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 the U.N. be responsible for responding to aliens anyway?
The rumor flew all over the world as it “broke” within the Sunday Times that Othman would be the ambassador appointed by the U.N. to visit aliens. The search for alien transmission was something Othman spoke about in a recent seminar. It was quoted within the Sunday Times. . 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.
Trying to discover any life out there
The first extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, was confirmed to exist in 1992. At least a hundred more exoplanets were discovered on the Kepler Mission. This was a National Aeronautics and Space Administration space observatory that had been launched in 2009. 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 mankind should try getting noticed before it tries to watch for more extraterrestrial life. Aliens might probably be searching for someplace they can get more resources from. He also said we need only to look in the mirror to imagine the consequences. “We only have to look at ourselves to determine how intelligent life might develop into something we would not want to meet.”
Do you have aliens on earth?
The story about the U.N. extraterrestrial ambassador did not just come out of the blue. Othman started the rumor. The Guardian looked for real facts instead of just going with everybody else. The British newspaper called the Royal Society to ask about Othman’s upcoming speech on alien contact. Nobody had heard 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. All she had to say was, “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 can 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
