Does the government here or anywhere have the right to keep a secret as big as the discovery that we are not alone in the universe from the general public?
Is it really to big a deal to tell regular folks something like this? Is it realistic to think that there would be a breakdown in society with this kind of revelation? Or would the government be abusing their power in this instance?

What on earth has withholding information about UFOs, if that takes place, to do with us not being alone in the universe?

If, there are actually visitors to this world, do you think that the majority of people are pyschologically prepared for that to be revealed?

If there are in fact, visitors to this world, and they wanted their presence known, don't you think that they could arrange to reveal themselves, unequivocally to the world?

Given the state of international relations in the world today, and that nations have committed war for lesser reasons, do you think it would be wise for any nation to reveal that they had advanced, extraterrestrial technology?

The assumption is, I think, that there are aliens actually residing here on earth (specifically in Nevada) and they're here with the knowledge & cooperation of the government.

If there were, i do think the government would be wise in gradually breaking the information rather than just going on primetime TV and annoucning 'ladies and gentlemen, not only do we have proof that there's life in the universe but we've been working with them for the last forty years'. Everyone would have to reconsider their views of eveything - government, religion, law and order - if such a huge thing was revealed straight out. So I do think they'd need to be careful about the release of information ...

... particularly if the aliens were hostile ...

well, if you accept that the aliens are working with our governement (which I do not), then it kind of stands to reason that they wouldn't be hostile, no? Or, are you stating that the US military has somehow managed to subdue & capture hostile beings? Beings who supposedly have such advanced tech that we look like stone wielding cavemen in comparison. And, that their companions have been unable to liberate them in the 40 odd years since "roswell". Sounds rather unlikely, either way.

The implication of intelligent life other than ours in the universe will be huge and potentially very shocking to the public. Something of this nature needs to handled properly so as not to destroy any notions about our society that we hold dear. What's more if any ET's actually pose a threat to the human race it's probably in the worlds best interest that people aren't made aware of the the existence of ET and the potential danger they may pose to us. The human race is a very balanced and delicate mechanism and any thing that may disrupt that balance needs to be handled with tact and grace.

The government CAN have the right, because they obviously have much more power.

But, if aliens wanted to meet me and the government sends a commando squad to prevent it from happening... I say no way, they have no rights to.

The way I see it, mankind goes crazy if you give them shocking news,an example of this is when "War of the worlds" was aired on the radio many years ago. Some people didnt hear the commercial breaks and thought that an invasion was really happening so those families got so spooked that they accidently shot neihbors and some even commited suicide. it is sad that still most of manknd cant take shocking news without panicing therefore this must be the reason why the governments of the world are withholding information, simply because most of mankind are not ready for that kind of news. so I think the governments of the world have a good strategy and should keep withholding until they feel the time is right.

The war of the worlds is an excellent example..........fifty years ago I'm but sure that could happen today. You also have to consider that maybe there has been a gradual procession to completely reveal what has been learned over the years. Tv is full of shows that have an alien focus. Fiction and non fiction. Maybe this is akin to spoon feeding society a little at a time till they think the message has reached enough people. And I never said the government was in collussion with aliens, I implied that they have more info than they are telling.

That is a theory i've heard before; even to the extent that Spielberg was let in on the secret so that he could begin to educate the public through ET and Close Encounters ; the aliens in those are friendly, which was quite a departure from War of the Worlds and all the fifties alien invasion movies. And more recently there's been the X Files of course ... getting us used to the idea that there are aliens among us ...

We have a lot of believers and skeptics at UM, but the average man(or women) really dose not think about such things. For as much as we pride our selves on being Open minded, just doing our jobs and rasing the family is what we worry about. And rightfully so.

Our Government and Military are made up of people doing the same, and when asked about UFO's, Ghost's, Sun spots, they really Don't care.

And unless a UFO interferes with my PIZZA Delivery, I Don't care either!

But the question wasn't about whether or not people care its whether the government would have the right (if they had the info that is) to keep it from the people. Is this knowledge for all of humanity? Does any one portion have the right to keep it from the rest?(I agree totally with your comments on family Roger)(maybe not the pizza thing though) but I also think that part of caring for your kids is making sure they can handle ALL the challenges that life offers.

I'm straddling the fence on this one. On the one hand, I feel the government shouldn't keep things like this from the public for the simple reason that we should be educated therefore know (to a certain extent) what we're dealing with. On the other hand....informing the public would probably create a panic of epic proportions.

it is in the interests of the government to protect the people. sometimes that involves withholding information. it would a 'life altering' event to many to all of a sudden have aliens land on the planet, and as such could cause all sorts of disruptions. the government needs to keep society running. also, when we consider how petty people are we realize that if the aliens contact one government, all the others will have tantrums like little 5 year olds that didn't get the candy they wanted.

it is in the interest of world peace (both at a civilian level and a nation level) that aliens not be suddenly revealed to the earth.

all will be revealed when you are ready.

Personally, I really can't think of aliens as anything other than a variable. What I mean is that, should the government have reason to worry about them, they would do so on the same terms as they worry about imminent human threats and agressive countries. Politically, aliens would just be another player. As to whether the general public would be told, that would be a matter of pros vs cons. If the advantage of public knowledge would outweight the inevitable faceoff on the White House lawn of the pitchfork and torch crowd vs the alien loveship crowd, they would release the knowledge. If there was not advantage, then it wouldn't be released.

One important aspect is the religious one - a lot of philospphies would need some radical rewriting, if it was proved that we weren't the only race in the universe, and that God actually created a lot of other races, perhaps a lot more advanced than us. Where would that leave the creation story? And of course, the aliens themselves would probably be taken by a lot of people as Gods themselves - that would upset a few churches, wouldn't it. So there'd be another vested interest there.

The religiuos aspect is the most troubling of factors, and would present the biggest problems, your totally right there 747400.

on religion causing the most problems: how does that differ from any other issue?

Simply because religion is so influential in society. If something as fundamental to human society is suddenly presented with the need to radically re think everything it's taught for thousands of years, it's going to be a bit of a shake up.

Also not being insulting, but there is a suspension(not for the faithful) of disbelief factor when dealing with people of any kind of religion. Logic does not enter the equasion because faith can not be scrutinized by it. When you talk about faith it cannot quantified, it is intangible, you either have faith or you don't. You either believe in something that has no physical form, cannot be reasoned with or taught, or you don't and believe nothing you can't see in front of your face. Logic does not tread here. I am in no way insulting anybody who is religiuos, (I am not but went to catholic school all my life) its just what I think.

Exactly. And if you've believed all your life that we were the only race God had created, and we were the top of the tree, with 'dominion over all the animals', it'll be a bit of a shock to the system to find that we're not the only ones and there are other races that are obviously superior to us.

a shock indeed.

that is the shortcoming of how people cope. it works to create artificial constructs to 'define' the world and ourselves to reduce the stress levels. it can be very damaging when these 'foundations' we create in our heads are destroyed.

(and it does not take belief in gods to have this happen either. - just to stress that point)

I've never heard it wordd before like that but its pretty much on the mark hyperactive. I to believe that people need definable borders to their reality, some are not even capable of fathoming the size of the universe let alone digest the existence of aliens. But I still think there are more people like us than like them.

if aliens were hostile and have been visiting us for a long time now then im sure they would have killed us off LONG ago before we get more and more advanced to be able to fight back

sadly they do and it is here in this document

every body has to keep secrets, and in my opinion keeping this secret is a good thing, keep it until humanity is ready to hear,we are not ready yet. its like cooking a frozen meal, ou have to warm up the oven first before putting the food in. somebody made a good point earlier that the government maybe "warming us up" to the idea of aliens before we are told about their existance.

In my oppinion it could be compared to some country having "WMD"....*cough*Irag*cough* but not actually having them. In this case they say aliens ufo's dont exsist...area 51 doesnt exsist. In the example of "WMD"
some ppl were outraged and some jus didnt give a sh**, it works the same way with aliens.

No they dont have the right to lie but once u have lied for so long how are u supposed to tell the truth???????

At some point I believe aliens will show themselves to the general public, but until then we will have skeptics.

I would like to know if aliens exist, but I'm not sure if other people are ready for the truth.