Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received his largest donation ever from a man who has a feeling aliens are “right under people’s noses.”
Robert Bigelow, a Las Vegas space entrepreneur and founder of the Budget Suites of America, donated $10 million to the Republican governor on July 7, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
The donation marked the largest single contribution to DeSantis, who is running for re-election in November.
DeSantis has enlisted the monetary support of at least 42 billionaires and billionaire relatives who have a combined net worth of $275 billion, according to the newspaper.
DeSantis’ main donor’s interest in extraterrestrial life is no secret.
Bigelow, in a 2017 interview with “60 Minutes,” claimed that his grandparents had a “close encounter” with a UFO and is “absolutely convinced” of alien life.
“There has been and is an existing presence, an ET presence [on Earth]Bigelow said.
“And I spent millions and millions and millions, I probably spent more as an individual than any other person in the United States who has spent on this issue.”
He added that he “didn’t give a damn” what people thought of his comments and claimed the aliens were “right under people’s noses.”
Bigelow, who Forbes labeled a “cosmic landlord” in a 2011 profile, reportedly invested $350 million in profits from his Budget Suites business into his aeronautics and space technology company Bigelow Aerospace.
He also used his money to research the afterlife through the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies and to purchase a 480-acre Skinwalker ranch to investigate possible paranormal activity there.
Bigelow’s donation adds to DeSantis’ $130.4 million in available cash, a figure that exceeds the amount reported by former President Donald Trump’s political committees earlier in the year, NBC News reported.
DeSantis, in addition to his re-election bid this year, is preparing for a possible campaign in the 2024 presidential race, Politico reported last month.
Florida’s governor has seen a growth in fundraising and Trump, who has hinted at another presidential campaign, has recently seen his fundraising decline.
