News of an alien ambassador from the United Nations spread Sunday on the internet. Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist, head of the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs, was reportedly in line for the job. It would only really happen in reaction to extraterrestrial visitors, say Othman. Rapidly increasing discoveries of planets outside the solar system make the possibility of extraterrestrial contact less outrageous than within the recent past. There are a lot of people worried about extraterrestrial existence including Stephen Hawking who has given a warning to Earth. The British newspaper was the first to receive the news from Othman that there would be no extraterrestrial ambassador to space.
Mankind would respond through the United Nations to alien life?
The rumor flew all over the world as it “broke” in the Sunday Times that Othman will be the ambassador appointed by the United Nations to visit aliens. The search for alien transmission was something Othman spoke about in a recent seminar. It was quoted within the Sunday Times. She explained that earth needs to be ready to respond at any minute. Othman also gave the opinion the United Nations should be responsible for this. Newspapers like the Australian took the bait, mentioning that Othman would be talking more about imminent contact with aliens at a scientific conference sponsored by the Royal Society in Britain in the coming week.
The alien life search
In 1992 was when we first knew for sure there was an extra-solar planet, or exoplanet. The Kepler Mission, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration space observatory launched in 2009, has identified hundreds of possible exoplanets. As the odds seem more likely that intelligent alien life may exist, British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking sounded a warning last spring. Hawking interviewed with the Sunday Times saying humanity should try getting noticed before it tries to look for more extraterrestrial existence. Aliens might probably be looking for someplace they can get more resources from. He states we can all imagine the consequences of this by simply looking within the mirror. “We only have to check out ourselves to determine how intelligent life might develop into something we would not want to meet.”
Might there be ambassadors from space on the planet?
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. It was news to them. Nobody knew about it. The Office for Outer Space Affairs questions were all referred someplace else by the United Nations A switchboard in Vienna is where they went. 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.” There is a real problem that needs to be solved in her speech at the Royal Society. Earth may be colliding with some objects in its rotation soon which will be discussed.
Further 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
