The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Best of: We need to talk about UFOs. Seriously.

Dec 27, 2021

01:03:29

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Episode notes

Is It Worth Worrying About if There's Nothing We Can Do?

02:33

Is There a Public Science of UFOs?

02:33

Contact Is Not Going to Be an Event

01:55

Introduction

3min

Are Aliens Real?

2min

Aliens Are Real, Why Would They Come Here?

2min

Is It a Man in Black?

3min

Where the Hell Is Everyone?

2min

Are You Persuaded by the Great Philter Theory?

2min

What Kind of Evidence Do You Have?

3min

Get Your Loved Ones an Eater Wine Club Gift Card

2min

What Was Your Reaction to That Military Report?

3min

10.

Do You Think There's No Way?

3min

11.

The Only Plausible Explanation Is That It Must Be Aliens Technology

3min

12.

What Do You Think of All These Claims About Weather Balloons?

3min

13.

The Eye Witness Aspect Is Very Compelling

2min

14.

Are the Vidios Coming Forward?

2min

15.

What Would a Smoking Gun UFO Case Look Like?

2min

16.

I Think the Alien Life Forms Are Likely to Be Superior to Us

3min

17.

Contact Is Not Going to Be an Event

2min

18.

What Would Happen if We Learned That There Are Aliens?

2min

19.

Is the Discovery of Aliens a Threat to the Modern State?

5min

20.

Is It Worth Worrying About if There's Nothing We Can Do?

3min

21.

Are We Going to Study UFOs?

4min

22.

Is There a Public Science of UFOs?

3min

23.

Agnostic on the Question of Aliens

3min

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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The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Best of: We need to talk about UFOs. Seriously.

Is It Worth Worrying About if There's Nothing We Can Do?

Is There a Public Science of UFOs?

Contact Is Not Going to Be an Event

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