Prominent Democrats Born 9 Months After Roswell Incident
Forwarded email names several prominent Democrats supposedly born nine months after the 'Roswell incident' involving a UFO crash in 1947.
Description: Email joke
Circulating since: Sep 2006 (this version)
Status: Mostly false
Email example contributed by Diane S., Sep. 6, 2006:
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Clearing Things Up |
Analysis: This little ditty got its start in the late 1990s when Democrat Al Gore was Vice-President of the United States. In the earliest variants of the joke Gore was the only "Roswell Democrat" named. Curiously enough, it was true.
"Al Gore claims not to be an alien," noted one Internet wag in 1997, "despite the fact that he was born 8 months and 3 weeks after the Roswell incident." Granted, there's little in the way of objective evidence to suggest that Mr. Gore's provenance was anything other than terrestrial, but reliable sources do list his birthdate as March 31, 1948 — just under nine months after news of the Roswell UFO crash hit the news.
The joke enjoyed a boost in popularity during Gore's presidential campaign in 1999, particularly after a Republican pollster passed it along to Washington Times columnist John McCaslin, who wrote:
Vice President Al Gore had better hope GOP pollster Frank Luntz isn't a mouthpiece for any of his Republican opponents in the 2000 presidential election.
"Should I get involved, I will focus a great deal of attention on Roswell, New Mexico," Mr. Luntz tells Inside the Beltway.
What does Roswell have to do with Mr. Gore?
"Aliens," Mr. Luntz reveals.
On July 8, 1947, he reminds us, witnesses claim a spaceship with five aliens aboard crashed on a sheep-and-cattle ranch outside Roswell, an incident they say has been covered up by the military.
Are you saying . . . ?
"Nine months after that day, Al Gore was born!" Mr. Luntz discloses.
The joke lost its relevance when Gore lost the 2000 election, but it reappeared six years later with another eight Democrats added to the roster of supposed Roswell offspring. Much as I hate to disappoint true believers, none of the new additions actually belong on that list.
Here are their official birthdates:
- Hillary Clinton - October 26, 1947
- John Kerry - December 11, 1943
- Bill Clinton - August 19, 1946
- Howard Dean - November 17, 1948
- Nancy Pelosi - March 26, 1940
- Dianne Feinstein - June 22, 1933
- Charles Schumer - November 23, 1950
- Barbara Boxer - November 11, 1940
Sources and further reading:
Inside the Beltway: Extraterrestrial Gore
Washington Times, 21 May 1999
Last updated: 09/26/06
