different times during the war, he told friends that he had had a dream about being on a boat with no rudder, with no sail, with no tiller." "It's adrift." "He is powerless to steer it, and it's heading toward a shore." "Every time he had that dream, something important happened during the war, mainly the battles." "Antietam, Stones River, Shiloh, Gettysburg..." "Is it really possible that Abraham Lincoln was given premonitions about the war by extraterrestrial beings?" "Could he have been chosen because he represented the best hope for preserving the Union and ensuring the continuation of the Great American Experiment?" "Abraham Lincoln saw the United States as this great experiment in democracy." "That for it to fail, that meant that the concepts of democracy would fail throughout the world." "In addition to his own premonitions, some say that Lincoln may also have been influenced by the visions of a Spiritualist named Nettie Colburn." "In December of 1862, during the darkest days of the Civil War," "Nettie became a spiritual advisor for Mary Todd Lincoln, who was a devout believer in mysticism." "She claimed to have attended séances with Lincoln multiple times and, while in a trance, claimed to have advised him on the war." "Now, proving that is sometimes difficult, but in my research, I did find, on several points," "Nettie's story does check out." "According to Nettie's autobiography, otherworldly beings used her to communicate with President Lincoln during séances and even advised him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation." "And another mystic, J.B. Conklin, claimed these voices actually dictated to the president a first draft of the historic document." "Things that not only Nettie did, but other people in the Spiritualist movement did, was they were giving him messages about how important the Emancipation Proclamation was, and it was something that Lincoln took as divine sort of guidance." "And so it appears to have played a role in his decision making." "It's quite possible that, at one of these events, he received messages from otherworldly beings, possibly even extraterrestrial beings, in order to preserve the Union as part of this immense master plan for humanity." "What that leads us to is the possibility that some of the same extraterrestrials that were being seen in numerous UFO sightings before and during the Civil War were able to form a direct contact to Lincoln, through Nettie Colburn Maynard," "to give him the messages that he needed to be able to steer the outcome of the Civil War." "Was Abraham Lincoln literally destined for greatness?" "Might aliens have been guiding him through his dreams and visions during the Civil War?" "If so, what was their purpose?" "Perhaps the answer can be found with an incredible encounter..." "Fire!" "... at Gettysburg." "Gettysburg, Pennsylvania." "July 2, 1863." "Two years and three months into the Civil War, 337,000 men lie dead, over 13 times as many casualties as the United States suffered during the Revolutionary War." "But after so much bloodshed, neither side has a clear advantage." "The majority of the fighting has taken place in the Southern states, but Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who is gaining a reputation as being invincible, decides to make an aggressive move and advance into Union territory." "Robert E. Lee decides that he will take the war north, for a couple of reasons." "Number one, it's gonna relieve pressure on the farmers in Virginia, who are trying to grow crops, feed themselves, feed the army." "And second, politically, uh, he knows that there is a lot of pressure on Abraham Lincoln to win this war." "Northern voters, Northern politicians are angry that this war is carrying on so far." "If Lee won here, the door to Washington, and ultimately victory, was open." "While the Confederates were massing for attack, reinforcements from the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment were called in, commanded by Colonel Joshua Chamberlain." "Chamberlain rushes his troops towards the Little Round Top." "He comes to a crossroads, and he said there was an eerie figure, in a tri-corner hat pointing the way to the Little Round Top, the right road to take." "And he said it looked like George Washington." "George Washington?" "Could this ghostly vision have been merely an illusion?" "Although the story sounds incredible," "Secretary of War Edwin Stanton appointed a member of his staff to speak with a number of the men who experienced this vision, and it is said that he gathered unwavering testimony claiming that the encounter was real." "In the end, the 20th Maine would repel the Confederate attack on Little Round Top and save the day for the Union Army." "So you have to ask yourself:" "did extraterrestrials in some way influence this battle... by disguising themselves as a familiar figure like George Washington, and then guiding the troops to a certain position where they knew this would turn the tide of the battle?" "It would seem that something like this happened." "Is the story of George Washington appearing to soldiers at Gettysburg the ultimate proof that alien beings really did intervene to influence the outcome of the Civil War?" "Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and suggest that the United States of America has had a connection with extraterrestrials since its very beginning." "We do have clues that" "Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and George Washington all believed in extraterrestrial life." "Thomas Jefferson gave a famous lecture about the unusual UFO sighting by a person named William Dumbarton, in Baton Rouge, in 1800." "Benjamin Franklin wrote, in his Poor Richard's Almanac, about life on other worlds and, apparently, was a believer in that." "And George Washington had a very famous angelic vision at Valley Forge," "and so it would seem that George Washington," "Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were very much believers in extraterrestrials and life on other planets." "Is it possible that extraterrestrials have been guiding the course of America since its very beginning, and intervened in the Civil War to ensure that the Great Experiment would continue?" "Ancient astronaut theorists suggest further evidence that an otherworldly force was present at this point in history, can be found by examining a recurring dream that Abraham Lincoln had of his own death." "He sees a body on the catafalque wrapped in mourning clothing." "The body's being guarded by Union soldiers." "He asks one of the soldiers," ""Who is dead in the White House?"" "And one of the solder says," ""It's the president." "He's been killed by an assassin."" "He believed that he was uniquely suited to become president, to carry the country through the great crisis of disunion." "And he, part and parcel with that belief in his destiny to become president, was his belief that he would be slain." "Abraham Lincoln is said to have had, uh, prophetic dreams, visions." "If aliens are coming here to visit Earth, certainly it seems reasonable to wonder if they might have tried to influence the course of events through Abraham Lincoln, uh, possibly through his dreams and visions." "Could it be that extraterrestrials were the source of this recurring dream, and that they were testing Abraham Lincoln to see if he would fulfill his destiny, even knowing that it would lead to an early grave?" "Ancient astronaut theorists suggest that further clues can be found by examining the life of one of the war's most extraordinary soldiers:" "Ambrose Bierce." "Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia." "June 23, 1864." "While leading a skirmish line on Confederate troops," "Union Army lieutenant Ambrose Bierce is shot in the left temple by a sniper." "Miraculously, the bullet travels around the side of his skull and ends up behind his left ear, leaving Bierce injured but alive." "After being shot in the head," "Bierce went on to become one of the most prominent authors of the post-Civil War era, and was a pioneer of science fiction... influencing such writers as Ray Bradbury," "Roald Dahl, and Kurt Vonnegut." "But could his genius as a writer have been, in some way, connected to the injury to his head?" "In the case of brain injuries, when you suddenly, uh, display a new ability," "I'm not so sure that it's something that was there all along and you're uncovering... more so that it's a new ability;" "re-circuitry, if you will." "We're all disconnected from our core, unaware of the greater realm of pure potential, and Ambrose Bierce may have gotten the right nudge to give him an interesting window into that realm, allowing him to get closer to it than most of us normally ever do." "Ambrose Bierce is best known for short stories that involve paranormal incidents, strange disappearances, and incongruencies of time." "One of the most famous is "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge,"" "in which a Confederate sympathizer is being hanged for treason." "At the moment of the man's hanging, the rope breaks and he falls into the water below." "Escaping to dry land, the hero travels through a seemingly unending forest to his home 30 miles away." "But once he arrives and runs towards his wife, he feels a searing pain in his neck." "Suddenly he was back on the bridge again with a noose around his neck, and then he fell, he was executed, he hung by the neck." "About face!" "And Bierce was trying to tell us that alternate realities exist... alternate worlds... and we see this pattern all throughout his writings, where he believed that inter-dimensional travel was a possibility." "Another short story that Bierce wrote for The San Francisco Examiner, in 1888, titled "The Difficulty of Crossing a Field,"" "is reportedly based on an actual event that occurred in Selma, Alabama, in July of 1854." "It was about a plantation owner, a farmer who, in the broad daylight, sitting on his porch, talking to his neighbors, walked across the road into the field and suddenly disappeared with a number of witnesses watching." "So as they walked over to the point where he disappeared, they could still hear his voice faintly, but they couldn't see him." "He never returned." "Ambrose Bierce interviewed the locals who searched for the lost farmer, as well as scientists with theories on the disappearance." "One claimed the farmer had entered another dimension." "Is it possible that Ambrose Bierce was, in fact, contacted by extraterrestrials?" "This is why luminous beings appear in his fiction, and this is why vanishings appear in his fiction." "Could it be that the head injury Ambrose Bierce suffered allowed him to receive information from an otherworldly source?" "Ancient astronaut theorists say yes, and suggest the strongest evidence may not be found in his stories of strange disappearances but with how he disappeared himself." "In December of 1913," "Bierce left the country and headed to Chihuahua, Mexico." "He was never seen or heard from again." "It's quite interesting to note that he met with another famous adventurer, traveler, an Englishman named" "Frederick Mitchell-Hedges." "Mitchell-Hedges was the man who claimed to discover the first crystal skull, and that's significant because they both were interested in crystals and inter-dimensional subjects." "The last letter, that we know of, he ever sent to anyone, was to his secretary that said," ""I go tomorrow to a destination of which I may not return."" "And the theory is he may have gone with Mitchell-Hedges to the Crystal Cave... the Crystal Cave being a place that Mitchell-Hedges believed you could contact beings from another dimension." "It's possible that extraterrestrials said," ""You helped steer the outcome towards a more favorable determination." "In the future, people will be more comfortable with us." "You've set the stage by writing all these sci-fi stories." "Come live with us." "Come to this place and we'll meet you there."" "Might the stories of Ambrose Bierce and his strange disappearance all point to a connection with extraterrestrials?" "And if so, were these alien beings simply observing the Civil War or might they have even intervened?" "Ancient astronaut theorists say the answer might be found in Washington, DC, standing high atop the Capitol Dome." "Washington, DC." "December 2, 1863." "It has been exactly five months since the Battle of Gettysburg, and the tides of the Civil War are beginning to turn in the Union's favor." "At the start of the war, construction of the giant dome that would sit atop the Capitol Building had been halted, but President Lincoln convinced Congress to provide the funding to finish it, saying the dome would act as a sign that the Union would go on." "Upon its completion, a statue was placed on top of it, with the final section raised to a salute of 35 guns" "answered by the guns of the 12 forts around Washington." "Weighing nearly 15,000 pounds and standing 19 and a half feet tall, this bronze statue features a woman with a Native American-style fringed blanket thrown over her left shoulder, and an elaborate headdress made of eagle feathers and ringed with stars." "It is called the Statue of Freedom, and according to ancient astronaut theorists, it may represent an extraterrestrial being." "The symbolism they chose is completely and totally cosmic... a goddess cloaked in stars, suggesting she's a celestial or a star being." "And when you look at it, and even have the natives explain it to you, they say things like:" ""Oh, yes, these are the star people coming from the sky."" "Is it really possible that there is a depiction of an extraterrestrial standing atop the Capitol Dome?" "Ancient astronaut theorists say yes and suggest the evidence can be found by looking back to the Founding Fathers." "In the 1730s to the 1760s," "Benjamin Franklin published a series of pamphlets he called The Indian Treaties." "One of the best-selling of these pamphlets chronicled the Iroquois creation story of the Sky Woman." "Native Americans believed that the Sky Woman came to Earth when there... there was nothing here but water and animals and that she was the mother of the very first human beings." "Native Americans had beliefs in people who lived in space." "Many of the Founding Fathers believed in the plurality of worlds." "And these ideas, these stories would have matched up very well with their concepts about plurality of worlds and extraterrestrials from space." "You have to wonder if there wasn't some kind of extraterrestrial influence here." "And did they have some connection to these star people?" "Was this basically a message for aliens?" "Did Abraham Lincoln and the Union leaders erect the Statue of Freedom as a tribute to star beings that they believed might be watching over the country?" "Were they reinstating a symbol of our cosmic heritage during the time of our greatest crisis?" "And if extraterrestrials really did have a vested interest in the outcome of the Civil War, are they still watching over the Great American Experiment today?" "It really seems that extraterrestrials have been monitoring the United States since its very inception." "We've seen this, really, from the American Civil War and right at the very beginning of the American Revolution." "And I think that this is still going on today." "The nurturing of the United States as an inclusive, spiritual, and technically advanced country is very important to the extraterrestrials and ultimately for the entire planet Earth." "It's possible that extraterrestrials have been visiting America since its foundation and have been, in fact, steering the outcome this whole time." "And why might they want to do that?" "You would want to see society moving in a direction of greater freedom, greater openness, greater acceptance, so that, in time, it allows them to have a much more warm welcome than they otherwise would have." "There is every reason to believe that extraterrestrials are still watching over us and are having a key impact in the events that unfold on Earth today." "Is it possible that extraterrestrials really were present here on Earth during the Civil War?" "If so, were they simply passive observers, waiting to see if our fragile democracy could survive this test?" "Or did they take an active role in order to preserve the Union?" "Perhaps the Great American Experiment is part of a larger cosmic agenda, and once we fully realize the ideals put forth by men like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, we will finally come face-to-face with our alien ancestors."