Image Source: SETI Institute
BY EMOKE BEBIAK
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
Well, it’s official. ET doesn’t exist. Or at least that’s what the White House says. LA’s ABC affiliate KABC has the story.
“A White House official wrote a response to an online petition saying the US government has no evidence that extraterrestrial beings have reached out to us or they even exist.”
The statement comes after two online petitions were submitted on the the White House’s website demanding full disclosure about UFOs. The petitions were part of the “We The People” initiative that guarantees official response if enough signatures are collected.
KTBC, a FOX affiliate in Austin, Texas, reports the numbers were there.
“5,000 people signed the petition, demanding the White House fess up on aliens. More than 12,000 others signed a petition, seeking formal acknowledgement of an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race.”
According to BBC News, White House space policy expert Phil Larson wrote a statement saying the US government has no evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life. Larson also added, however, that lack of evidence doesn’t mean aliens don’t exist...
"Many scientists and mathematicians have looked... at the question of whether life likely exists beyond Earth, and have come to the conclusion that the odds are pretty high... Many have also noted, however, that the odds of us making contact with any of them - especially any intelligent ones - are extremely small, given the distances involved."
The lobbyist who submitted one of petitions sees the response as a victory. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, he says...
“This is ideal... Unless someone can correct me, this is the first time in 67 years that an administration has gone on public record with a position on UFOs. They’ve said there is no credible evidence for an ET presence, and now they’re going to have to defend that position.”
But the statement isn’t satisfying everyone. The group behind the petitions still suspects a government cover-up.
MSNBC’s Willie Geist reports...
The Paradigm Research Group, which sponsored the petitions, unmoved by that, putting out a statement read perhaps only by me that read, ‘As expected, it was written by a low level staffer... The response was unacceptable.”
Mashable writes some find it curious the White House decided to answer the petition about UFOs, yet hasn’t responded to requests addressing more hard-hitting issues such as the electoral college or same-sex marriage.
