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When UFOs Arrive
www.popularmechanics.com ^ | February 2004 | BY JIM WILSON

Posted on 02/11/2004 9:41:52 AM PST by Momaw Nadon

The U.S. and other world governments already have detailed secret plans for first contact.

When UFOs land, a series of plans created to deal with nuclear emergencies and biological attacks will be activated.

Within the scientific community, the question is no longer whether extraterrestrial life exists, but if ET is smart enough to do long division. Scientists are of two minds regarding the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Skeptics acknowledge simple life-forms might be found on other planets, but insist that intelligent life is unique to Earth. Their belief is based on the assumption that Earth possesses unique physical attributes, including a magnetic field that deflects cosmic rays and a moon that absorbs asteroids. Together, these protective features make Earth a rare safe harbor--one that nurtured the evolution of primitive life-forms into intelligent beings. The opposing camp sees the prospect for discovering alien life in more mathematical terms. Its touchstone is the Drake Equation, which links the probability of discovering extraterrestrial intelligence to factors such as the size of the universe and the number of stars with earthlike planets. With the discovery of each new planet beyond Earth's solar system--there are now more than 100--the odds of encountering intelligent alien life increase. Governments and international organizations around the world have taken notice of the changing odds. No governmental official has gone on record claiming that UFOs are real, let alone a threat. Yet with little public fanfare, they have begun preparing for the single most important event in human history: first contact. That is, the moment earthlings discover incontrovertible proof that they are not alone.

Early Warning
Unless ET materializes from another dimension in the middle of the Super Bowl, humans most likely will have some advance warning of its arrival. How much time we get to straighten up for extraterrestrial company depends upon who spots ET first.

The privately funded SETI Institute uses radio telescopes owned by observatories around the world to sweep the sky for signals broadcast by advanced civilizations. If ET has read Emily Post, or her intergalactic equivalent, and calls ahead, we could have years, even decades, to prepare for first contact. Unfortunately, the current SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project can afford to look at only small swatches of the sky, so any extraterrestrial courtesy calls probably will be missed.

A more likely scenario is that the U.S. Air Force would spot ET's spacecraft as it traverses the void between the Earth and the moon. Using powerful radar and optical telescopes in Hawaii, Greenland, Florida and the Indian Ocean, the Air Force Space Command tracks satellites, monitors missile launches, and spots baseball- and larger-size bits of orbiting debris with the hope of preventing it from perforating a space shuttle or the International Space Station. If ET turns up on Space Command's radar, it would mean the alien visitors are only hours or minutes away.

A Proposed Welcoming Committee

The International Academy of Astronautics in Paris maintains a list of volunteers willing to help world governments if ET arrives. Most are astronomers. Here is the team that PM would prefer to see on the job. Shown counterclockwise from the center are: Sen. John Glenn, American Representative. As the first American to orbit the Earth and an elected political leader, the senator is the obvious choice to lead the American delegation. Frank Drake, Science Officer. Creator of the Drake Equation and a driving force behind the SETI project, Drake would represent the world's scientific community. Hal Puthoff, Powerplant Engineering. An expert on zero-point energy, a means of extracting limitless power from the quantum vacuum without violating the known laws of physics, Puthoff would understand how ET powers its craft.

Sheila E. Widnall, Weapons Systems. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who served as Secretary of the Air Force in the 1990s, Widnall would be able to assess ET's weapons. Ning Li, Propulsion Systems. A former NASA scientist, Li devised the theory that explains how the electromagnetic force that we use every day might also be harnessed to manipulate gravity. Perhaps ET uses similar technology. K. Eric Drexler, Structural Systems. A trailblazer in the now fast-growing field of nanotechnology--building materials atom by atom--Drexler pioneered the idea of smart materials, which ET would doubtlessly also use in its craft. Jane Goodall, Communications Officer. Having devoted her life to the study of chimpanzees, primatologist Goodall has proved her ability to communicate with intelligent nonhumans.

Countdown To Contact
The broad-brush outline for Earth's response to the first alien encounter is set out in an international agreement called the "Declaration of Principles Concerning Activities Following the Detection of Extraterrestrial Intelligence." Written by a committee of scientists organized by the SETI Institute, the declaration spells out what astronomers should do, and what they should avoid doing, immediately after first contact.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the agreement is that astronomers who sign on to the declaration agree to keep the news of an imminent contact under their hat until the astronomy community and authorities have been notified.

The declaration also establishes fairly specific guidelines regarding the protection of the radio frequencies that alien civilizations might use to communicate with Earth. As soon as a radio signal is confirmed as originating from an extraterrestrial source, the International Telecommunications Union would ask governments around the world to forbid use of that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is hoped that ET will have sufficiently studied human habits to understand that calling earthlings on the frequencies used for microwave ovens and garage door openers will be interpreted as a belligerent act.

Close Encounter
Around 1999 the first contact protocols were put to the test. For 12 hours, SETI astronomers marveled at the prospect that their golden moment had arrived. A signal that repeated in an organized pattern was detected beaming straight at the Earth from 1 million miles in space.

The first priority was to alert radio astronomers around the world to redirect their telescopes. The signal from the distant stationary object quickly faded as the relentless rotation of the Earth swept it out of the telescope's listening range. Douglas Vakoch, the SETI Institute's social scientist responsible for preparing Earth's reply to an extraterrestrial message, tells POPULAR MECHANICS what happened next: "At this point, all of our discussions were internal to our team. We didn't want to cry wolf. Then, in the midst of the process, we get a call from The New York Times." So much for the secrecy provision of the SETI protocol. Within hours, the story evaporated. The SETI team identified the mystery signal as a data transmission from SOHO, a sun-watching observatory on an almost-stationary orbit about 1 million miles from Earth.

Vakoch says he was not surprised that the story of the possible alien contact leaked so quickly. "These guidelines have no legal force. They have been drafted in the hope of getting broader discussion."

As far as the U.S. government is concerned, that discussion started and ended more than 40 years ago. Regardless of how the world's astronomy community might want to handle first contact, Uncle Sam has ideas of his own. And they rest on the assumption that ET is first and foremost an illegal alien.

Presumed Dangerous
The question of how humanity might react to its first contact with intelligent aliens was officially raised in the late 1950s by the then newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Curious as to how discoveries about the origin of the universe might affect society as a whole, NASA contracted with the Brookings Institution, a leading think tank, to research the question. Only a small part of its 100-page answer, which came to be known as "The Brookings Report," dealt with alien encounter. But it contained a stern warning. "Anthropological files contain many examples of societies, sure of their place in the universe, which have disintegrated when they had to associate with previously unfamiliar societies espousing different ideas and different life ways; others that survived such an experience usually did so by paying the price of changes in values and attitudes and behavior."

In 1972, as engineers prepared the first space mission that would travel outside of Earth's solar system, NASA decided to ignore warnings in the 1960 "Brookings Report" about the dangers inherent in contact with an advanced alien race. Instead, the space agency sent an invitation for extraterrestrials to visit Earth. A gold-anodized aluminum plaque engraved with a map showing the location of Earth was attached to the Pioneer 10 spacecraft. When it sent its last message, in January 2003, it was more than 7 billion miles along on a trip that will take it to the star Aldebaran.

State Of Emergency
If ET turns up at NASA's doorstep bearing that invitation, it is in for a surprise. Instead of getting a handshake from the head of NASA, it will be handcuffed by an FBI agent dressed in a Biosafety Level 4 suit. Instead of sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House, the alien will be whisked away to the Department of Agriculture's Animal Disease Center on Plum Island, off the coast of New York's Long Island. Here it will be poked and probed by doctors from the National Institutes of Health. A Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) will tow away its spacecraft.

Unfriendly as this welcome may seem, it is the chain of events that most likely will follow the visitor's arrival. Unique as the appearance of an alien-piloted spacecraft may be, the event incorporates elements of three situations familiar to federal emergency response workers: a plane crash, the release of radioactive material, and the capture of an animal suspected of harboring a contagious disease. Responsibilities in these situations are spelled out in Presidential Executive Orders.

Unless it is spewing exhaust, the craft would be assumed to be nuclear powered. This determination would put NEST technicians in charge of securing the craft and moving it to a DOE facility, most likely in New Mexico, where it would be in close proximity to the Sandia and Los Alamos nuclear laboratories and the White Sands Missile Range. International agreements also put NEST on call if the craft lands out of the United States, as happened in 1978 when a Soviet satellite leaking nuclear fuel landed in the Canadian wilderness.

NEST, however, would operate in the background. In a nuclear emergency, the FBI is put in charge of public safety, public health and public information. Those, at least, are the plans. How things might actually turn out is anyone's guess.

Skeptics often ask why UFO sightings seem to take place only in remote locations instead of on busy city streets. Perhaps ET knows what earthlings have in mind when it lands.


TOPICS: UFO's
KEYWORDS: 40ftsatellite; ackack; airforce; alien; aliens; arrival; arrive; biosafetylevel4; brookingsreport; closeencounter; contact; contagious; dangerous; departmentofenergy; dod; doe; drakeequation; earth; emergency; et; etphonehome; executiveorders; extraterrestrial; fbi; federalemergency; firstcontact; flyingobject; flyingsaucer; government; hugh; illegal; illegalaliens; intelligence; international; invasion; klaatubaradanikto; losalamos; martiallaw; military; nasa; nationalsecurity; nest; nuclear; panic; plan; plans; plumisland; president; probingaliens; protocol; quarantine; quarantined; saucer; secrecy; secrecyprovision; secret; secretplans; series; seti; setiprotocol; sitchin; space; spacecraft; stateofemergency; technology; tinfoilhat; ufo; ufos; un; unidentified; visitor; visitors; welcomingcommittee; whitehouse; y; zechariasitchin
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To: Chris Talk
My great grandfather was full Cherokee. Many Cherokee consider themselves one of the Israeli tribes. Many keywords and worship practices are reportedly similar.

Interesting anyway.
881 posted on 02/16/2004 6:41:22 PM PST by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
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To: Betwixte
Oh, I'm used to dealing with demonic forces. I would suspect not a great deal of difference.
882 posted on 02/16/2004 6:42:10 PM PST by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
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To: Quix
Whatever they are, they certainly do seem to be evil. And I pray not to see them again, or at least, have anyone report they have seen me adbducted. Now that I've purposely made myself less intelligent, all seems calm.
883 posted on 02/16/2004 6:44:20 PM PST by Betwixte
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To: Quix
Good for you, buddy. Stay safe.
884 posted on 02/16/2004 6:48:42 PM PST by Betwixte
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To: Chris Talk
What does AV and AW stand for?
885 posted on 02/16/2004 6:48:47 PM PST by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
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To: Betwixte
Calm is better than a lot of other options.
886 posted on 02/16/2004 6:50:01 PM PST by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
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To: Quix
AV is abduction victims; AW is ALL WHITE WOMEN
887 posted on 02/16/2004 6:53:09 PM PST by Chris Talk (What Earth now is, Mars once was. What Mars now is, Earth will become.)
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To: All

888 posted on 02/16/2004 6:58:40 PM PST by Mikey
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To: Quix
HOPEFULLY in a collegial, brotherly tone that avoids classifying me as an idiot, evil, pagan.

I don't think I ever categorized you - personally - as "an idiot, evil, pagan". I take exception to some of theological "ideas" that you hold dear - some of which are pagan in origin, and the incorrporation of pagan beliefs is apostate - part of an "evil plan" to fool "even the elect, if such were possible". I don't think you are an "idiot" - far from it. You sound well educated and familiar with the Bible. I do find it foolish (read: idiotic) to give any status to ETs other than what we do know, and that's not much. Furthermore, I worry - about many people - because I believe with all my heart that this UFO/ET phenomenon is going to play out at the end of this age before the 2nd coming of our Lord, and I don't want even a single person to be decieved.

Maybe someday in Everlasting we'll laugh about how silly this discussion/debate was, but until such a time, I do not feel "lightly" in regards to this matter as I feel that the Lord has blessed and given me the gift of understanding and oppourtunity to point out what His Word has to say online. I have no doubt that when called to account for my actions here, I will be called "faithful servant".

And here is our empasse - you probably feel the same way as I do, and if I have offened you, I should apologize for that offense, but as I said it Chris earlier, I will not apologize for presenting the Word or God, as favorable or unfavorbale as that may be.

889 posted on 02/16/2004 8:02:06 PM PST by realpatriot71 (It's time to build a freakin' wall!)
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To: realpatriot71
Actually, I don't think I feel offended by either one of you two brothers. Certainly not very, if at all. I didn't feel that you'd called me evil pagan, I was using that as a vivid illustration of the sort, type of thing I'd not enjoy.

And I apologize for any unnecessary offense on my part as well.

Yes, actually, I do feel quite similarly as you do fairly right down the line. I could probably come up with some pagan aspects of some of your theological ideas.

I tooo am quite concerned that the UFO ET thing is going to be part of the GREAT DECEPTION the Bible speaks of somehow. That's one of the main reasons I've continued to follow it so much. I'm quite concerned that too many even believers are soooooooooooooooooooo tunnel visioned and so locked into tidy little box theological mentalities that are not thoroughly Christlike nor even thoroughly Biblical--and when the realities start falling around their ears, how secure is their faith going to be?

I should probably give Holy Spirit in their lives more credit but some people are sooooooooooooooooooooooo brittle, soooooooooooooooooo narrow and soooooooooooo convinced that their tiny little perspective encompasses all that is--when that's very highly unlikely. And I fear for their sanity if not their souls when they discover that reality no longer fits in their tidy little boxes.

I believe that to some degree, many people will experience in almost if not a literal sense reality being very convoluted and chaotic on even a basic dimensional basis. People will REALLY NEED TO KNOW THEIR HAND IS IN HIS HAND AND THAT THEY CAN HEAR HIS VOICE ACCURATELY AND DISCERN CLEARLY FROM ALL OTHER NOISE WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO THEM AT THAT MOMENT about which path to take, what rock to step on across the river; what to do/not do; what to eat, not eat etc.

Humility is something that's exceedingly wise in theology as well as life in general and Christianity in particular.

Anyway--I appreciate and applaud your ferver for The Lord and The Kingdom.

Blessings,
890 posted on 02/16/2004 8:29:47 PM PST by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
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To: lchoro
It's SO high in fat. Ever see some of that manbeef? Whew!
891 posted on 02/17/2004 6:01:07 AM PST by Marysecretary (GOD is STILL in control, even if Bush loses in 2004!)
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To: Quix
I got something on Elijah List today which I sent along to you as always, Quix. He said that there was an occult spirit hiding Bin Laden and that Muslims pray harder than Christians do. If we pray more fervently, God WILL move on our behalf.
892 posted on 02/17/2004 6:04:16 AM PST by Marysecretary (GOD is STILL in control, even if Bush loses in 2004!)
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To: realpatriot71
I don't believe in UFO's as people from outer space. I think the whole thing is a deception of the enemy of our souls. I refuse to get caught up in it any longer. As a child I was fascinated but no more.
893 posted on 02/17/2004 6:12:30 AM PST by Marysecretary (GOD is STILL in control, even if Bush loses in 2004!)
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To: Quix
Hurrah, Quix!
894 posted on 02/17/2004 6:16:16 AM PST by Marysecretary (GOD is STILL in control, even if Bush loses in 2004!)
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To: Chris Talk
Dense Urban area: 18% of AW; 8% of AV.

Thanks for posting this. There's a widespread belief uttered by the snearing crowd that UFOs are reported to only land in the boonies and abduct rednecks, and if UFOs were real, they would land on the White House lawn.

As one of the snearing skeptics, I will however admit that the mass wave of UFOs over D.C. in the 50's and the more recent report by multiple witnesses around the Brooklyn Bridge, including the U.N.'s SecGen at the time, of a woman being floated out of her 10th story apartment into a hovering disc, tends to quash the fallacy that UFO sightings are a Cletus The Slack Jawed Yokel phenomenon only.

For my own part, I have seen a hovering boomerang over I-84 I believe that, based on the work Dr. Brown was doing 50 years ago, we do have military aircraft capable of hovering silently, and which use gravitics, rather than conventional thrust propulsion, to get around.

We'll probably find out about them in another 10 years, just as we found out about the SR-71 only in the 70's, and the F-117 in the 90's.

Whether all UFOs are attributable to black military projects, I don't know. If it's a holographic universe, then anything is possible.

895 posted on 02/17/2004 6:19:21 AM PST by Jim Cane
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To: Quix
Quix, by now you have received the Elijah List that says there is an occult spirit hiding Bin Laden and that we need to really pray because the Muslims pray more than WE do. Time to reverse that, I'd say!
896 posted on 02/17/2004 6:20:32 AM PST by Marysecretary (GOD is STILL in control, even if Bush loses in 2004!)
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To: Marysecretary
Yes, an interesting good prophetic summary, that msg.

I still wonder if Bin Laden has not been captured and is being debriefed in secret for a while--perhaps to try and insure more that newes of his capture would not trigger unmanageable attacks.

But, it may be that the prophetic council of various prophetic characters have an updated word from The Lord about it and that the demonic stronghold is effectively hiding Bin Laden still.

Their exhortations for the Christian Church to have a 40 day fast for his capture is a sobering one but sounds fitting if that's the real situation. A 40 day fast on water alone is not a grace I've managed very well. I've done partial fasts that long. I suppose we do what we have the faith and grace to do.

Would you be willing to post that doc on one of the Bin Laden threads? I think you get a different response than I do. tee hee!

Thanks for being you!

LUB
897 posted on 02/17/2004 7:48:48 AM PST by Quix (Choose this day whom U will serve: Shrillery & demonic goons or The King of Kings and Lord of Lords)
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To: Jim Cane
Thank you for your comment.

Why city folks think people who are present in the exurbs and smaller towns, or own a few acres, are some sort of hick or boob or hayseed, is totally beyond me. It takes a LOT OF MONEY to afford those lands and commutes today, or to retire there even.

As any casual perusal of the current (THIS week) sightings on nuforc.org will show, the typical UFO observer/reporter is quite well educated, often professional, many doctors and professors, ...or police officers, military officers, etc.

Studies on the abducted women show that they have an average income 20% over the average for all white women, and that 60 to 70 percent either HAVE a bachelor's degree, or plan to when their studies are completed [most being taken at ages 16-24 or that area.] The average IQ is at LEAST 117, probably several points higher, well over the average IQ for white women.

I would venture to say that both the IQ and the educational level and quality are HIGHER in rural and small-village countryside, and exurbia, than in either the Large Cities or the Levittowns of the USA!
898 posted on 02/17/2004 7:50:57 AM PST by Chris Talk (What Earth now is, Mars once was. What Mars now is, Earth will become.)
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To: Chris Talk
I would venture to say that both the IQ and the educational level and quality are HIGHER in rural and small-village countryside, and exurbia, than in either the Large Cities or the Levittowns of the USA!

So if I moved out of my village of 200 to the next town, it would raise the average of both by several points? That sounds about right.

899 posted on 02/17/2004 7:55:45 AM PST by Jim Cane
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To: Jim Cane
LOL
900 posted on 02/17/2004 7:57:15 AM PST by Chris Talk (What Earth now is, Mars once was. What Mars now is, Earth will become.)
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