Neil deGrasse Tyson on UFOs, Government Files, and the Physics of Alien Claims
5/16/20261 hr 15 min
Neil deGrasse Tyson returns to The Michael Shermer Show to talk UFOs, aliens, government files, eyewitness testimony, and his new book Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter.
The conversation moves from the limits of eyewitness testimony to why secret military files are not evidence of hidden alien bodies, why high-G turns would turn biological pilots into "a pile of goo," why the universe almost certainly contains life elsewhere, and why the real question is not whether aliens exist—but whether anyone has actually produced one.
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist and the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, where he has served since 1996. Dr. Tyson is also the host and cofounder of the Emmy-nominated popular podcast StarTalk and its spinoff StarTalk Sports Edition, which combine science, humor, and pop culture. He is a recipient of twenty-three honorary doctorates, the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences, and the Distinguished Public Service Medal from NASA. Asteroid 13123 Tyson is named in his honor. His new book is Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson· Guest0:59
Until you show me an alien, it's a belief system.
Michael Shermer· Host1:02
So what is your answer to the Fermi paradox? Where is everybody, assuming they're not here yet?
Neil deGrasse Tyson· Guest1:06
The one that I like best is the one that has geopolitical implications, and this w- was first put forth by Steve Soter, a colleague of mine. It has to do with, all right, let's say you do figure out how to colonize planets. So the way you would do it is you'd launch a rocket from one planet, it goes to another planet. And then you make two rockets, and then you launch to two planets from there. And each of those ma- builds two rockets, and then you