Astrophysicist, cosmologist on Trump’s promise to release UFO files

Transcript

The Pentagon says it will work with other agencies to fulfill President Trump's directive to rel release files related to extraterrestrial life and unidentified aerial phenomena or UAPs. Now, this comes after the president gave the directive on his social media. Let's bring in Avi Loe, astrophysicist and director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at Harvard University and the author of Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth. Obby, thank you so much for joining us. I want to start with this.

What challenges do you see in declassifying information relating to extraterrestrial life and UAPs? >> Well, thanks for having me. Um, the material that is currently classified could be classified in order for adversarial nations not to be aware of the the level the quality of the data that we collect uh in defending the nation. And uh as a result of that, even if it deals with objects that have nothing to do with our adversaries, uh the the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies might be reluctant to share it. Uh there could be another reason that uh both the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies are unable to identify some objects and uh they do not want to admit that they're not doing their job. uh and so they don't want to face scrutiny on the for example we all know about the story of the Chinese spy balloon that was not identified for a while uh and so uh for a variety of reasons some of this data is under wraps and difficult to declassify however my point is that uh anything to do with what happened 50 years ago is irrelevant to the battlefield today so the technologies that humans employed back then are very much inferior to what we are using now and therefore that kind of data should be released and shared with scientists so we can help government figure it out because there is a remote chance that maybe uh there was evidence for technologies that originated beyond this earth.

Hm, that is so interesting. And you know, Obby, this is a topic that so many people find fascinating for one reason or another. And I almost have to ask here, should we temper our expectations because I'm sure people are expecting to find out some sort of shocking information once this is all released? >> Well, it all depends on what the government holds secret. And uh as of now, we just don't know. I haven't been exposed to that evidence, but there are people that either served within government or military personnel that told us that there is something really unusual uh that we haven't seen and and so in that sense I'm very curious to figure it out.

I think there is something out there and that's the reason that the former President Obama talked about it and the current President Trump initiated this release. It means that it's quite likely that there are people within government that just don't know what to make of it. uh and in that case perhaps it indicates something really unusual and it will open a new age of disclosure that uh potentially would lead to the next copernican revolution where you know right now we know we're not at the center of the universe but we still think that we are at the top of the food chain of the Milky Way galaxy and we might find out that there is actually a more accomplished sibling of our family of intelligent civilizations out there. Obby, do you think the Pentagon will actually put out all the information it has about extraterrestrial life? Or in your opinion, what information do you think they can safely put out to the public and digest? >> They can safely disclose information that is beyond any doubt unrelated to humanmade technologies. If you see an object behaving uh in ways that are well outside the performance envelope of existing human technologies, that should be released.

If you see something accelerating you know an unprecedented rate or moving at very high speed you know that cannot be done by our equipment and we know pretty much what adversarial nations are using. So that is the kind of data that should be shared and also data from a long time ago uh that is not relevant to the present day battlefield. So I do feel that there is a lot for them to consider and I would be happy to either help Congress analyze that kind of evidence or perhaps collaborate with people at the Pentagon that for example at the office that was established there the all domain anomaly resolution office to analyze such anomalies. All right, AI, I have to ask about this. Obviously, you are the expert here.

So, what kind of uh information have you seen in regards to intelligent alien life through all of your work in in in this uh topic? >> Yeah, I haven't seen any conclusive evidence, but we really did not uh fund any sub substantive research in this direction. And you know, right now the mainstream of the astronomy community is willing to allocate more than $10 billion in the search for microbes, looking for the chemical fingerprints of microbes in the atmospheres of planets around other stars. But I argue that we should allocate similar funds to the search for technological signatures cuz they might be easier to detect even if microbes are far more abundant. And I think it's a matter of common sense to imagine, especially if you read the news every day, you realize there could be a smarter kid on the block. We are not that smart.

>> Yeah, I mean, you are not wrong at all. I completely agree. Abby Loe, thank you so much for your time today on 247. We appreciate it. >> Thanks for having me.

>> Right, let's bring in new CBS News contributor, Jana Leven. Jenna is a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. So, what do we know about extraterrestrial life? Well, astronomers are very excited about this prospect. Actually, if you look even in the environment just around the Earth, there are thousands of other planets. This is incredibly exciting, but life still seems rare.

If we look in our own solar system, we're the only example of a planet that's really harboring teameming with life. And so, I think the big debate is how rare. And also if you look at technological species like us who are manipulating their environment and actually exploring space, we're kind of precarious, right? We're having very negative impact in many ways on our planet. We have a lot of strife and problems. It's not clear that technologically advanced civilizations will survive and survive long enough to go visit other planets.

Seems unlikely. >> So when you when we're talking about extraterrestrial life, are we talking about little green men running around or >> not so much? Okay. Well, the astronomers aren't. Right. So, so scientifically we're really interested in microbes.

Just let's just get life started, right? Which is how it started on Earth. We're we're really hoping to see the beginnings of life even before multisellularity. Now, we want to keep an open mind. I mean, we want to be open to the possibility that there's other civilizations that also want to explore space, but uh the first port is really just to see the simplest organisms. >> My dream is there's a little rocky out there.

Fans of Hail Mary will know what I'm talking about. All right. So, when these files are released, what will you be looking for? >> Well, obviously, if there's anything in them, it would be really thrilling. Um, uh, if there are claims of actual technologies from other civilizations, I don't think anyone's really expecting that scientifically. I think, >> wouldn't they not? >> I think if you're expecting that, you're going to be disappointed, >> but uh, I don't know, maybe something was carried here on a natural object that plunged to Earth uh, from our solar system.

It is conceivable that that they could transport microbes that originated somewhere else in in the galaxy. >> So, what you're saying is when these files are released, I'm not going to be able to understand them. And you're I'm going to need you to come here and translate them. >> I'll come back. I'll come back.

But, you know, I'd be excited. It would make my day. >> Jan 11, your excitement is infectious. Thank you so much. >> Thanks, Lindsay.

>> We turn now to a three-word question that has confounded humankind for centuries. Are we alone? We may soon know as the Trump administration is ordering the release of all government documents on aliens and UFOs. Here's senior national correspondent Mark Stman. >> At night when we look skyward into the cosmic dark is something looking back. >> Former President Obama recently suggested >> Yes.

Are aliens real? Uh, they're real, but I haven't seen them. And and and uh they're not being kept in uh what is it? >> Area 51. >> Area 51. >> Hollywood found extraterrestrial life decades ago. Sometimes for CHEAP LAUGHS.

>> HEY, HE'S BACK. >> BUT SET aside the cookie factor. Polls show roughly 2/3 of Americans believe intelligent life exists on other planets. It will be the most important scientific discovery ever. Uh it will change the future of humanity because if they arrive to our backyard, we might want to visit their backyard.

We might >> Astrophysicist AI Lo teaches at Harvard. He points to the 100 billion stars just in the Milky Way galaxy. >> If you believe in God, uh God is not a parent of just one child. Uh we have siblings out there and so you have to revise to update your worldview. Cosmic conspiracy theorists believe our government knows more than it's saying.

President Trump said Obama spilled classified information, but >> I may get him out of trouble by declassifying. >> That will help. On a blind date with a cosmic connection, it's not enough to believe. We need to know, are we alone? Mark Stman, CBS News,