[extropy-chat] The NSA's disclosures on UFOs

[Eliezer S. Yudkowsky]

Considering how easy it would be, for any aliens capable of traveling 
here in the first place, to snoop around with UFOs the size of a 
bacterium, the prior probability for flying saucers is so low... well, 
Pete Bertine put it better than I did:

"If a ship landed in my yard and LGMs stepped out, I’d push past their 
literature and try to find the cable that dropped the saucer on my 
roses.  Lack of a cable or any significant burning to the flowers, I’d 
then grab a hammer and start knocking about in the ship till I was 
convinced that nothing said “Intel Inside.”  Then when I discovered a 
“Flux Capacitor” type thing I would finally stop and say, “Hey, cool 
gadget!”  Assuming the universal benevolence of the LGMs, I’d yank it 
out and demand from the nearest "Grey” (they are the tall nice ones), 
“where the hell did this come from?”  Greys don’t talk, they communicate 
via telepathy, so I’d ignore the voice inside my head.  Then stepping 
outside the saucer and sitting in a lawn chair, I’d throw pebbles at the 
aliens till I was sure they were solid.  Then I’d look down at the “Flux 
Capacitor” and make sure it hadn’t morphed into my bird feeder. 
Finally, with proof in my hand and aliens sitting on my deck (they’d be 
offered beers, though I’ve heard that they absorb energy like a plant) 
I’d grab my cell phone and tell my doctor that I’m having a serious 
manic episode with full-blown visual hallucinations."

-- 
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky                          http://singinst.org/
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence