The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (Nicap)

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

# Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0

"What our fate will be [if we come into contact with extraterrestrial beings] will depend upon whether there will ever be close enough contact with intelligences from extraterrestrial realms to matter. The very possibility, however, is certainly being envisaged by some scientific experiments now being made. For example, various experiments being carried out at public expense to invent a means of communication between humans and porpoises! The main purpose of these experiments is said to be to prepare ourselves for the time when our interplanetary vehicles shall take us to other worlds and other intelligent beings. Not, of course, that we anticipate that such other beings will confront us speaking the language of porpoises. But to have broken the "porpoise speech code" will give us some insights into breaking other completely foreign speech codes.

"What will such contact mean, if it comes, to our thinking? The question asserts itself especially if you are, as I am, a minister of religion. What will such contact do to our theological conceptions? What will it mean in terms of our beliefs about God, Christ, Salvation, the unique nature of Man? Here, again, one can only guess. But based on the record of man's reaction to other such challenges over the centuries, we may expect this one to be taken in stride too. For this will not have been the first time, by any means, that humankind has had to stretch its thinking and feeling to encompass the wider revelation. . ."

## TECHNOLOGY

Mr. Robert Purdy, Metallurgical Engineer, through a NICAP member suggested what a few of the effects on technology, industry and science would be if we establish contact with an advanced race of beings:

"In my certain field, metallurgy, of course the first problem most likely to be solved would be a metal so strong, so light, so heat resistant, it could only be dreamed of before this event. The present space programs could be speeded up such that we might be taking our first trip to Mars within several months. Our present corrosion problem which costs this country over 8 billion dollars a year could be reduced to practically nothing. Perhaps another method of obtaining pure metal other than from its ore would be discovered. These suggestions are only a few of the vast number of possibilities such an event would bring into focus."

Dr. Fred C. Fair (professor emeritus of engineering, New York University) a NICAP Adviser, commented on the technology displayed by UFOs, deduced from reported observations:

"Astronomers and chemists agree that the only metallic elements found on stars and planets are the same as the ones that occur on earth. No planet has a supply of a super metal foreign to the earth. Consequently, if the metallic materials used in the construction of the body of the UFO and of the machinery and mechanisms within it are more durable than alloys produced on earth, it would indicate that the art and science of Metallurgy at the source of these UFOs is in advance of the corresponding art and science on earth.

Without the opportunity of inspecting a UFO, we can infer that the metal parts are superior to any alloy now produced on earth, as shown by the durability and superior performance of the vehicle and the machinery within it. The mechanism of these objects is so nearly perfect that all of them, or at least almost all of them have functioned perfectly while in the area of visibility from the surface of the earth, or while within the earth's gravitational field. Malfunctions of a very few of these objects may account for some of the green fireballs and space explosions that have been reported from time to time. . .

"UFOs have been clocked by competent observers using adequate equipment at speeds in excess of 17,000 miles per hour. This is beyond the speed that an earth-made controllable and steerable vehicle can attain. Nor is it expected that such speeds may be developed in the foreseeable future. Much has been written concerning the type of organisms that must be within a UFO that can withstand the huge G forces that occur when such objects abruptly change their course through ninety or more degrees while maintaining high velocity. The extreme maneuverability of these huge craft operated at high velocity has been a source of wonder from the time of the earliest observations. Why does a UFO seem to be not subject to the law of inertia? How, without

collision, can the forward motion of any object be stopped immediately; and instantaneously assume a new and at times a directly opposite direction? The momentum of any solid body, having mass, would seem to make such a tactic impossible. . .

"What little we know at present of the Unknown Flying Objects indicates a technology in several fields which has reached a state of development far beyond that attained on earth."

## SOCIAL AND MORAL CONSIDERATIONS

In 1963 a NICAP member posed a hypothetical question to the U. S. Department of Justice: "If a human being killed a space man, in a moment of panic and fear, would this be murder? Or could the person defend his action on the legal ground that he had not committed homicide since the being was not 'human'?" On July 11, Assistant Attorney General Norbert A. Schlei replied: "...as a matter of information, it does not seem likely that present criminal laws against homicide would play a primary role in restraining attacks by excited citizens if the situation you describe were to arise. Since criminal laws are usually construed strictly, it is doubtful that laws against homicide would apply to the killing of intelligent, man-like creatures alien to this planet, unless such creatures were members of the human species. Whether killing these creatures would violate other criminal laws - for instance, the laws against cruelty to animals or disorderly conduct - would ordinarily depend on the law of the particular state in which the killing occurred. ...until it is clearer what problems of safety, health or commerce such creatures might bring, there is little basis for describing the kinds of laws which might prove appropriate."

Replying to the same question, Professor James P. Whyte, School of Law, College of William and Mary, agreed with Mr. Schlei. Assuming for discussion that UFOs are occupied, he said, the question is whether they are occupied by human beings sufficiently similar to homo sapiens.

"The intelligence of these occupants might or might not be a factor," said Prof. Whyte. "It is just as much homicide to kill an idiot as it is to kill a genius."

Another problem of making contact with, and attempting to communicate with, extraterrestrial beings has been suggested by NICAP Adviser, Dr. Robert L. Hall (social psychologist), and others. That is the possibility of such beings not having a form similar to ours. Our earth-bound analogies (and our egos) tend to make us think in terms of the human form. Some anthropologists and biologists, in fact, have argued that extraterrestrials would very likely have to resemble us in some ways, because of certain physical structures of the human body which led to the development of human intelligence. But, again, this development could have been only one of many possible ways in which intelligent life can develop.

It has been suggested that intelligent life forms might, for example, be of microscopic size - or amorphous blobs. If extraterrestrials who traveled to earth were not humanoid in form, it is conceivable that man could come "face to face" with a space being and not recognize him as an intelligent creature. The question is often asked, "If UFOs are real (i.e., space ships carrying intelligent beings), why haven't they landed?" The answer is that no one knows for sure whether any beings from other planets have landed on earth and, if they did, whether they would be recognizable as such.

Commenting about space travel and extraterrestrial life, Dr. Edward Teller in a lecture at the University of California said, "Where is everybody? It is possible that it's a form of life that we may not recognize as such, and isn't it even more possible that we in our galaxy may just be suburbans living on a Godforsaken outpost?" [1]

In a discussion of the necessary training, and expected behavior, of men who will travel through space, Dr. Harold D. Lasswell (Yale social scientist) states in his concluding remarks: "All the foregoing rests, of course, on the assumption that earth's inhabitants will be able to execute programs of the kind under discussion, which is no foregone conclusion. The implications of the unidentified flying objects (UFO) may be that we are already viewed with suspicion by more advanced civilizations and that our attempts to gain a foothold elsewhere may be rebuffed as a threat to other systems of public order." [2]