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Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

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Re: Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

#41

Post by gabrielblack »

whack wrote: post #17

This is absolutely wild. I've never entertained conspiracy theories about aliens for a minute. But this guy's credentials are as legit as they come. I don't understand why this isn't bigger news than it currently is. > retired Israeli general and current professor > served as the head of Israel's space security program for nearly 30 years and is a three-time recipient of the Israel Security Award Assuming the article…

No photos, no references: could be a man with the same name. And he's 87 years old, I'm sorry but he can be senile, without evidences, this article IMHO is only a clickbait example.

Re: Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

#42

Post by breck »

uniqueid wrote: post #39
breck wrote: post #34

Here he is talking 9 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myjSeORB1Og The dude seems legit. This could be real.

This could be real. Yeah, it's not. The saying goes "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", not "extraordinary claims must come from one important-sounding guy."

Anonymous user "uniqueid", I forget which defense space agency were you head of?

Re: Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

#43

Post by breck »

ceejayoz wrote: post #38
breck wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If aliens existed and we knew about it, who would know? The head of Israel's and USA's space defense programs.

Sure. “He’s full of it” is still an option, though. I’d argue it’s the likely one. People have been killed for revealing lesser secrets.

My priors would say 99% odds he's full of it, but you have to admit that if he's not (and if he really was the head of Israel Defense space division, makes him 1 of a very few people who would know), then this would be the biggest story in the history of the earth.

So shouldn't we at least take a look? The Top Story on HN right now is about a finance deal between Uber and Aururo. Pretty sure that even though that one is almost certainly true, it's expected impact on the world relative to this is zero.

Re: Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

#44

Post by breck »

gabrielblack wrote: post #41
whack wrote: post #17

This is absolutely wild. I've never entertained conspiracy theories about aliens for a minute. But this guy's credentials are as legit as they come. I don't understand why this isn't bigger news than it currently is. > retired Israeli general and current professor > served as the head of Israel's space security program for nearly 30 years and is a three-time recipient of the Israel Security Award Assuming the article…

No photos, no references: could be a man with the same name. And he's 87 years old, I'm sorry but he can be senile, without evidences, this article IMHO is only a clickbait example.

> could be a man with the same name

I think this is the most likely explanation, and where I'd put my money. I'll admit if he pranked me (as a fellow prankster, that would be a good one).

But still, the slim odds times infinity makes this a story worth spreading so we can get eyes on it and put it to bed fast.

Re: Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

#45

Post by bradjohnson »

generalizations wrote: post #20
bradjohnson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that keeping the specifics of some aircraft/technology projects a secret (which are obviously and clearly being developed, this is not a secret) is quite a far cry from keeping the existence of aliens and coordinated secret meetings on Mars a secret.

All that anyone would ever see, though, is a flying saucer or one of those 'pill'-shaped things. That's pretty easy to write off, regardless of the credentials of whoever made the observation. And, anyone who blows the whistle gets written off as crazy.

> Has the State of Israel made contact with aliens?

> According to retired Israeli general and current professor Haim Eshed, the answer is yes, but this has been kept a secret because "humanity isn't ready."

This premise is absurd and the fact that the only one that is coming forward is the aging head of "space security" in Israel, a nation that recently failed to land a robot on the moon according to the article, makes it prudent to write him off as crazy. Especially since he's trying to sell a book.

Re: Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

#47

Post by gabrielblack »

gabrielblack wrote: post #40
breck wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was literally in charge of Israel's space and satellite programs as recently as 2007 ( https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL11678080 ). If what he says is true, this is exactly how'd you expect to hear about it: an old insider with nothing to lose who wants to tell the truth. "gabrielblack", what national space agency did you lead to tell us so assuredly that he's lying? All I know is that if I'm a reporter at the…

No photo, no references, no curriculum ! Could be a person with the same name! This article is full of speculations, Could someone honestly say that there is a single thing reliable there ? IMHO it's more like the plot of an episode of "Men In black" then a serious newspaper article.

And don't forget. this isn't the original article: it's an article describing another article. What's that ? Metajournalism ?

Re: Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

#48

Post by uniqueid »

breck wrote: post #42
uniqueid wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This could be real. Yeah, it's not. The saying goes "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", not "extraordinary claims must come from one important-sounding guy."

Anonymous user "uniqueid", I forget which defense space agency were you head of?

I probably should have phrased my comment in a less confrontational way.

I think there are more likely explanations for this story; my guess is a confluence of a nervous breakdown with a life-long desire to meet aliens. I reckon most people who work at space agencies are also fans of science fiction.

Re: Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

#49

Post by breck »

uniqueid wrote: post #48
breck wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anonymous user "uniqueid", I forget which defense space agency were you head of?

I probably should have phrased my comment in a less confrontational way. I think there are more likely explanations for this story; my guess is a confluence of a nervous breakdown with a life-long desire to meet aliens. I reckon most people who work at space agencies are also fans of science fiction.

Sorry to harp on you there, you never know if you're talking to GPT-3 on these things.

The most plausible explanation is that the person who “recorded his conversations” also took “creative liberty” with his conversations. IMO, the story is too airtight to be a result of senility. It seems like, in order of probability, 1) the work of a really good sci-fi author 2) a really good elaborate prank 3) really sharp 87 year old having a good laugh 4) senile 87 year old 5) the truth. Even though #5 is low, expected value of the story is very high. As far as I know, never in history has the former head of one of the top space agencies come forward and said "yes, aliens are real and we are communicating with them".

Re: Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready

#50

Post by generalizations »

bradjohnson wrote: post #45
generalizations wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All that anyone would ever see, though, is a flying saucer or one of those 'pill'-shaped things. That's pretty easy to write off, regardless of the credentials of whoever made the observation. And, anyone who blows the whistle gets written off as crazy.

> Has the State of Israel made contact with aliens? > According to retired Israeli general and current professor Haim Eshed, the answer is yes, but this has been kept a secret because "humanity isn't ready." This premise is absurd and the fact that the only one that is coming forward is the aging head of "space security" in Israel, a nation that recently failed to land a robot on the moon according to the article, ma…

> kept a secret because "humanity isn't ready." ... This premise is absurd

Not really. Mass panic, even if unlikely, should not be dismissed out of hand. People are freaking out over a mere pandemic.

> a nation that recently failed to land a robot on the moon

Are you emphasizing the fact they're advanced enough to try, or unlucky enough to need a second shot?

> Especially since he's trying to sell a book.

As someone else mentioned, he was the head of the agency. Money probably isn't an issue for him.

I think that writing him off would be premature.

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