Significant quotes about ETs and UFOs from authoritative scientific, political and military sources
Given the millions and billions of earth-like planets; life, elsewhere in the Universe, without a doubt does exist. In the vastness of the Universe we are not alone.
~ Dr. Albert Einstein
It is my thesis that flying saucers are real and that they are space ships from another solar system. There is no doubt in my mind that these objects are interplanetary craft of some sort. I and my collegues are confident that they do not originate in our solar system. We alone cannot take credit for our record advancement in rocket technology. We have been helped by people from other worlds. ~ Dr. Herman Oberth, German rocket pioneer
I am completely convinced that UFOs have an off-world origin.
~ Dr. Walther Riedel, German rocket scientist
The [best] explanation is that [UFOs] are artificial and [intelligently] controlled. My opinion for some time has been that they have an extraterrestrial origin.
~ Dr. Maurice Biot, physicist
I don't laugh at people anymore when they say they've seen UFOs. I've seen one myself. ~ President Jimmy Carter
Extraterrestrial contact is a real phenomenon. The Vatican is receiving much information about extraterrestrials and their contacts with humans from its [embassies] in various countries, such as Mexico, Chile and Venezuela.
~ Monsignor Corrado Balducci, Vatican theologian
I am convinced that [UFOs] do exist and that they are not manufactured by any nations on earth. ~ Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, Royal Air Force
The UFO phenomenon being reported is something real and not visionary or ficticious. ~ General Nathan Twining, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Air Force should end UFO secrecy, give the facts to scientists, the public, and to Congress. Once the people realize the truth, they would back, and even demand, a crash program [in UFO technology]. This is one race we dare not lose. ~ Major Donald E. Keyhoe
These unknown objects are operating under intelligent control. It is imperative that we learn where UFOs come from and what their purpose is. I can tell you that, behind the scenes, high ranking military officers soberly concerned about UFOs. ~ Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, former director of the CIA
The possibility of real-time, interstellar travel by extraterrestrial civilizations is not fundamentally constrained by physics. ~ Dr. Harold Puthoff, Stanford Research Institute
The next war will be interplanetary. The nations of the earth must someday make a common front against attack by people from other planets. The politics of the future will be cosmic or interplanetary. ~ General Douglas MacArthur
I can assure you that flying saucers are not constructed by any power on earth. ~ President Harry S. Truman
The US Air Force assures me that UFOs pose no threat to national security. ~ President John F. Kennedy
I feel that the Air Force has not been giving out all the available information on these Unidentified Flying Objects. You cannot disregard so many unimpeachable sources. ~ John W. McCormack, former Speaker of the House
I certainly believe in aliens in space and that they are indeed visiting our planet. They may not look like us, but I have very strong feelings that they have advanced beyond our mental capabilities. ~ Senator Barry Goldwater
I strongly recommend that there be a committee investigation of the UFO phenomena. I think we owe it to the people to establish credibility regarding UFOs and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment on the subject. ~ Congressman Gerald Ford (later Vice-President and President)
Of course it is possible that UFOs really do contain aliens as many people believe, and that the government is hushing it up. ~ Professor Stephen Hawking
All Apollo and Gemini filghts were followed, both at a distance and sometimes quite closely, by space vehicles of extraterrestrial origin. Every time it occurred, the astronauts informed mission control who then ordered absolute silence. ~ Maurice Chatelain, NASA Chief of communications systems
In a letter to the United Nations, NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper stated that UFOs are interplanetary vehicles that are piloted by alien beings. ~ November 9, 1978
We have indeed been contacted, perhaps even visited, by extraterrestrial beings. And the U.S. government, in collusion with other national powers of the Earth, is determined to keep this information from the general public. ~ Victor Marchetti, former special assistant to the Executive Director of the CIA
I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. ~ President Ronald Reagan, speech before the UN General Assembly, September 21, 1987
The phenomenon of UFOs does exist, and it must be treated seriously. ~ Mikhail Gorbachev, 1987 in response to Reagan's above comment
I think that it's time to open the books on the questions that have remained in the dark regarding government investigations of UFOs. It's time to find out what the truth really is. We should do it because it is right. We should do it because the American people, quite frankly, can handle the truth. And, we should do it because it is the law. ~ John Podesta, former Chief of Staff for President Clinton, spoken at the National Press Club October 22, 2002
-cited in Covert Encounters in Washington, D.C., by Robert M. Stanley