White House: We haven't made contact with aliens

Wednesday, 09 November 2011 15:54 Fidelis Angela Tan

As far as the United States' White House is concerned, humans have not made contact with extraterrestrial beings.

"The US government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race," said Phil Larson of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy in a statement.

“That doesn't mean the subject of life outside our planet isn't being discussed or explored," he added.

The statement came in response to a pair of petitions passed through the White House's “We The People” program, which promises a White House response for petitions that garner 25,000 signatures or more in 30 days.

According to one of the petitions, "Hundreds of military and government agency witnesses have come forward with testimony confirming this extraterrestrial presence.”

"Opinion polls now indicate more than 50% of the American people believe there is an extraterrestrial presence and more than 80% believe the government is not telling the truth about this phenomenon. The people have a right to know,” it said. “The people can handle the truth."

According to Larson, "There is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye."

He noted however that, "Many scientists and mathematicians... have come to the conclusion that the odds are pretty high that somewhere among the trillions and trillions of stars in the universe there is a planet other than ours that is home to life."

"However, that the odds of us making contact with any of them — especially any intelligent ones — are extremely small, given the distances involved," he said.

Steven Bassett of the Paradigm Research Group, who penned one of the petitions said that the White House response was “unacceptable,” adding, “PRG will begin to pre-promote a new petition relevant to the Disclosure process... and will continue to keep the Disclosure issue front and center within this attempt at participatory democracy by the Obama administration."

In response, White House spokesman Matt Lehrich clarified that, “There's no reason someone couldn't submit a second petition.”

“If it crosses the threshold [of 25,000 signatures], it will get a response,” he told the Huffington Post. “Obviously, if the petition is very similar, it may garner a similar response."

The White House has issued responses to petitions involving the legalization of marijuana, reducing the burden of student loan debt, religion in the public square, and other issues.

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