Neil deGrasse Tyson
Hayden Planetarium & Department of Astrophysics
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY 10024
USA
December 5, 2023
Dear Neil,
When Jane Goodall first wandered into the jungle, the conventional wisdom was that (a) primates could not use tools, and (b) they were all vegetarian. Through her binoculars, Goodall found the opposite and changed the way we look at our ancestors and ourselves.1
When considering this anthropological breakthrough, would it have been reasonable to wait for a chimp to build us a barbeque and cook a steak? Goodall had to travel three thousand miles to make that discovery. The chimps were always there, but it took time, effort, and money to collect those observations and push them out to the public. How would that have gone if we killed the idea in its infancy? My limited view of scientific discovery is that it rarely comes to us.
For some time, I’ve been concerned about the culture of embarrassment around UFOs. There’s a dedicated subculture of people who are not ashamed to talk about the possibility of extra-terrestrial contact, but I can’t guarantee that one of them will be in charge of the right Carrier Strike Group at the right time.
What I’ve found with some of the more prominent UFOs encountered by the U.S. military is that shame and embarrassment tend to prevent them being reported up the chain. No reporting means no analysis, no political decision-making, and, crucially for you, no role for civilian scientists.
Consider, for example, the salient facts around the U.S.S. Nimitz’ Encounter with a white “tic-tac”-like object. For at least 10 days in November 2004, a U.S. Carrier Strike Group encountered groups of these things,2 maneuvering at speeds up to Mach 60,3 evading the jets we sent to chase them,4 and, at one point, actively jamming one of their radar systems.5 What was the response from senior leadership? Denial. Indifference. Likely helped along by a healthy dose of fear at being labelled a “UFO nut.”
My best read of the situation is that this fear prevented the incident from being reported, considered in any way by the President of the United States, or interrogated by civilian scientists with a different skillset than the military. If the 2016 movie Arrival showcased the ideal of scientists and the defense establishment working together, then our cultural embarrassment is still keeping us very far away from that fictional outcome. We don’t even bother calling the scientists.
Why is this happening? You’re a thought leader in the scientific field and I’m here to suggest that culture is being shaped by you. In 2017, you appeared on a CNN morning show to discuss the release of three UFO videos by the Pentagon, one of which captures a tic-tac from the incident I highlighted above. In response to this footage, you said: “the evidence is so paltry for aliens to have visited earth I have no further interest. Let other people who care, go ahead. And when you finally find some aliens, bring them into Times Square.”6 Whether or not you meant it to read that way, CNN chose to capture your remarks under the headline “call me when you have a dinner invite from an alien.”7
That’s a shame because you made some very reasonable scientific points. I agree with your view, that “just because you don’t know what it is you’re looking at doesn’t mean it’s intelligent aliens visiting from another planet.”8 And your point on approaching these videos with caution and sobriety is well taken. But the ridicule you used to sandwich this interview makes that very unlikely. Many scientists are still put off by the stigma. And even if they’re not, the non-scientists who might seek their help don’t want to appear foolish, so they don’t. Some of those non-scientists captain aircraft carriers.
Of course, 2017 was a long time ago and I wanted to make sure this interview still accurately captures your thinking. As recently as 2021, you were still lamenting that there’s no good footage of anything alien, saying “if we were being visited by somebody, we would have some good footage... I’m thinking we’d have something better than fuzzy monochromatic video of objects that apparently reveal themselves only to navy pilots.”9
And Neil, this is where you really lose me. Those navy pilots are using the most advanced sensor and recording equipment on Earth. In the so-called “Gimbal video” playing in the backdrop of your CNN interview, that equipment is recording a solid object, with no visible propulsion, no control mechanisms, no heat signatures, flying against the wind.10 Asking for an alien to wave at you from the cockpit is the equivalent of asking a chimpanzee to cook you a steak. This is an entirely unreasonable bar, and one that I can’t help but notice you keep moving.
I’m open to a number of possible explanations for the objects captured in those videos. But an honest assessment includes the possibility of non-human technology alongside anything foreign or domestic. We can haggle on likelihood, but I’m pointing out that the ridicule is not conducive to your stated goal to “not stop” other people from looking into it. You’re a hero to many of these people and if you’re effectively calling it dumb, a lot of them will listen.
So what am I asking you to do here? Do I need you to start banging the UFO drum and declare your unequivocal support for the extra-terrestrial hypothesis? Not at all. But I’d love it if you could treat it as a serious possibility. I think the scientific community would even benefit, broadly, if you were to write out a series of attainable observations that might move you in that direction. For example, I note you expressed an interest in Google Satellite imagery picking up unconventional craft flying over the Earth’s surface. You might be interested to learn that a U.S. spy plane picked one up in 2016, and, if that’s not particularly compelling for you, I’d love to hear what would be.11 All I’m looking for is good faith criteria. Alien dinner guests aren’t it.
Respectfully,
The Author
of The Other Topic
P.S. Do you think this letter might speak to someone you know? Is that someone an astrophysicist named Neil? If so, please:
Waters, John. Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees. United States of America: Thirteen/WNET New York, n.d..
West, Mick. Kevin Day's Recollections of the Nimitz Encounters. Metabunk, February 14, 2021. https://youtu.be/tv9iKw_Q9xQ. At 3min 51s.
Knuth, Kevin H, Robert M Powell, and Peter A Reali. “Estimating Flight Characteristics of Anomalous Unidentified Aerial Vehicles.” Physics Faculty Scholarship, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3390/e21100939. Pg 14.
Aiello, Vincent. 035 - UFOs. Fighter Pilot Podcast, January 2, 2019. https://youtu.be/dvfRRgFHSRE. At 29min 6s.
Corbell, Jeremy. Episode #6 - LT. CMDR. Chad Underwood / The Man who Filmed the Tic Tac UFO. Other. Extraordinary Beliefs, August 17, 2020. https://www.extraordinarybeliefs.com/extraordinary-beliefs/podcast-6. At 7min 42s.
“Neil DeGrasse Tyson Gives Take on UFO Video.” CNN, December 20, 2017. https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2017/12/20/neil-degrasse-tyson-ufo-interview-newday-full.cnn.
Ellefson, Lindsey. “Neil DeGrasse Tyson on UFOs: ‘Call Me When You Have a Dinner Invite from an Alien.’” CNN, December 21, 2017. https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/20/us/neil-degrasse-tyson-ufos-new-day-cnntv/index.html.
CNN, “Neil DeGrasse Tyson Gives Take on UFO Video.”
Rogan, Joe. “Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Skepticism Over UFO's.” The Joe Rogan Experience, May 26, 2021. https://youtu.be/1u0VDFppCI4. At 2min 45s.
Fridman, Lex. Ryan Graves: UFOs, Fighter Jets, and Aliens. Lex Fridman Podcast, August 1, 2022. https://youtu.be/qLDp-aYnR1Y. At 1h 38min 50s.
Bowell, Josh, and Chris Sharp. “EXCLUSIVE: Metallic-Looking Orb Is Seen Flying over Iraqi City of Mosul in 2016.” The Daily Mail, January 24, 2023. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11666549/Classified-spy-plane-video-UFO-Iraq.html.