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. Othman said there is only one way this would ever happen. There will have to be alien visitors first. The thought of alien contact is not that absurd considering all of the planets outside of the solar system being found more recently. The debate about extraterrestrial life even has Stephan Hawking warning Earth to be wary. There isn’t going to be an alien ambassador, claims the British newspaper after it received an e-mail from Othman.
Why would aliens be able to listen to the U.N.?
The U.N. alien ambassador rumor “broke” within the Sunday Times. It instantly begun flying all around the world. Othman was quoted by the Sunday Times talking about the search for transmission from aliens. Othman said Earth should have a coordinated reaction and the U.N. will be the best organization for the job. 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 near future.
The search for alien life
In 1992 was when we first knew for sure there was an extra-solar planet, or exoplanet. At least a hundred more exoplanets were found on the Kepler Mission. This was a NASA space observatory that had been launched in 2009. Stephen Hawking warned Earth although there is probably not any intelligent alien life. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Hawking said that instead of seeking the aliens out, mankind should be trying to stay away from getting noticed. A planet with more resources might look like heaven to most aliens. This is probably what might happen. He also said we need only to look within the mirror to imagine the consequences. “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent existence might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet.”
Alien ambassador drops to Earth
Othman was the one who begun the U.N. extraterrestrial ambassador story. The Guardian looked for real facts instead of just going with everyone else. 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 it. The U.N. referred all inquiries about the Office for Outer Space Affairs to an unresponsive switchboard in Vienna. Othman told the Guardian the truth after an e-mail sent to her. She said the U.N. alien ambassador story was just a hoax. She wrote “It sounds really cool, but I have to deny it.” The Royal Society speech is going to be about how earth may be colliding with objects in its path within the near future which is a real problem.
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
