Hot Topic (4/21): Are we alone? Is the government hiding something from us?
Do you think we are alone in the universe?
Is the government concealing evidence that extraterrestrials exist?
Story Highlights
(CNN) -- Earth Day may fall later this week, but as far as former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell and other UFO enthusiasts are concerned, the real story is happening elsewhere.
Former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell, shown in 1998, says "there really is no doubt we are being visited."
Mitchell, who was part of the 1971 Apollo 14 moon mission, asserted Monday that extraterrestrial life exists, and that the truth is being concealed by the U.S. and other governments.
He delivered his remarks during an appearance at the National Press Club following the conclusion of the fifth annual X-Conference, a meeting of UFO activists and researchers studying the possibility of alien life forms.
Mankind has long wondered if we're "alone in the universe. [But] only in our period do we really have evidence. No, we're not alone," Mitchell said.
"Our destiny, in my opinion, and we might as well get started with it, is [to] become a part of the planetary community. ... We should be ready to reach out beyond our planet and beyond our solar system to find out what is really going on out there."
Mitchell grew up in Roswell, New Mexico, which some UFO believers maintain was the site of a UFO crash in 1947. He said residents of his hometown "had been hushed and told not to talk about their experience by military authorities." They had been warned of "dire consequences" if they did so.
But, he claimed, they "didn't want to go to the grave with their story. They wanted to tell somebody reliable. And being a local boy and having been to the moon, they considered me reliable enough to whisper in my ear their particular story."
Roughly 10 years ago, Mitchell claimed, he was finally given an appointment at Pentagon to discuss what he had been told.
An unnamed admiral working for the Joint Chiefs of Staff promised to uncover the truth behind the Roswell story, Mitchell said. The stories of a UFO crash "were confirmed," but the admiral was then denied access when he "tried to get into the inner workings of that process."
The same admiral, Mitchell claimed, now denies the story.
"I urge those who are doubtful: Read the books, read the lore, start to understand what has really been going on. Because there really is no doubt we are being visited," he said.
"The universe that we live in is much more wondrous, exciting, complex and far-reaching than we were ever able to know up to this point in time."
A NASA spokesman denied any cover-up.
"NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover-up about alien life on this planet or anywhere else -- period," Michael Cabbage said Monday.
Debates have continued about what happened at Roswell. The U.S. Air Force said in 1994 that wreckage recovered there in 1947 was most likely from a balloon-launched classified government project.
Stephen Bassett, head of the Paradigm Research Group (PRG), which hosted the X-Conference, said that the truth about extraterrestrial life is being suppressed because it is politically explosive.
"There is a third rail [in American politics], and that is the UFO question. It is many magnitudes more radioactive than Social Security ever dreamed to be," Bassett said.
There is no doubt that somewhere in the universe there is other life.
While I have no doubt that somewhere in the vastness of space their are other lifeforms, I do not believe that they are coming here.
If you do some research on famous UFO cases, there is always conflicting evidence between witnesses and scientists versus the Government. There explanations of what the UFO was is almost always a weather balloon or a flare... come on now... you'd think after all these years, they'd be able to come up with some new lies.
I agree!!
Quoting IhartU:If you do some research on famous UFO cases, there is always conflicting evidence between witnesses and scientists versus the Government. There explanations of what the UFO was is almost always a weather balloon or a flare... come on now... you'd think after all these years, they'd be able to come up with some new lies.
This planet is just a small part of the Universe so it is likely that other "beings' exist. Who really knows whats out there, every year scientists make new discoveries, no one can explain strange lights or aircraft in the sky. So i don't go searching but i believe there are some unbelievable stuff out "there".
Even if there is life out in the great beyond somewhere and even IF our government knew it- of course they wouldn't tell us- the vast majority of us can't handle the things going on ON OUR OWN PLANET without flipping out and stockpiling food and weapons- no way are they going to mention that ET stopped by to largely unstable, paranoid bunch like Americans (some would want to immediately go to war with them under the slogan "Peace through Strength".)...lol...
I do believe the universe is far too vast not to be inhabited elsewhere. I think the government is notorious for covering up the truth, and it is very likely they suspect or know for certain that life exists beyond Earth.
I agree with a previous poster---there is a great percentage of the population who wouldn't be able to deal with truth if such communication has been established.
Well I am sure there is other life forms out there. intelligence is subjective, but a round thing that glows neon green in the night sky is not a weather balloon
I believe that other lofe forms do exist outside of this planet,and I do believe that our Government has evidence that these life forms do exist and that they are in fact concealing this information from the public to which I believe the Government underestimates the intelligence of its people ( the public).
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on Apr. 21, 2009 at 8:00 AM