On July 27, 2018, former Pentagon official Mr. Luis Elizondo knocked it out of the park as the MUFON keynote speaker. He gave a great presentation about the Pentagon backed UFO program, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), and his role within it. He explained that his only job was to find out what UFO’s were and how they worked. He wasn’t there to speculate about who or what was behind the phenomenon. In an interview he did with Erin Burnett on CNN he did admit, “we may not be alone.” However, he hit the home run when he mentioned disclosure at the MUFON banquet.
He pointed out that disclosure is a process that has already begun. He said that this time next year he expected we’d be having an entirely different conversation about the existence of what’s been termed “the others.” As he spoke people sat riveted, in total silence. Were we truly witnessing the biggest historical event in the history of mankind? Was this an acknowledgment from the United States government that indeed, extra-terrestrials exist?
However, with all due respect, there is one thing that he got wrong. As Mr. Elizondo explained what the function of government is, he said it is “not to satisfy people’s curiosity.” While that is true, government does not exist to indulge curiosities, if there is truly an extra-terrestrial presence on Earth, this is about immensely more than just curiosity. If we presume that there are extra-terrestrials and they have been here, this is the biggest paradigm changing, life changing, societal changing knowledge in the history of civilization.
Some of the biggest questions we’ve been asking ourselves since the beginning of time is who are we and why are we here? Where did we come from? Is there a higher intelligence above our own and if so, what is our relationship to it? Were we created or are we truly the product of evolution? The answers to these questions shape our lives, our behaviors, our outlooks, our values, our psychology, our societies and our environments. The way we view the answers to these most fundamental questions shapes who we are to our deepest cores.
If there is an extra-terrestrial presence that either has or continues to come here the technological implications are astounding. This would mean technology that is far beyond the dependence on archaic, combustion engines. The world’s economy is an oil based one. To introduce technology with the ability to curb our reliance on oil would drastically change the world economy and the global balance of power. The petro-dollar could potentially crash and countries that build their wealth from oil could find themselves relics, forgotten to history. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the developing third world countries could find a much needed leg-up and could be spared the environmental devastation of industrial revolutions. To control such technology would be to control the future of humanity itself. To receive such technology would be a gift to the world, if delivered into the right hands, and used for the betterment of the world. Is that what happened? Did the United States receive what was once considered “magic” from the gods, in a sudden crash of technology?
The religious impact would be truly astounding. Would people start to second guess themselves and everything that they’ve always believed in? Or, would they find comfort in knowing that there really might be something to all of the historical, religious mythology? What was Mary’s divine intervention? What did Mohammad see? How did the Buddha become so enlightened and what sort of divine inspiration did the religious heroes of history really experience? Was it possibly extra-terrestrial in nature? Would we feel comfort or fear if we had scientific confirmation of an extra-terrestrial presence and how would this shape our view of God? Perhaps this would inspire within us to reexamine our place in the universe and our relationships with each other. Maybe we would ask ourselves, as a species, where do we want to go if we now know from where we’ve come? Maybe others have gone before us… to the stars?
If there truly is an extra-terrestrial presence that has visited this Earth, disclosing this information in a scientific way makes this time arguably the most important since biblical times. It makes sense to release this information slowly, through multiple outlets, in multiple ways. It makes sense to slowly acclimatize the population to the idea so as not to have a repeat of the radio broadcast, “War of the Worlds,” where panic led to some suicides.
Mr. Elizondo said we’re in a disclosure process that’s unfolding before our very eyes. In the past year alone it seems as if the process of disclosure has accelerated. On October 11, 2017, we witnessed history when multiple, career CIA officers openly identified themselves and announced their new endeavor as leaders on the board of the To The Stars Academy (TTSA). At the time, whatever the TTSA was doing, it seemed to be very significant. Following this announcement, UFO’s and the AATIP program made the New York Times and the Washington Post. We’ve seen NASA scientists approach congress for funding to search for Extra Terrestrial life, we’ve seen multiple announcements from NASA that there are Earth-like planets all throughout the solar system and liquid water may be on Mars. Then there is President Trump’s announcement of a Space Force. Why would we need a separate force for what the Air Force has already been doing and why now? While the story of an extra-terrestrial cover-up has been in and out of the press for over seventy years, it would appear as if, suddenly, ideas about life in space are ubiquitous.
So, Mr. Elizondo, while your performance was outstanding I do have to disagree on one thing. This is about so much more than just idle curiosity. This is about answering the biggest questions we as human beings face. This is about tackling some of the biggest problems, together, that the world is ever going to face. This is about possibly knowing who we are and about answering the biggest question of all… what does it mean to be human?
Teresa Tindal, 4 September 2018
The Tindal Review 