U.N. to Appoint Earth Contact for Alien Visitors

reply to post by esteay812

Don't give up on the story yet. There is still some intrigue to be had. Have a look at the list of panelists.
I wonder if Othman really knows what she's getting into. Was she invited under false pretenses?
royalsociety.org...

reply to post by Phage


You know, Phage, thanks for that. I had let myself get side-tracked with the turn in the sotry and almost forgot that there is still to be a conference held. I wonder if there is still the possibility of such an announcement as what was originally reported and the denial was to slow attention on an already fragile subject?

I reviewed the link and found that I don't think I know any of those people, with the exception of possibly Tosca - and it probably isn't the same Tosca I am thinking of, more likely a familiar name in my head.

I don't recognize any of their names... but that is a good thing in my mind, meaning they do not frequent the usual UFO Alien mediums where I would normally see them and are probably highly respected in their individual fields. They probably don't 'need' to do this or aren't looking for a book deal on the matter. However, they may be, as greed is a powerful motivator.

Was aware of the Royal Society conference on Extraterrestrial life. Posted on another site's forum about it some time ago. Thought it interesting that this staid, venerable institution would touch the topic, and that they were doing so *just now*. Don't recall seeing Dr. Othman's name on the list of panelists before, but there have been some changes in the list, I see. Other panelists-- David Brin is an engineer, physicist, and science fiction writer. His stories often deal with extraterrestrial contact. Seth Shostak is head scientist (Astronomer) at the SETI Institute. Douglas Vokoch is there too, their only social scientist. He works on the issue of what message we should send to extraterrestrials by radio. Michael A.G. MIchaud is one of the leading lights in thinking about preparation for extraterrestrial contact. wrote a book-- 'Contact with alien civilizations, our hopes and fears about encountering extraterrestrials'. Chaired the committee that produced recommended protocols for how to proceed, once ET contact is made. Is Dr. Othman really going to go to this conference and talk, irrelevantly, about the issue of how to deal with asteroids that threaten to strike Earth? We shall see. Ross

reply to post by esteay812

Maybe the names aren't associated with UFOs because the conference has nothing to do with UFOs. It's about the possibility of detecting extraterrestrial life...radio.

More goodies from a conference earlier this year:

Dr. Mazlan Othman, UN Office of Outer Space, Vienna, presented from an historic perspective the growing interest of the UN for the “supra Earth affairs” as exemplified with the recent asteroids and planetary defense discussion in Vienna. She concluded that the door is open at UN with the help of some national delegations and some international organizations such as the International Academy of Astronautics to draw attention of the nations to the need of research about the detection of extra-terrestrial life in the universe. Thanks to the Royal Society the subject is now highlighted.

iaaweb.org...

I think the roots of the tale are becoming clear. Sensationalistic distortions.

lolz, we got trolled by the goverment


I bet someone's having a good giggle at the internet right now. A whole board room of face palms as those who said "they'll never buy that!" have to pay up.


(either that or this was sensitive information which they've had to deny for "national security" reasons)

I don't think we can assume that the only sort of contact that will be on the minds of the participants in Royal Society conference on extraterrestrial life will be ET contact at a distance, as by radio, laser beams, or the like. For example: Dr. David Brin writes science fiction from a rigorously scientific perspective. He frequently deals with the idea of direct, face to face contact of humans and various extraterrestrial species. Michael Michaud has written of what he calls the 'direct contact scenario' in which we encounter extraterrestrials face to face. He regards it as one of a list of possibilities, that also includes what he calls the 'classic radio astronomy scenario'. He adds that interstellar travel may be commonplace for more advanced beings. It is not at all clear from the descriptions of the topics at the conference that such possibilities are excluded. Ross

I find it intriguing that underneath the sensationalism of the mistaken headlines, appear to be nuggets of truth.

Daily Galaxy article

"It sounds really cool but I have to deny it," Othman reportedly said in an email cited by the Guardian. "The continued search for extraterrestrial communication... sustains the hope that someday humankind will receive signals from extraterrestrials," The Australian quoted Othman. "When we do, we should have in place a co-ordinated response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism for such co-ordination."

Unless this Daily Galaxy quote is taken hugely out of context (which is always possible); it seems Othman is far from averse to the U.N. handling possible extra solar intelligent contact. This seems to contradict to some extent her quoted statement in the Boing Boing article where she referred to another scientist. My paranoid side suspects a deliberately leaked "mistake"; but there is no proof/indications of this yet.

Reminds me of the film

"2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT"

for those that dont know its the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, IMDB