Astronaut Theology: The Beat Goes On

So. 

So. 

So the question still stands - why all of the sudden interest in UFOs and aliens in the media and among the scientific establishment lately? 

The recent discovery of Gliese 581G is certainly a milestone, but there's a lot more going on out there. Things you might not expect at a time when budgets are tight and science is so highly politicized.

October looks to be a banner month for Disclosure watchers (or should I say "Disclosure?" watchers). Luckily, a helpful reader- who by some bizarre struck of fate is actually named Helpful Reader- caught some of the upcoming events on extraterrestrial life out there in venues you might not expect to be hosting them. Well, up until recently, that is. 

The first one up is the Royal Society, where the M.Othman story originated.

Towards a scientific and societal agenda on extra-terrestrial life Starts: 9.00am on 04 October 2010 Venue: Kavli Royal Society International Centre Organised by Dr Martin Dominik and Professor John Zarnecki Should extra-terrestrial life exist, upcoming efforts will provide living generations with a realistic chance of its detection. 

Even more than the scientific agenda, a corresponding complementary societal agenda needs to be debated. With a mix of invited talks and panel debates, we particularly look into the detection of life, the communication with potential extra-terrestrial civilizations, the implications for the future of humanity, and the political processes that are required.

The same room is hosting a different group following the same topic, just days later:

The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) "Second IAA Symposium on Searching for Life Signatures" 6-8 October 2010, at the Kavli Royal Society International Centre 50 years ago, from April to July 1960, radioastronomer Frank Drake carried out humankind's first search for other civilizations by scanning 400 kHz of bandwidth for interstellar radio transmissions. Since then, much has been learnt about life and its evolution, and over the last 15 years, more than 400 planets orbiting stars other than the Sun have been detected. 

While humankind has probably always speculated about life on other worlds, we now know that such worlds exist, and if the conditions on nearby planets are right, current or upcoming technology provides living generations with a realistic chance of witnessing the detection of extra-terrestrial life.

The folks at NAZCA NASA are getting in on the act too (does October have some exo-significance I'm not aware of?):

Seeking Signs of Life: A Symposium Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of NASA’s Exobiology Program Thursday October 14, 2010 Global Vision Center - Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. Arlington, VA Sponsored by the NASA Astrobiology Program In 1959, NASA funded its first exobiology investigation, a life-detection experiment for a Viking mission to Mars...by the 1980s, NASA expanded its exobiology program to encompass studies of evolutionary biology. 

In the 1990s, NASA again expanded the breadth and depth of this program, broadening the boundaries of “exobiology” to establish “astrobiology” as a program encompassing studies of chemical evolution in interstellar space, the formation and evolution of planets, and the natural history of Earth in addition to exobiology and evolutionary biology.

As tempting as it is to say we've seen this all before, we actually haven't. Mainstream science has been resistant to talking about ETL, publicly at least. This is all very cautious, very tentative- meaning I'm not seeing this as prelude for a Halloween mass landing- but it's definitely news. Then there's this story:

What Contingency Plans Does the U. S. Government Have for a "First Contact" Scenario? A recently formed small group of legal professionals based in Arlington, Va. - the National Security Counselors has embarked on a bold, creative pursuit of official information not readily available to most of society's inquiring minds. 

Their chief tool in this public-interest pursuit happens to be the U. S. Freedom of Information Act....one of these themes should pique the interest of this blog's readership: Contingency Plans for a "First Contact" Scenario. 

The pertinent request letter went out individually on May 13, 2010, to the following agencies: U. S. Air Force, U. S. Army, U. S. Central Intelligence Agency, U. S. Defense Intelligence Agency, U. S. Department of State, U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration...

Does any of this prove anything? No. But no one is trying to disprove anything, either. And that's certainly news, too.