Jackie Gleason

Jackie Gleason was not a famous Ufologist per se, but more a famous person who was avidly interested in Ufology. The article following this introduction was printed in The New Golden Argosy, in the same issue as Lt. Colonel Tacker's extraordinary Flying Saucers Are Fakes!, in 1961. Obviously Gleason's ideas that flying saucers may come from the Moon sound pretty Naive now, but we hadn't been to the Moon in 1961 - so we must bear this in mind. Also, what the readers didn't know then, after Gleason's death his wife reported that one day in 1973 Gleason had come home extremely shaken. He confided to her that because of Gleason's interest in UFOs, U.S. President Richard Nixon, who was a friend of his, had arranged for him to view bodies of extraterrestrials at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida under conditions of extreme secrecy. Gleason had found the experience very troubling. So perhaps there was more to his beliefs than this Argosy article seems to suggest, by running it alongside the far longer, "intellectual", article by Lt. Colonel Tacker:

COMEDIAN AND SPACES-STUDENT GLEASON SAYS SAUCERS ARE NOW HERE, AND WILL BACK UP HIS BELIEF WITH $10,000 FOR ACTUAL PROOF

Flying saucers are real! There's no question about that. They come from another planet obviously. Or maybe the moon."

Now, this is the kind of thing you're likely to hear just about any night on my WGR radio show. I'm so used to listening to guys who just flew in from Venus-with a bottle of "Venusian wine" to prove it-or to people planning to whiz off for Pluto on the next non-shed saucer, it takes quite a bit to really get to me. But when the king-sized gent across my table gave out with this obviously sincere pronouncement- and then proceeded to offer a cool $10,000 for proof of rational life on other worlds-I must admit it shook me up.

Because the man speaking wasn't some kind of nut who uses the saucer bit to fill an empty life or to grab headlines. He was Jackie Gleason, noted comedian, actor, bon vivant, musician, pool player and good friend.

Now, I know that Jackie has, for a long time, had an enormous interest in anything off-beat, occult, really far out. I was aware that he owned one of the largest collections in the country of books on these subjects. But it wasn't until he came on my show and made the offer of ten grand that I realized how great his interest was.

The whole thing started late one night as I was conducting a talk session. Suddenly, the studio door opened and in walked Mr. Gleason. We gabbed for a while, and the topic of saucers soon raised its green little head.

"John, why don't you speak about flying saucers as much as you used to?" Jackie asked me.

"The real reason is that we haven't had anyone come up with a new bit in the last few weeks." I answered.

"We're likely to have these lulls from time to time."

It was right here that Mr. G. put me off by making that statement about saucers definitely being real.

"Like Santa Clans is real. Jackie?" I asked.

"No, not like Santa Claus is real. Santa Claus is a myth to keep people happy. The reason that the information on flying saucers is held back by the Government is because it's not a joyful myth. This could be very, very serious. The way I figure it, if someone has a flying saucer, they must have an advanced intelligence. And with advanced intelligence come higher moral concepts. I'm sure that they don't mean us any harm."

"Where do you think flying saucers are coming from Jackie?'' I put in.

"From another planet, obviously. Or maybe the moon."

"This is an honest opinion?" I asked.

"I really think so," Jackie answered. "Let me tell you why. I've read hundreds of books on flying saucers. First of all, I've studied psychic phenomena, and all the other branches of that particular study, and I've always bought a book, pro and con, on each subject. But the thing that seems so fascinating about saucers is that someone once saw a flying saucer and it was round and had a little turret on it. And-suddenly-the Government is making flying saucers that are round and have little turrets on them!"

Another of my guests had a question for Mr. Gleason. "Isn't it possible. Jackie. that these outer-space vehicles might be vicious?"

"No," Jackie answered, "not only might they not be vicious; the pilots might be very naive people."

"You know. Jackie," the other guest continued, "some of the saucer cultists make a connection between saucers and the Bible."

"Some do," Gleason said. "But you can't say a particular thing isn't true because cultists accept it."

The conversation went on but the most important thing that came out was Jackie's interest in flying saucers.

How strong Jackie's belief is may be shown best by the fact that he's ready and willing to lay out cold, hard cash to anyone who can produce any proof at all that intelligent life exists on another planet. There's $10,000 waiting for you if you can prove it, also Mr. Gleason's eternal gratitude for showing his faith in UFOs wasn't in vain. At this writing, nobody has come forward to claim Jackie's reward. Let me emphasize that he's dead serious about this and his belief that flying saucers exist and are piloted by beings from outer space. 

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