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Article name: "White House Denies Any Contact with Alien Life" by Clara Moskowitz Date: 11/7/2011 http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-denies-contact-alien-life-204606420.html Comprehension 1. 2. 3. 4. Which White House office is Phil Larson a part of? How many signatures did the two petitions receive? What is one example of supposed alien contact that people believe the US government is hiding? What are some current efforts to search for alien life?

Discussion 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Do you believe that aliens exist? Do you think that we have, or ever will, come into contact with alien life? Would you like to meet an alien? Do you believe any stories about UFOs? Do you think that the US, or any other government, is covering up evidence of intelligent alien life? Do you like movies and stories about aliens? If yes, do you have a favorite alien movie/story? What kind of aliens do you prefer? Does science fiction interest you? Do you prefer stories about the future, the past or the modern day? How interested are you in space and astronomy? If an earthlike planet that could support life was discovered, would you be in favor of colonizing it? Would you join the colonization mission? Have you ever signed any petitions? If yes, what kinds of causes have you supported? Have you ever started a petition? Do you feel that petitions are a good way to effect change? What do you think is the value of space research and exploration? Do you think we should be spending more or less money on space programs?

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White House Denies Any Contact with Alien Life By: Clara Moskowitz Date: 11/7/2011 Strike one more blow against UFO conspiracy theories. The U.S. government is not in contact with any extraterrestrials from other worlds, nor has any confirmed proof of alien life been found, White House officials say. "The U.S. 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," Phil Larson of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy wrote in a statement published Friday (Nov. 4.) "In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye." The message came in response to two petitions posted on the White House's "We the People" site, which allows the public to air grievances through petitions. In this case, one asked the government to "formally acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race," while another requested that the Obama administration "immediately disclose the government's knowledge of and communications with extraterrestrial beings." As of Monday (Nov. 7), the first petition has garnered 12,078 signatures, while the second has 5,387. The White House has promised to respond to any petition that gains a certain number of signatures within a given time in this case, the requirement was 5,000 signatures. "If a petition gets enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it's sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response," according to the "We the People" site. The belief that authorities are hiding evidence of alien life is not a new one. Many UFO proponents insist to this day that extraterrestrial vehicles crashed near Roswell, N.M., in 1947 and were sent for government study to the Area 51 Air Force base in Nevada. Yet the government has consistently denied ever having encountered any UFO hardware or other evidence for extraterrestrials, and scientists say no credible proof of aliens has ever been made public. That doesn't satisfy UFO conspiracy theorists, though.

"This Petition calls for the President to disclose to the American people the long withheld knowledge of government interactions with extraterrestrial beings and call for open Congressional hearings to allow the people to become aware of this subject through those whose voices have been silenced by unconstitutional secrecy oaths," reads one of the two recent petitions. "The people have a right to know. The people can handle the truth," said the other. Though the official White House response did quash the idea that the government was hiding information on the subject, Larson openly acknowledged two government-supported efforts to search for signs of E.T. NASA's Kepler space telescope, which was launched in 2009, is on a mission to search for Earth-like planets around other stars in the hopes that some might prove habitable to alien life. And NASA is gearing up to launch its new Mars rover Curiosity this month, which will investigate Martian geology for signs that the Red Planet may once have been hospitable to microorganisms. Larson also cited the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project, which began with public funding, that uses radio telescopes to scour the heavens for signals from alien species. "Many scientists and mathematicians have looked with a statistical mindset at the question of whether life likely exists beyond Earth and 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," Larson wrote. "Many have also noted, however, that the odds of us making contact with any of them especially any intelligent ones are extremely small, given the distances involved. But that's all statistics and speculation. The fact is we have no credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on Earth."

"information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from public attention."

The public's eye

which allows the public to openly express dissatisfaction through petitions.

Air grievances

to any petition that gains a certain number of signatures within a specified time

Given

that uses radio telescopes to scour space for signals from alien species.

The heavens

Conspiracy Garnered Oath Quash Gearing up Scour