The conspiracy issue: The truth is out th—we mean here!

When Brent George saw one outside his window in 2009, it wasn’t his first experience with an unidentified flying object—but to this day he hopes it’s the last.

His first encounter was in the early ’80s, as a 13-year-old kid in Worland, Wyo. He can still see the glowing orange vessel in the sky. The second was spotted from his Rosemont apartment in November 2009.

“I see this thing just hovering over the American River,” he remembered. “Triangle-shaped, all white, no lights at all. All the sudden the thing moves over Rancho Cordova—I would say it gained 3,000 feet of altitude and moved about three miles in one second.”

An aviation enthusiast and “paranormal investigator,” George researched UFOs and the government’s potential involvement with alien technology for a novel he never released. He’s convinced we’re not alone.

“I firmly believe that they’re out there,” he said. “Who are they? What are they? We don’t know the answers to those questions—how can we?”

Late last year, when media reports revealed the Pentagon’s program to study mysterious aircraft seen by military pilots between 2001 and 2015, it was shown that more UFO-sighting reports came out of California than any other state. A string of sightings across the country in the late 19th century originated here in our capital city.

In 1896, witnesses and newspapers grasped at explanations with sensational headlines like “Strange Tale of a Flying Machine.” This flying machine dubbed the Mystery Airship was seen throughout Sacramento—from Oak Park to the Capitol dome and surrounding areas.

On a November night, George Scott, assistant to the secretary of state, saw a floating light in the sky from the Capitol steps. He convinced friends to follow him up to the dome, from whence they witnessed “a dark body sweeping through the air, adorned with three lights,” according to the online tract UFO’s: A History 1896.

Newspapers weighed in on whether this phenomenon was otherworldly, or a man-made aircraft, or simply a hoax. But the sightings continued, moving to the East Coast and continuing until April 1897. The truth is still unknown.

Conspiracy rating: The moon landing was faked by Stanley Kubrick!