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Also, say we did detect one. Our ability to respond limits us to a very long response time. Then another to get back an acknowledgment.
I've casually mused that the slow roll of disclosure (tdb if that is what we are seeing) that began in 2017 might be because we finally heard back "Earth sounds nice, looking forward to having you for dinner, I mean having dinner WITH you. Sincerely, Zorblax".
This is part of the reason that I think that if (and that's a BIG "if") the government is by some chance in contact with aliens, the president probably isn't in the loop.
Let's imagine Bill Clinton started a conversation with a civilization based around proxima centauri (the nearest star to the sun) the day he took office. Assuming no FTL travel/communication, they're a bit over 4 light years away, that means it takes 4+ years for our message to reach them, and the same amount of time for us to receive their reply, Bill is out of office by the time we get a reply, so their message reaches W probably right around 9/11, then the next reply we get is a year or so into Obama's presidency, then about halfway through Trump's term they probably just received his message, and depending on how this next election turns out either Biden will get their reply in about 2027 or Trump will be the first president who could have had a full back-and-forth with another planet since ~~Grover Cleveland~~ EDIT: FDR (forgot about his wonky terms) (which is a scary through.) That's a hell of a way to have a conversation.
That timeline of course gets shorter if we're dealing with aliens based out of our solar system or somewhere in interstellar space, or potentially much longer if they're somewhere much further away than the nearest star to us.
If the government is in contact with aliens, I think it would have to be in the hands of some career military types or unelected bureaucrats whose careers can last decades and they have more opportunities to pick and groom their successors.
I have often considered this. It does seem like the kind of thing you'd only read people into if absolutely necessary.
We know Hillary Clinton and John Podesta are into the phenomenon.
Presumably, if Bill was "briefed" he would have told them something by now.
The Obamas are actively working on a Betty and Barney Hill documentary. Presumably they are interested.
All of these people asked about it.
But why tell them anything at all?
I feel like presidents would be seen to need to maintain a distance from this unless there was a need for them to make a decision or announcement and lying through omission is ok in the intelligence community, it seems.
If there is any truth to rumours that people have literally been killed to keep this a secret it would be a bigger scandal than Iran/Contra, etc. No need to air that laundry if they don't have to. If they have imperfect knowledge of the phenomenon, no need to admit that and show weakness or create fear.
And so on. I think if we thought some vehicle might show up in a very public way, they would read a president in and prep them to address the public and other world leaders.