Trump Continues the Stir about Alien Life

Whitehouse.gov Photo

Well, not to be outdone, President Trump announced he would be releasing government files about aliens, UFOs and extraterrestrial life just after Obama had mentioned the possibility of alien life in an oddly  stated verbal attack. Thursday he stated on Truth Social:

 

Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.

This places obvious pressure on the defense department to release something - but, I'm not convinced there will be much. If the black budgets of the overall US spend on defense (est to be about 7% of $1 trillion) had any advanced technologies that gave the US any strategic advantage, they're not going be transparent about it.

There's a lot more to say about this in a future post regarding some of the nonsense surrounding the AARO and other attempts of disclosure. More to come.

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Obama Creates a Stir about Aliens

As usual, social media went into a frenzy about UFOs, aliens and extraterrestrial life this week when Bryan Tyler Cohen interviewed former president Barack Obama. What was missed by most was that Cohen stated that the questions for the end of the interview were a ‘lightning round’ to give quick answers. Obama was asked, "Are aliens real?" and quickly answered, "They're real but I haven't seen them”. There was no time for him to qualify his answer except for a quip about Area 51 as Cohen jumped to the next question.

Obama has always had the position that the odds of extraterrestrial life in the universe are very high. He stated after the interview - "I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it's gotten attention let me clarify….Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we've been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!"

This is a typical Level 4 overreaction to the UFO and extraterrestrial conspiracy. You can watch the intervew here (the lightning question is at 43:55): 

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The New SETI Protocols for Discovery of Alien Life

Imagining the SETI Announcement

If you were a scientist who just happened to discover and verify the existence of extraterrestrial life, how would you proceed to announce it? What would be your proper course of action? This was the question asked by SETI scientists in the 1980s when they began to ponder how a discovery like this might unfold. By 1989 they had drafted what was called Declaration of Principles Concerning Activities Following the Detection of Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or, the First SETI Protocol (you can read it here). It was revised and renamed in 2010. 

So, now, in 2026 another revision is on the docket to be voted on by the members of the Permanent SETI Committee which is much more robust than previous versions. With the advent of social media along with more public mistrust in information, the authors have hinted at their reasons for the change: 

 

to prepare an updated version of the 2010 Declaration of Principles Concerning the Conduct of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, with the aim of preserving the enduring values of earlier documents while making them relevant to the realities of twenty-first century science, media, and public engagement. 

Having worked in industry for many years, I understand the need for protocols and processes. However, I’m not convinced that discoveries of extraterrestrials be it from SETI scientists or aliens announcing themselves publicly is going to follow the declaration’s standards. It seems that extraterrestrials and first contact may be a messy social event no matter what kinds of best practices we as humans develop. Take this statement for example:



 

SETI practitioners shall adhere to the highest ethical standards, ensuring cooperation, honesty, and integrity in all aspects of their work. They will collaborate with international legal authorities to establish clear frameworks for managing the dissemination of information about potential extraterrestrial detections and comply with relevant laws and regulations.

When dealing with an event of worldwide importance, adhering to the standards outlined are hard to imagine for something that could be this messy and chaotic. Nevertheless, it’s good to have a set of principles to drive awareness in the scientific community.

You can find the new revision in the proposal paper here.

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