I had to create a whole new category called “WTH? Files” for this post. I tried to squeeze it in to one of the other categories, but this story is so flippin’ bizarre that I couldn’t even fake it. Seriously, this deserves a “WTbleep” but this is a family blog….
The UN (as in the United Nations that occupies square footage in New York) is thinking about appointing an ambassador to the alien world. *blink* According to Malaysian astrophysicist, Mazlan Othman, will be named UN ambassador to extraterrestrials (pending approval from the UN scientific advisory committees and the General Assembly because, you know, that would legitimize the appointment).
Currently the director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Othman is responsible for dealing with space~related issues, “ranging from international cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space to managing the growing problem of space debris.” Hmmm, so I guess she ought to be the one to greet the aliens, then she can explain to them why we’ve turned the universe into an inter~galatic garbage bin. Othman offers as an explanation for her appointment a need to have in place “a mechanism for dealing with aliens should they ever make contact.”
Ummmm, why are we so gosh darned eager to contact aliens when we can barely be cordial to each other? But forget about that, hasn’t anyone from the UN ever watched “Independence Day” or “V”? Don’t they listen to Steven Hawking? Hawking says that we should not make contact with aliens because they may not be the cute little peace~loving~leader~seeking aliens we’ve come to expect, instead he suggests they may be something a little more sinister. Think Christopher Columbus and the decimation of the Native Americans due to disease and war. Or the “Twilight Zone” episode called “To Serve Man.”
Hey, UN, E.T. was a trojan horse!
Of course, conspiracy theorists are having a field day with this news story. Many believe that this is the UN’s way of admitting that governments from all over the world have already been in contact with the little green men, and this is some way of prepping us for their pending revelation. Um, yeah…
You know what, call me a “global isolationist” but I have enough to deal with just trying to grin and bear it with you humans on a regular basis, I think I’m gonna side with the smart guy and say “No” to putting out the global welcome mat. But, hey, it’s good to know that the UN isn’t just interested in hosting short, weird looking humans (President Ahmadinejad, I’m looking at you).
