Ignatius Forum 2021: ‘Our Future in Space’

UFO Questions Journalists Aren’t Asking — But Should

Our advice to the Washington Post’s David Ignatius, who has a golden opportunity next Wednesday to ask officials about aliens.

Next week the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. will hold its annual Ignatius Forum, a national public affairs symposium where experts come to address matters of public concern that political elites are grappling with. In the last few years, topics have included the threat of nuclear war, corporate social responsibility, cyberspace war and Covid-19.

One week from Wednesday, on Nov. 10, several speakers will address Our Future in Space, with guests including scientists, government officials and a theologian. The National Cathedral describes the event this way:

Space is the new frontier for humanity. NASA is planning a new generation of exploration, scientists are debating the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and military planners are developing weapons for space warfare. What does this “space rush” mean — at a moment when billionaires are launching private spaceships, and the Director of National Intelligence has released a report assessing Unidentified Aerial Phenomena? As we look toward the heavens, what does the possibility of life “out there” mean for our religious life?

Guests at the event include Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, astronomer Avi Loeb (whose articles have been published by us here at Trail of the Saucers) and theologian and astrophysicist David Wilkinson. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, whose parents the forum is named after, will lead a “wide-ranging discussion on our common future in space, and whether we’re alone in this vast universe.”

It’s $20 to attend if you’re in Washington D.C., but anyone with an Internet connection can watch it live online free by registering here.

Obviously these issues are important to us and our readers, so we put out a call on #UFOTwitter for questions we’d like to see asked of guests, particularly Haines, whose agency released the UAP report in June, and Nelson, an astronaut and former U.S. Senator who heads NASA.

We applaud the National Cathedral for putting this topic front and center and assembling such a prestigious guest panel. Here are some questions we would like to hear asked — and answered. The first we address to Ignatius himself and the National Cathedral leadership:

1. The Doomsday Clock set by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists currently stands at 100 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been, to symbolize the likelihood of human-caused global catastrophe. The proliferation of nuclear weapons continues, as does the danger of climate change. America’s economy is currently experiencing tectonic shifts, we’re a nation divided along class and ideological lines, and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was another reminder of the threat of political extremism. In the face of all that, is there any particular reason why this year’s forum is focusing on space and the possibility of extraterrestrial life, beyond the fact that a couple of billionaires have flown up there and that it is interesting and fun to talk about?
2. In recent months, several current and former high-level federal officials have implied, with varying degrees of specificity and seriousness, that UAPs represent a non-human intelligence. Rep. Adam Schiff was asked on Reddit what his biggest surprise was while serving as chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and he replied, “aliens.” Sen. Mitt Romney on CNN a few months ago appeared to deliberately rule out all prosaic explanations, and we also have Christopher Mellon and Luis Elizondo very busy on the podcast circuit since their 60 Minutes appearance in May, dancing on the pin of their NDAs even as they obviously hint that extraterrestrial life is what we’re really dealing with. And then there were your comments a few weeks ago, Administrator Nelson. For those who are paying attention to this ongoing conversation, it’s starting to sound very much like the U.S. Government has something extraordinary it desperately wants to share, but won’t come out and explicitly say it. Why not?
3. The military and intelligence communities of Russia and China are presumably aware that U.S. Naval ships have for years been equipped with video cameras, so why are “national security” and “classified” cited as reasons the American public has not been allowed to see more video of UAPs for themselves, particularly footage shot at sea during the well-publicized incidents involving the USS Nimitz?
4. The fact of UAP intrusions and proximity to U.S. nuclear facilities is well-documented and familiar to the ufology community, not to mention military personnel who work in these facilities. Sen. Marco Rubio has publicly acknowledged UFOs “flying around military bases.” Why is this topic not getting more attention?
5. Administrator Nelson, do you feel that other agencies in the U.S. Government beyond NASA have been as forthcoming as you’d like them to be regarding the topic of UAPs, not just with the public, but with you personally? What’s been the level of cooperation within your own agency since you were appointed? Is there anything you have asked for regarding UAP intelligence that you’ve not been provided with?
6. (For Nelson and Haines): The debate over extraterrestrial life in the universe is almost always framed as a question of whether we’ll find it, where we’ll find it, how we’ll find it, etc. Can you say today, unequivocally and confidently, that the U.S. Government has no evidence to indicate that E.T. or some other non-human intelligence has already found us?
7. What are the most important innovations and resources humanity could gain from open contact with more advanced ETs? What would we ask for in diplomatic negotiations if it were to come to that?
8. Americans are bombarded with stories almost daily about the search for extraterrestrial life and exoplanets. One gets the sense that if SETI picked up radio signals clearly indicating intelligent life or if a Mars rover found so much as a microbe, there would be breathless reports about such discoveries. At the same time, many Americans are convinced that extra-terrestrial life is already here, based either on their own UFO sightings or the public comments of people Luis Elizondo — who has strongly hinted that both UAP crash wreckage (an obvious allusion to Roswell) and even biological samples have been secretly acquired. We’d be interested in hearing a discussion about this huge and frankly bewildering contradiction.
9. The official narrative of the search for extraterrestrial life holds that there’s no proof of it here and that the most likely outcome is to find physical evidence that it once existed elsewhere, so skeptics might well ask: Aren’t discussions about the implications for religious life premature at this point? Or is there a reason any of you are aware of that we should be talking about it now?
10. Is there any reason for NASA to not be fully open with the public about UAP sightings by astronauts aboard the International Space Station? How frequently are UAP spotted and recorded from the ISS?
11. Last summer after the DNI released the brief UAP report to the public, there were reports that members of Congress received a longer, classified briefing and were shown approximately 45 minutes of video that the public has not seen. Have any of you seen classified video of UAP incidents, and if so can you tell us your impression, even though you cannot discuss the contents? How did it make you feel?
12. On a Canadian podcast this year, Luis Elizondo was asked how the world would be different if everyone knew what he knew about UAPs. He replied that they would be “somber,” and that, quote, “I think you would have some people perhaps turning to religion more so. You might have some people turning away from it,” end-quote. What reason would a career intelligence officer who was deeply involved in the Pentagon’s UAP research have to say that? Based on what you know, do you agree or disagree with him?

Trail of the Saucers is edited by writer/producer Bryce Zabel and published by Stellar Productions. Zabel co-hosts the popular new podcast Need to Know with Coulthart and Zabel that can be found on all major platforms.