Case file · Sighting
Jimmy Carter's sighting, Leary
Before becoming president, Jimmy Carter and about a dozen others watched a bright light change colour over Leary, Georgia.
1969 CE · 31.48, -84.51 · status: explained
The account
Waiting to speak at a Lions Club meeting, Carter saw a light 'as bright as the moon' in the west that seemed to approach, change from white to blue to red, and recede. He filed a report with a UFO bureau in 1973.
The sceptical view
Lions Club records put the meeting on 6 January 1969, when Venus was at its brightest in that part of the sky; Robert Sheaffer and Allan Hendry concluded Carter saw Venus.
The researched reading
A future president saw Venus low in the evening sky. The case is well explained.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 88% | Lions Club records date the event to 6 January 1969, when Venus was brilliant low in the west at dusk, exactly where Carter looked; colour changes near the horizon are typical of scintillation. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 4% | Atmospheric refraction near the horizon explains the colour changes. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 4% | Carter’s report was written four years later with a wrong date, typical of memory drift. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 1% | No unusual phenomenon is needed. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 1% | No motive or sign of invention. |
| Secret human technology | 1% | No military activity is known. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 1% | Nothing in the account resists the Venus explanation. |
Official position: No official investigation; Allan Hendry and Robert Sheaffer concluded Carter saw Venus.