How Grenada Took UFOs to the UN

Introduction

Grenada’s most influential contribution to UFO history was not a famous sighting or military encounter. It was a diplomatic campaign. In the late 1970s, Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy tried to persuade the United Nations to treat unidentified flying objects as a legitimate international issue worthy of scientific coordination and formal investigation. His effort briefly pushed UFOs from fringe discussion into official UN debate, making Grenada the only small Caribbean state to place the subject on a major global diplomatic stage. [Office of the Historian]history.state.govOffice of the Historian Historical DocumentsGeneral Assembly proposing an international study of UFO's, as well as a study…Read more… WikiLeaks The campaign mattered because it produced real documents [wikileaks.org]wikileaks.org1978USUNN05425 dWikiLeaksCable: 1978USUNN05425_dBEGIN UNCLASSIFIED. 1. SUMMARY: AS ANTICIPATED, GRENADIAN PM SIR ERIC GAIRY ADDRESSED THE SPECIAL POLITIC…, speeches and committee proceedings rather than rumours alone. Yet its limits were equally important. Gairy never secured the permanent UN UFO body he wanted, major powers treated the proposal cautiously, and the initiative collapsed after he was removed from office in 1979. The result was a short-lived but historically unusual episode in which Grenada became associated internationally with UFO diplomacy rather than confirmed UFO evidence.

Why Gairy Raised UFOs Internationally

Eric Gairy’s interest in UFOs combined personal conviction, political theatre and a broader attempt to raise Grenada’s international profile after independence in 1974. Unlike later conspiracy-oriented UFO activism, Gairy framed the issue as one of scientific inquiry and international cooperation. He argued that governments should collect data, share reports and investigate unexplained aerial phenomena through established institutions rather than secrecy or ridicule. [Office of the Historian]history.state.govOffice of the Historian Historical DocumentsGeneral Assembly proposing an international study of UFO's, as well as a study…Read more… [Digital Library]digitallibrary.un.orgDigital LibraryGENERAL ASSEMBLY31 Aug 1977 — by the Right Honorable Sir Eric Matthew Gairy. ~rime Jlinister of Grenada.. to the First In…

This was not merely an offhand fascination. Gairy repeatedly inserted the subject into formal diplomacy. In 1977 he used the UN General Assembly platform to discuss UFOs publicly, and he promoted proposals for a UN-linked research structure dealing with unidentified aerial phenomena and related mysteries such as the Bermuda Triangle. [Spartacus Educational]spartacus-educational.comSpartacus EducationalEric GairyDuring his speech he urged the UN to establish an Agency for Psychic Research into Unidentified Flying Obj…

A particularly important primary source is the memorandum of conversation from Gairy’s September 1977 meeting with US President Jimmy Carter and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. During that meeting, Gairy referred to a UN resolution proposing an international study of UFOs and related phenomena. Carter responded by mentioning earlier US investigations, while Vance referred to the Air Force’s previous UFO reviews. [Office of the Historian]history.state.govOffice of the Historian Historical DocumentsGeneral Assembly proposing an international study of UFO's, as well as a study…Read more…

That White House record is significant because it confirms several things at once:

Gairy also appears to have believed that public stigma prevented serious investigation. Accounts from his speeches show that he argued governments and scientists should stop dismissing witnesses automatically. Some later UFO advocates portrayed him as an early disclosure campaigner, though his actual proposals were more limited and procedural than many later conspiracy narratives suggested. [Ancient Origins]ancient-origins.neteric gairy ufos 0021839Ancient OriginsPrime Minister of Grenada's Push for UFO Disclosure at…19 Jan 2025 — In the 1970s, Grenadan Prime Minister Sir Eric Gai…

What the UN Process Actually Produced

The strongest misconception about the Grenadian initiative is that the United Nations nearly created a global UFO agency. In reality, the process produced a far narrower outcome.

In November 1978, Gairy formally addressed the UN Special Political Committee on the issue. He introduced a resolution calling for an expert group that would establish guidelines for a UN study of UFOs and related phenomena. Supporting speakers included educators, researchers and prominent civilian UFO advocates who argued for international data exchange and coordinated research. [WikiLeaks]wikileaks.org1978USUNN05425 dWikiLeaksCable: 1978USUNN05425_dBEGIN UNCLASSIFIED. 1. SUMMARY: AS ANTICIPATED, GRENADIAN PM SIR ERIC GAIRY ADDRESSED THE SPECIAL POLITIC…

Photographic and UN archival material confirm that the discussions occurred as formal proceedings rather than fringe side events. [UN Multimedia]media.un.orgMultimedia Proposal to Appoint Expert Group to Study Nature and OriginUN study of ""the nature and origin of unidentified flying objects and related phenomena"". The Prime Minister of Grenada, Sir Eric Gairy…

However, the proposal immediately ran into institutional caution.

The proposal became weaker during negotiations

Grenada initially sought something comparatively ambitious: a UN mechanism that could coordinate investigation and information-sharing internationally. But major states showed little enthusiasm for creating a standing UFO institution inside the UN system. Diplomatic reporting from the period indicates that governments feared reputational damage, political distraction or association with speculative claims. [WikiLeaks]wikileaks.org1978USUNN05425 dWikiLeaksCable: 1978USUNN05425_dBEGIN UNCLASSIFIED. 1. SUMMARY: AS ANTICIPATED, GRENADIAN PM SIR ERIC GAIRY ADDRESSED THE SPECIAL POLITIC…

The final compromise was modest. Rather than establishing a permanent investigative body, the committee recommended that interested states continue their own research and that Grenada’s materials be forwarded to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space for consideration. [WikiLeaks]wikileaks.org1978USUNN05425 dWikiLeaksCable: 1978USUNN05425_dBEGIN UNCLASSIFIED. 1. SUMMARY: AS ANTICIPATED, GRENADIAN PM SIR ERIC GAIRY ADDRESSED THE SPECIAL POLITIC…

In practice, this meant:

The diplomatic language allowed the issue to be acknowledged without requiring governments to endorse extraordinary conclusions.

Britain and other governments resisted the idea

Released British records later showed concern inside the UK government about legitimising the subject institutionally. Officials worried that a UN UFO office could damage the organisation’s credibility. [Times of Malta]timesofmalta.combritish defence ministry releases secret close encounter documents.353069Times of MaltaBritish Defence Ministry releases secret close-encounter…3 Mar 2011 — The files reveal that in December 1977 the governm…Published: December 1977

Public discussion in the British House of Lords in early 1979 reflected both fascination and scepticism. Speakers referred to Gairy’s attempt to have the UN treat UFOs more seriously, but the debate also illustrated how easily the issue drifted into ridicule and speculation. [Hansard]hansard.parliament.ukHansard Unidentified Flying ObjectsHansardUnidentified Flying Objects - Hansard - UK ParliamentJan 18, 1979 — In 1977, Sir Eric Gairy, the Prime Minister of Grenada, backed…

This resistance revealed a central limit of the campaign: even governments willing to tolerate discussion of unexplained sightings were unwilling to create institutions that implied official validation of extraterrestrial interpretations.

The Campaign Was Entangled With Gairy’s Reputation

The UN initiative cannot be separated from Gairy’s increasingly controversial political image at home and abroad.

By the late 1970s, Grenada was politically unstable. Gairy’s administration faced accusations of authoritarianism, intimidation and corruption. Critics associated his government with the feared “Mongoose Gang”, a paramilitary force accused of violence against opponents. [Wikipedia]WikipediaEric GairyEric Gairy

Within that atmosphere, Gairy’s UFO advocacy became politically damaging. Foreign media often portrayed him less as a statesman pursuing scientific inquiry and more as an eccentric leader obsessed with flying saucers. Contemporary reporting regularly used mocking language. [Time]time.comgrenada the fall of a warlockTimeGRENADA: The Fall of a Warlock1 Apr 1979 — Everyone in Grenada suspected that the island's Prime Minister, Sir Eric Gairy, 56, was a…

That framing mattered because it changed how the proposal itself was received. The campaign increasingly became personalised around Gairy rather than evaluated on procedural or scientific grounds. Even a cautious proposal for data-sharing became associated with sensationalism because of the prime minister promoting it.

This personalisation created two major weaknesses:

1. The initiative lacked broad institutional support inside Grenada.
2. The campaign depended almost entirely on Gairy remaining in power.

Unlike later state-sponsored aerospace investigations, Grenada’s initiative did not develop an independent scientific bureaucracy or multinational coalition capable of surviving political transition.

Why the Campaign Ended After 1979

The decisive end came in March 1979, when Maurice Bishop and the New Jewel Movement overthrew Gairy in a bloodless coup while he was abroad. [Wikipedia]WikipediaDisclosure movementDisclosure movement… (June 1947). While the roots of the disclosure movement can be traced to the… UFO phenomenon, sanctioned by…Published: June 1947

The timing became part of UFO folklore because Gairy was associated with ongoing discussions connected to his UN initiative when the overthrow occurred. But politically, the outcome was straightforward: the new revolutionary government had no interest in continuing a programme strongly identified with the deposed leader.

Bishop’s administration instead treated the UFO issue as evidence of Gairy’s eccentricity and misrule. In later commentary and speeches, opponents referred mockingly to his international reputation as “Mr. U.F.O.”, using the subject to symbolise the perceived irrationality of the old regime. [Wikipedia]WikipediaEric GairyEric Gairy

Several structural realities also ensured the initiative would fade:

Once Gairy lost office, the campaign effectively lost its only political engine.

What Gairy’s UFO Initiative Did — and Did Not — Achieve

The Grenadian campaign occupies an unusual middle ground between political history and UFO culture.

What it demonstrably achieved

There is strong documentary evidence that:

• Grenada formally raised UFOs before the UN.
• Gairy discussed the matter with major world leaders.
• The Special Political Committee considered a UFO-related proposal.
• Diplomatic correspondence and archival records survive from the process. UN Multimedia [Office of the Historian]history.state.govOffice of the Historian Historical DocumentsGeneral Assembly proposing an international study of UFO's, as well as a study…Read more… WikiLeaks This makes the episode historically real in a way many UFO legends are not. [wikileaks.org]wikileaks.org1978USUNN05425 dWikiLeaksCable: 1978USUNN05425_dBEGIN UNCLASSIFIED. 1. SUMMARY: AS ANTICIPATED, GRENADIAN PM SIR ERIC GAIRY ADDRESSED THE SPECIAL POLITIC…

What it did not achieve

At the same time, the initiative did not produce evidence proving extraterrestrial visitation or hidden UN knowledge about alien life.

No released UN records show that member states secretly accepted UFOs as extraterrestrial craft. The process remained procedural and exploratory. The final recommendations were cautious and non-binding. [WikiLeaks]wikileaks.org1978USUNN05425 dWikiLeaksCable: 1978USUNN05425_dBEGIN UNCLASSIFIED. 1. SUMMARY: AS ANTICIPATED, GRENADIAN PM SIR ERIC GAIRY ADDRESSED THE SPECIAL POLITIC…

Similarly, Grenada itself never produced a substantial body of verified UFO case evidence. The country’s historical importance comes primarily from diplomacy and political symbolism, not from a major national sighting archive.

Why the Episode Still Matters

Gairy’s campaign remains important because it exposed a tension that still exists in debates about unidentified aerial phenomena: how governments should respond to unexplained reports without endorsing unsupported conclusions.

In the 1970s, most states treated the UFO subject as either politically embarrassing or scientifically marginal. Gairy challenged that consensus by arguing that unexplained phenomena deserved organised international study. Although his initiative failed institutionally, it anticipated later debates over transparency, military reporting systems and the public handling of unexplained aerial incidents.

The episode also shows how UFO history is often shaped less by confirmed sightings than by politics, personality and credibility. Grenada entered UFO history not because it produced overwhelming physical evidence, but because one small post-independence government briefly tried to move the topic into formal global governance.

Amazon book picks

Further Reading

Books and field guides related to How Grenada Took UFOs to the UN. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.

Book

The UFO Experience

By Joseph Allen Hynek

Reflects the scientific-investigation framing Gairy publicly promoted.

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UFOs

By Leslie Kean

Emphasises official involvement and governmental engagement with UFO subjects.

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Fire in the Sky

By Travis Walton

Explains how UFO politics and public narratives evolved internationally.

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The Flying Saucer Conspiracy

By Donald Edward Keyhoe

Captures the Cold War-era UFO culture that formed the backdrop to UN lobbying.

See on Amazon

Browse more on Amazon: The UFO Experience UFOs Fire in the Sky

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Endnotes

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Additional References

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2. Source: facebook.com
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   In the 1970s, Grenadan Prime Minister Sir Eric Gairy made...19 Jan 2025 — He recounted his involvement in the UFO presentation at the Un...

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   NEW DETAILS on the Jimmy Carter UFO BRIEFINGPhysicist Dr. Eric Davis recently claimed that President Jimmy Carter received a classified U...

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   Sir Eric Gairy’s bold actions in the 1970s brought UFO...1978 Sir Eric Gary Prime Minister of Grenada led a groundbreaking address at th...

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