Is NASA Affiliated With a Study That Says Aliens Could Invade to Save Earth From Global Warming?
- Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:39pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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There’s a study making headlines that basically says we need to put an end to global warming — or else eco-conscious aliens might attack and kill us all to save the planet.
But what’s causing so much fuss is not the report itself, it’s that one of the authors happens to be a NASA scientist:
“Aliens Could Attack to End Global Warming, NASA Says”; “NASA Warns of Alien Attack Scenario”; “Global Warming Could Prompt Alien Attack: NASA” — such was a sample of Friday morning headlines after it was first reported by the Guardian.
NASA quickly took to its Twitter account, writing two posts to clarify that the report was not an official NASA study:
In an online post, author Shawn Domagal-Goldman of NASA’s Planetary Science Division said the report was not funded or supported by NASA in anyway, and in fact was “just a fun paper written by a few friends, one of whom happens to have a NASA affiliation.”
Domagal-Goldman went on to say he considers the likelihood of contact with an alien civilization to be low, but did address the global warming connection:
One of the scenarios we considered in the review was the possibility that an alien civilization would contact us because they were concerned about the exponential growth of our civilization, as evidenced by climate change. This isn’t an entirely new idea; remember, this was a review effort. Indeed, Keanu Reaves recently played a similar alien in the movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” There were lots of other ideas we reviewed, but this was probably the most provocative.
So what did the study actually say?
For one thing, if aliens exist, all our greenhouse gas emissions could give us away as an “advanced” species and make us seem like potential “Avatar”-style invaders, leading extraterrestrial life to launch a preemptive strike against us.
Or, if they’re ecologically-minded, they could observe our “destructive tendencies” and see a need to step in and “wipe humanity out in order to preserve the Earth system as a whole.”
To avoid such negative possibilities, the authors recommend limiting our growth and immediately lessening our impact on global ecosystems to avoid giving off the appearance of a “rapidly expansive civilization”:
It would be particularly important for us to limit our emissions of greenhouse gases, since atmospheric composition can be observed from other planets. We acknowledge that the pursuit of emissions reductions and other ecological projects may have much stronger justifications than those that derive from [extraterrestrial intelligence] encounter, but that does not render ETI encounter scenarios insignificant or irrelevant.
Still, an alien encounter might not be all bad. The paper categorizes the potential outcomes three ways: beneficial, neutral and harmful.
A neutral outcome would be if the aliens were to have no desire to communicate, observing us without making contact, or were only a “mild nuisance.”
In a beneficial outcome, aliens could help us solve global problems like poverty or hunger. Of course, another way to reach a “beneficial outcome” would be if humans were to fight and overcome them.
But in a harmful outcome, such as the global warming retribution scenario, the aliens could eat, enslave or attack us, or spread their alien diseases around and make us sick.
Here’s a chart to keep the various outcomes straight:
So tell us: Is the threat of a potential alien invasion, NASA-affiliated or not, enough to make you become a global warming enthusiast?
(h/t: Business Insider)























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Comments (236)
alabiill
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:02pmIf a space alien race does arrive here they will be more advanced than us technologically. How else could they get here?
I can‘t think of a time in our history when a technologically advanced group didn’t wipe out the less advanced group with either weapons or disease. (Think Aztecs or American Indians or Maori)
If aliens do arrive it won‘t be for the good and it won’t have anything to do with global warming.
Report Post »WhatsYerProblem
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:10pmIf aliens arrive they will have had to travel at speeds faster than the speed of light, which is theoretically impossible.
Star Trek is cool and all, but NASA needs to stop recruiting people from Star Trek conventions. How much you wanna bet that “Shawn Domagal-Goldman of NASA’s Planetary Science Division” speaks Kilngon?
Report Post »chips1
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:18pmWhen they show up flying a bi-plane with “Spirit of St. Louis” written on the side, your going to feel really stupid!!!!
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:26pmYO whatsyerproblem:
Report Post »fhekj ytjwgfefjf blas sjhsyus wwwwinbln owwow znznz!
Kilngon is easy, it‘s the language of those little guys with the big ears that I’m having trouble with.
ChiefGeorge
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:00pmSounds like a good cover to get rid of a few billion people…just say we were invaded by an alien species and that is the cause of the deadly virus that is going around. Of course the elite will get their inoculations in advance. The only aliens killings us will be manufactured ones right here on earth called NWO elites.
Report Post »glashole
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:04pmLiberals are the aliens:)
Report Post »chazman
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:07pm… Oceana has always been at war with Eurasia … right, Winston?
Report Post »Jaycen
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:13pmDoes it matter that NASA DIDN’T fund the research? They employed the author. Now we see the quality of the folks working for NASA.
I never thought I’d say this, but maybe it’s a good thing Obama shut the program down….
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:17pmLet me get this right….. their going to KILL the people to SAVE the animals and plants…. oh, and the rocks and the dirt and the little micro thingeys. Isn’t that nice of them.
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:23pm4TRUTH2ALL
Report Post »Man’s sense of superiority over all creatures will be enough to guarantee his extinction, we don’t need help from aliens.
hauschild
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:27pmHow many $ worth of grant money went into this dandy?
Is it not amazing what people will allow themselves to be talked into for money? Ah, money – the root of all evil, indeed!
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:32pmYo simlpetruths:
Report Post »Man IS given superiorty over the animals, but that is given with responsibility of it!
tower7femacamp
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:35pmthe aliens have been here since 5000 BC Sumeria .
Report Post »and the bloodlines lives thru the handful who control us all to this day.
they wanted gold back then and they want gold today.
LibertarianForLife
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:46pmThe story doesn’t sound any more ridiculous then christianity, or god in general. No evidence for either!
Report Post »fastfacts
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:47pmAccording to http://www.americanparchment.com there was a UFO sighting claim in China. The picture shows almost an Independence Day sighting when they push through the clouds, quite interesting but believable… I don’t know.
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:47pmYO camp:
Report Post »I want gold and more gold…does that make me an alien?
I was wondering about them scales, and here i was concerned it was skin cancer!
4truth2all
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:54pmYo forlife:
Report Post »Not true, there is alot of evidence for what is written of in the bible. NOTHING has ever been disproved either. Seek and ye shall find…. seek not and ye find not… I added that last part about not. For life, you do realize that when you die it will be foreternity! I am not mocking you….
4truth2all
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:59pmYo fastfacts:
Report Post »Interesting picture. nothing more. Where’s the video?
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 4:02pmSounds like they would use a cover story and develop something akin to the Andromeda strain movie or one like in I Am Legend…of course though, think on this much, any group of aliens who can cross the stars vast distances and come here will be of such technological advancement we could stand against them about as long as a lone ant would stand up to one of our shoes crushing it.
Report Post »http://artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm (cat folk gallery)
SimpleTruths
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 4:04pm4TRUTH2ALL
Report Post »Because Man can read, write, and blog does not make him immune from laws of nature. Believing that that is so will be Man’s downfall. I can believe all I want that I don’t have to adhere to the Law of Gravity but if I jump off I cliff I still am not going to fly. Man jumped off a cliff about 10,000 years ago, a very high one for sure, but we are still falling and will hit the ground in a relatively short time.
HKS
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 4:10pmThis has to be a new low in liberal tactics. I can‘t stop laughing thinking liberals are so stupid to think I’m that stupid. Pitiful, just pitiful.
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 4:31pmYo simpletruths:
Report Post »Who is the law maker? I did “TRY” to defy gravity once…it hurt! Things break.
Keep it simple… laws do not say… I will now be a law and bingo… a law!
beckwasfox
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 4:42pm@Chiefgeorge You are right of course. There will be an alien deception at some point. I wonder how many will fall for it?
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 5:11pm4TRUTH2ALL
Natural laws don’t require a “law maker” like speed limits or no parking zones. There is no “law of nutrition” but if you don’t eat you will surely die. No voting required to pass that.
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 5:13pmBREAKING NEWS:
NASA has indentified one of the Aliens sent here to invade Earth.
With help from the FBI they have identified this Alien as a some-time actor in Hollywood by the name of Janeane Garofalo!
http://www.AllenWestforPresident.us
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 5:26pmYo simpletruths:
Report Post »“Natural laws do not require a lawmaker”……… says who?
You refered to the “law of gravity”… do you now back out of that statement?
Why do we have laws?
KickinBack
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 5:35pmAliens from the planet Krug (called Krugmen) will invade Earth and “Gore” us to death in order to save the polar bears.
Report Post »johnj1952
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 6:23pmE T go home, you are an alien and will be deported, unless you have a little green man card. Just our way of treating a being able to travel thousands of light years in a very short time, but remember not all of us like anal probes, except the american tax payer(?).
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 6:42pmYou wanna see what the world’s scientists think about UFOs and Aliens?
“01-11 It Will Blow Your Mind! What Nasa & Esa Do Not Want You To Know 2011 [Watch FullScreen”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMkFWwe3mh4&feature=channel_video_title
This series is in 11 parts…I think she begins to talk about the existence of Aliens around part 9 or 10…
You may also be able to view it at her site…
http://susanrennison.com/
Click on the second box on the left (Evening Lecture)
Report Post »bodtech01
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 6:50pmI smell Al Gore!
Report Post »watchmany2k
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 9:01pmWhat bothers me about the whole Alien thing, is that people find it easy to believe in hidden planets and stars float about undetected they can believe in the Bilderburgs & illuminati NWO & actually see & read about secret societies our leaders Join and admit to. Actually see & read the myriad of agenda and incremental changes and control they have upon our lives. Yet it is heresy to think let alone speak about the possibility that they have infiltrated, churches, governments, social organizations, science organizations & would WAG THE DOG, & proclaim some concocted “Alien-Christ” the new discovery of truth to the masses.
Report Post »We all have our various religions, denominations, practices and beliefs. We are told mostly that EVIL exists and we are IN it’s realm.
Yet true unexplained phenomena has to be some sort of ET & not some actual Daemon coming into our plain of being. If Revelation is correct & our interpretation of it, we are TOLD that evil will hold great power for a period of time. Hell people attribute storms & earthquakes evil, but not the supposed Alien ? The recent articles IN THE NEWS of actual GOVERNMENTAL “authorities” speculating about our “alien” acquaintances, the closest of which
could be Proxima Centauri 17,000 YEARS away by ANY standard of OUR travel ability ?
No, my friends odds are a HUMAN is wagging the dog for their own purpose or agenda.
Perhaps influenced by evil It is acted out by a human nonetheless. Klattu barradis nikkto LMAO
101
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 9:18pmThe turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star system is in dispute.
Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy trade federation has stopped all shipments to the small planet of Naboo.
While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict…
Part2 – There is unrest in the Galactic Senate. Several thousand solar systems have declared their intentions to leave the Republic
Part3,4,5 see for yourself… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLhIs_9nl9o&feature=related
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 11:13pmThis only discloses the potential that either the government has been lying beyond believability or they are lying beyond believability. So which is it? I believe, that hte government is lying, beyond conceptual believability.
Report Post »ProgressivesAreEvil
Posted on August 20, 2011 at 7:43pmIt is more likely that the would try to wipe us out because they think if we are stupid enough to believe that we cause climate change then we are too stupid to fight them off.
Report Post »GroundZero is Nuclear Demolition x3
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:59pmIt started w/ the war on drug, then the war on terror, they are just prepping us for war on aliens/unknown what ever they can get away with.
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 4:51pmThis is just a stupid waste of money – unless, NASA has evidence that there are indeed aliens and they have visited us before – them this stupid study might make some sense. http://wp.me/pYLB7-1ue
Report Post »Zorro6821
Posted on August 20, 2011 at 7:15amNasa and the US government has been aware of Aliens for Decades. There is plenty of evidence out in the public domain and more and more Governments are declassifying the information on UFO’s. To think that we are the only intelligent lfe form in the Galaxy is as in insane as believing that heaven and earth was created in seven days along with Adam and Eve. Life is a unknown dimension as we do not know anything before or after life. The reality is only of the moment as time has no past and no future. Just talk to any unborn and dead person and maybe then you will have the answer. RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT!!
Report Post »Zorro6821
Posted on August 20, 2011 at 7:30amThere is no such thin as global warming, however there is a problem with climate disarray. The weather patterns are more extreme and so are seismic activity, and that can not be disputed . Solar flare cycles are at an unprecedented high. Something definitely is going on that is well beyond our control. To simply dismiss it is just plain foolish and to believe that Al Gore crap is just as foolish. Extinction on earth has been part of the evolution process since time began so what makes today so different. Well I guess back then they had no Fox News, MSNBC and of course “The Jersey Shore” and MTV. Fox nor Jersey Shore can save us. Ron Paul for Prez!!
Report Post »azitdad
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:59pmUnder “BENEFICIAL” what if all they want to discuss is Free Will or Morality? Why would they want to discuss science with us, who clearly are backward compared to them.
Report Post »mavericknj77
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:57pmAnother attempt at population control for global government
Report Post »SimpleTruths
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:28pmPopulation control is a natural function in every species except humans. If populations grow beyond the food supply to maintain them then die off occurs to regain balance. Only humans attempt to defy this law of nature. Nothing political about that, just how it works.
Report Post »Zorro6821
Posted on August 20, 2011 at 7:19amEven Reagan talked about Aliens and how wars would end when we find out we are not alone.
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:57pmIs NASA Affiliated With a Study That Says Aliens Could Invade to Save Earth From Global Warming?
No but he is a NASA scientist…prob couldn’t make it in the real world and hopes to get a ride up with Al Gore.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 6:10pmLets hope they know something we don’t….LOL
Report Post »sjohn70037
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:57pmEnough. The shuttle program is over; now is a good time to defund these morons. Let the private sector take over space exploration.
Report Post »a1068836
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 4:23pmThere is no money in the private industry. That’s why NASA was funding it. The joke goes “How do you make a small fortune in the space industry? You start with a large one!” So much of our day-to-day lives is a direct result of space research from GPS to Tang to Memory Foam.
Report Post »WhatsYerProblem
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:56pmWOW! Paul Krugman is a genius! Aliens can fix our economy AND fix Global Warming! I’m reminded of the line in Dumb and Dumber when the lady tell Lloyd that his chances with her are “more like one-in-a-million”…
“So you‘re sayin’ there’s a chance….YES!” How wacko do you have to be to actually consider the possibility of alien life coming to rescue our planet from AGW – for more than a second – and without laughing afterwards???
Report Post »NHwinter
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:06pmOh dear God, is this what tax payer money is used for now????? Don’t we have enough problems without scaring the crap out of people with nonsense like this. Is this the liberal mind at work? I do believe they are all really crazy including Al Gore. If any aliens come, I hope they take all environmentalist and liberals and send them into space so we can live in peace. Surely the aliens are peaceful and advanced so they know we are in trouble because of the liberals. Give me a break. This idea should be shoved up their a**.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:55pmYou will be assimilated
“Resistance Is Futile”
Report Post »Bullhorn Guy
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:24pmAll your base are belong to us!
Report Post »Rayblue
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:58pmThey practically OWN South America.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:53pmTime to get out the Slim Whitman album.
Report Post »SREGN
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:58pmNice. Great movie.
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:53pmET’s have already invaded EARTH, there called Democrats. I really wish they would go back home and stay there and mind their own business.
Report Post »TeaPartyPatriot
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:52pm“Wag the Dog” – lunatic-left style.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:52pmSomebody has been watching too many “Independence Day” re-runs…………..
Report Post »What is with all the off the wall statements about space aliens in the news lately?
Are we watching the left lose whats left of their minds?
NC1
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:34pmThat, the zombie apocalypse and vampires. Getting real tired of those fads too.
Report Post »Roberto G. Vasquez
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:51pmThe only aliens I have seen here on the Texas border are Mexican and Central American humans. And what draws them is the great American capitalist system where anybody who wants to work at it can become wealthy.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:23pmIllegal Aliens? Taking jobs Americans Would do if handouts were cutoff.
Report Post »LIBERALSBEDAMNED
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:50pmThis is one of the smartest men alive like our king obama you better listen to him lol.o…dsflkajfl;zsj fv jh
Report Post »tomloy
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:50pmSo its our greenhouse gas emissions give us away? And here I was worried about 100 years of radio and TV transmissions….. In the second, in our history at least, a more advanced civilization has contacted the less advanced, the less advanced was destroyed. Whats really sad is this “scientist”, if indeed he actually is one, probably got government money to conduct this ‘study”.
Report Post »a1068836
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 4:27pmA) Signals get attenuated and won’t be able to get detacted after traveling a certain distance. Therefore, a spectograph imaging of our planet (even though it would take years to reach) would be a better indication of people being here than our TV signals.
Report Post »B) The scientist may be on NASA payroll but that doesn’t mean they funded the study. I said it once and I’ll say it again. NASA was a very very very small portion of the budget. If you have a problem with I can repay your ~$5 share of the burden.
Stone_Keefer
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:50pmwhat cracks me up is we assume life beyond earth automatically means that such life is more advanced as ours. and that because they are more advanced they must have a green initiative as of course only smart people think green… LMAO
Report Post »Zorro6821
Posted on August 21, 2011 at 6:59amWe don’t assume that. Only Intelligent life can make contact. We all know that there are dumb lifeforms. Just read the posts. LOL
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:50pmBoy Oh Boy, them guys watch TOO MANY SCI FI MOVIES
Report Post »Old Truckers
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:24pmAnd they play way too many video games when they should be working.
Report Post »ZAP
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:48pmWhat did this cost the taxpayer?
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:53pmProbably a lot more than we can afford right now.
Report Post »wesleyapril
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:06pmI’ve been waiting all day for this to come here – when I saw this waiting for the bus at 6 am I couldn’t control the laughter. NASA is and forever more shall be a useless piece of caca on my shoe.
Kind of reminds me, of the CDC telling us about the “zombie acolpolyse” a few weeks ago.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:14pmMaybe Jodie Foster contributed to them, too.
Report Post »OLDBIKEFIXER
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:48pmNow that the Space Shuttle program has been scrapped, these people have WAY too much time o their hands.
Report Post »wesleyapril
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:07pmRemember now why the space shuttle mission was scrapped so that NASA could make the MUSLIMS feel better about themselves. lol – I think ALLAH has gotten around a little to much lately :)
Report Post »Locked
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:47pmProper headline would have been: “News sites claim NASA study links aliens and global warning.” Subtitle: “News sites are freaking idiotic.”
Report Post »SREGN
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 4:48pmi can’t seem to get the vision out of my head of Okarma and all the Czars sitting around smoking blunts, maybe Snoop Dog too, and each one takes a turn going “Hey I’ve got an idea. It might sound really crazy but I think it could work. Listen, how about if we…….”
Report Post »Locked
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 6:50pmHahaha, now I have the image in my head too: perfect! :D
Report Post »ryan
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:46pmLike The Day the Earth Stood Still? HAHHA!
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:54pmThey could have bought the dvd for 10 bucks and saved a whole lot of $$$$.
Report Post »This story has to be fake. Even Al gore couldn’t be this stupid.
I guess I take the part about gore back…
WhatsYerProblem
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:00pmNot the original. The Keanu Reeves version was just plain dumb. “If you’re not going to do anything about global warming, we’re going to kill the human race.”
About as dumb as the original, though. That one was, “If you keep killing people in all these wars and unless you live in peace like we do, we’re going to wage war on you and kill you all.”
Report Post »jkendal
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:45pmSheer lunacy.
Report Post »AvengerK
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:50pmBattered by growing skepticism about their climate conclusions, global warming alarmists have cast about wildly for a way to stem the tide. And they appear to have found the answer; aliens are more likely to destroy us because of our greenhouse gas emissions.
For sheer bravado, this one has no equal.
And to ascribe a logical thought process (humans ruin their own planet therefore humans must be destroyed) to an unknown and hypothetical alien civilization is beyond idiocy. It enters the rarified milieu of the mentally deranged – people who would spend all day banging their heads against a wall if allowed.
Report Post »Marci
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:52pmWell gee….now I am so terrified I will reduce my carbon footprint immediately. Pfffft.
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:45pmOMG whats next
Report Post »The_Almighty_Creestof
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:43pmOK by me…but I draw the line when it comes to attaching my head to the body of a chihuahua!
Report Post »Dustoff
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:45pmLOL………… Hey now, that was funny.
Report Post »OLDBIKEFIXER
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 2:50pmYeah, I agree. A Chihuahua’s legs would be too short, and yer’ head would scrape on the ground. Personally, I’d prefer a Platypus.
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