The Implications of Alien Contact

Vox's Sean Illing talks with international politics professor and amateur ufologist Alex Wendt about why it's time to start thinking more seriously about the earth-shattering implications of discovering extraterrestrial life. They discuss the taboos against serious scientific inquiry into extraterrestrial existence, the US military's official UFO report and the inexplicable videos released by the Pentagon, and what the possible explanations might be for what's been seen.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox

Guest: Alexander Wendt, Professor of International Security and Political Science, The Ohio State University

References: 

• "The Pentagon Released U.F.O. Videos. Don't Hold Your Breath for a Breakthrough" by Alan Yuhas (New York Times; June 3)
• "Sovereignty and the UFO" by Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall (Political Theory; 2008)
• "Wanted: A Science of UFOs" (TEDx Columbus; February 2020)
• The Pentagon UFO Report: "Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" (June 25)
• "Experts Weigh In on Pentagon UFO Report" by Leonard David (Scientific American; June 8)
• "The Unexplained Phenomena of the U.F.O. Report" by Gideon Lewis-Kraus (The New Yorker; June 26)
• "Those amazing Navy UFO videos may have down-to-earth explanations, skeptics contend" by Andrew Dyer (San Diego Union-Tribune; May 29)
• Friedrich Nietzsche, Will to Power, Book One (1885-1886)
• Update: "DoD Announces the Establishment of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG)" (Nov. 23)

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This episode was made by: 

• Producer: Erikk Geannikis
• Editor: Amy Drozdowska
• Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
• Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
• Vox Audio Fellow: Victoria Dominguez

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