News the U.N. is poised to appoint an alien ambassador spread like wildfire over the web Sunday. The job was expected to go to Mazlan Othman. Othman is head of the United Nations Office for Outer space Affairs. He is also a Malaysian astrophysicist. It would only really happen in response to extraterrestrial visitors, say Othman. Alien contact isn’t as much of a far-reached idea as it was within the past. There have been many discoveries of planets outside of the solar system. There are lots of people worried about extraterrestrial existence including Stephen Hawking who has given a warning to Earth. Othman e-mailed the British newspaper to set things straight. There will be no ambassador to space.
Humanity might respond through the U.N. to alien life?
The story that Mazlan Othman would be appointed the U.N. alien ambassador “broke” in the Sunday Times and spread like a super bug around the globe. The search for alien transmission was something Othman spoke about in a recent seminar. It was quoted within the Sunday Times. Othman thinks the U.N. should be the ones making the reaction that earth needs to have ready. Othman was said by the Australian to be in Britain next week for a scientific conference sponsored by the Royal Society. It said she might be speaking on contacting the aliens at that time.
The extraterrestrial life search
An extra-solar planet is also called an exoplanet. In 1992, this was first discovered to actually exist. Hundreds of exoplanets were discovered within the NASA outer space observatory launched in 2009 called the Kepler Mission. As the odds seem more likely that intelligent alien life may exist, British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking sounded a warning last spring. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Hawking said that instead of seeking the aliens out, mankind should be attempting to avoid getting noticed. A planet with more resources might look like heaven to most aliens. This is probably what happen. He also said we need only to look within the mirror to imagine the consequences. “We only have to take a look at ourselves to determine how intelligent existence might develop into something we would not want to meet.”
Are there aliens on earth?
The U.N. alien ambassador story was brought down to Earth by Othman herself. The Guardian was likely tempted to just throw out some articles like everyone else’s. Instead, it looked for facts of the story. Othman’s speech on alien contact was questioned by the British newspaper. It even called the Royal Society to ask about it. No one there knew anything about this. A switchboard in Vienna is where the U.N. referred inquiries about the Office for Outer Space Affairs. Finally, Othman responded to a Guardian e-mail and burst the U.N. alien ambassador bubble. She explained, “It sounds really cool, however, I have to deny it.” The Royal Society speech is going to be about how earth may be colliding with objects in its path in the near future which is a real problem.
Additional reading
The Australian
theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-un-is-to-appoint-an-astrophysicist-to-be-the-first-contact-for-any-aliens/story-e6frg6so-1225929540635
Sunday Times
timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article7107207.ece
The Guardian
guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/sep/27/un-alien-ambassador-mazlan-othman
