A media frenzy recently erupted after comments attributed to a leading figure in Israel’s space program suggested the U.S. government has a secret agreement with an extraterrestrial “Galactic Federation.”
In an article originally published in Israel’s Yediot Aharonot newspaper, former head of Israel’s Defense Ministry’s space directorate, Haim Eshed, said cooperation agreements had been signed between the United States and a federation of extraterrestrials, which included an interspecies “underground base in the depths of Mars.”
Supposedly, President Donald Trump was aware of the aliens’ existence and had been “on the verge of revealing” information. Eshed is a highly decorated and revered figure in Israeli space circles, often referred to as “the father of Israel’s satellite program.”
Following up on these extraordinary claims, filmmaker Jeremy Corbell recently interviewed Raanan Shaked, the Israeli journalist who conducted the now-viral interview with Eshed. According to Shaked, Eshed is a believer in UFOs and extraterrestrials. However, the man whose article sent eyebrows shooting skyward suggests some of Eshed’s comments about a purported “Galactic Federation” may have been overblown and taken out of context.
In the YouTube interview, Yediot Aharonot journalist Raanan Shaked shared his surprise at the firestorm of attention his article about Eshed gained in the world press. “Usually articles that are published here don’t get that much coverage from world media unless they have something to do with security issues or that sort of stuff,” chuckled Shaked.
According to Shaked, Haim Eshed is a believer in UFOs, saying “nearly a quarter” of the former Israeli space chief’s recently released book, The Universe Beyond the Horizon, is about the UFO subject. However, though Eshed is a UFO enthusiast, Shaked says some of Eshed’s most controversial comments are likely being taken out of context.
When it comes to secret pacts between the U.S. government and extraterrestrials, rather than sharing anything he had first-hand knowledge of, Shaked explained Eshed was citing information long put out in some of the more fringe circles of ufology — namely, a nearly 40-year-old conspiracy that President Dwight D. Eisenhower secretly met and signed an agreement with extraterrestrials.
According to ufological lore, in February 1954, President Eisenhower secretly met with differing alien species dubbed the “Nordics” and “Greys” at Edwards Air Force Base in California to discuss their motivations for visiting Earth, and to sign a treaty between humanity and the aliens.
The majority of sources pin the origins of the Eisenhower story to the “Granddaddy of American Conspiracy Theorists“ — William “Bill” Cooper.
In his best-known work, Behold a Pale Horse (1991), Cooper claimed that, while serving with the Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence in the early 1970s, he was granted access to classified documents describing President Eisenhower’s meetings with extraterrestrials. Cooper also claimed a “Galactic Space Confederation” made up of eight different extraterrestrials species existed.
In addition to tales of government cover-ups and treaties with aliens, Cooper’s book is an amalgam of other now well-known conspiracy theories, such as: HIV/AIDS was created to decrease the populations of African-Americans, Hispanics, and the LGBTQ communities; President John F. Kennedy was assassinated because he was about to reveal that extraterrestrials were taking over Earth; and a global cabal of elites called the Illuminati secretly ruled the world.
Cooper is often cited as one of the most influential figures in the modern anti-government militia groups. The Guardian referred to Behold a Pale Horse as “the manifesto of the militia movement.” In 2001, Cooper, 58, was killed in a shootout with police after sheriff’s deputies attempted to serve an arrest warrant on him at his Arizona home.
Ironically, another major proponent of the “Eisenhower aliens” tale is President Eisenhower’s great-granddaughter, Laura Magdalene Eisenhower.
In addition to believing her great-grandfather met with aliens, Laura Eisenhower, who describes herself as a “medical astrologist, global alchemist, and cosmic mythologist,” has publicly espoused many questionable beliefs.
In an interview with Vice News, Ms. Eisenhower said maintaining a vegan diet allows one to connect with “aliens and other sky beings,” and that humans were really “multidimensional beings,” while “sky beings are elemental.” According to Eisenhower, there is a “negative ET agenda” promoting a “vampiric system” as part of an ongoing alien invasion.
Much like Cooper, she espouses some pretty common conspiracy tropes. “There are nanoparticles in chemtrails that we are absorbing into our body, and the danger is that these particles will link up to an artificial intelligence system,” claimed Eisenhower.
When it comes to the recent statements by Haim Eshed, how much the Israeli space scientist believes there is a “Galactic Federation,” complete with a secret government treaty, is ambiguous. However, the journalist who broke the story was straightforward in saying this information was derived from public information and was not something Eshed had learned during his official duties.
“We didn’t really get into that because there was so much else to talk about, and I cannot really tell you what he was referring to, only that he mentioned they [the Galactic Federation] had nine members,” grimaced Shaked.
Shaked’s latest comments seem to throw cold water on the idea that Israel’s former top space executive was divulging secret information about a Galactic Federation or underground Martian bases. However, the journalist didn’t discount the fact that the origins of Eshed’s UFO interest may stem from more credible sources.
In his interview, Shaked said there was other information Eshed says he saw during his 30-year career with Israel’s space agency that makes him believe the existence of mysterious and unidentified objects. Some of this information was shared with him by counterparts in America’s space program and he “cannot quote directly or repeat or publicize [it] yet.”
“I got the impression that he was very much convinced himself; he is also convinced that he has the evidence,” said Shaked.
It is easy to discount all of Eshed’s UFO claims due to their dubious origin. However, there is also some justification for not dismissing Eshed’s less sensational comments outright.
In an exclusive feature last week, The Debrief revealed that the Pentagon’s “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force“ (UAPTF) has conducted a series of closed-door meetings with the military’s top brass and has issued several classified intelligence assessments regarding “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.”
During our investigations, The Debrief has never found any evidence of the existence of a “Galactic Federation” or alien treaties. However, in what we have uncovered, there appears to be merit to Eshed’s claims that the UFO subject is not something that can be easily dismissed as fantasy or fringe belief.
Cautioning he’s a journalist and not a psychologist, Shaked said he didn’t find any reason to question the 87-year-old Eshed’s mental faculties. “If you talk to him, you get the one-on-one with him, he appears to be very much sane. He’s a fascinating person to talk to and not at all out of touch in any way.”
Instead of focusing on the most extraordinary comments, Shaked says the crux of his interview with Eshed should be the willingness to discuss and consider the possibility that humanity is not alone in the universe.
Shaked concludes his interview with Corbell by promising, “If there are any news developments, I will let you know.”
You can watch the entire interview with Jeremy Corbell and Raanan Shaked in the video below.
Correction: In an earlier version of the article, it was mistakenly stated that Edwards Air Force Base was in Florida.