Seth Shostak Expects Evidence of Alien Life by 2035
The object reportedly hovered over a ridge for about 20 seconds, then accelerated into a canyon. Three other sightings describe similar objects over military sites.
Astronomer Seth Shostak predicts that evidence of alien life will be found by 2035, but the Pentagon’s new documents offer no proof. The triangular object described in the files remains unidentified. Shostak says most sightings in the United States can be explained by satellites, spacecraft, and missiles.
Astronomer Seth Shostak, a senior figure at the SETI Institute, predicts that evidence of life beyond Earth will be found by 2035. He told the website Starlust in an interview after the Pentagon released the seventh batch of classified UFO files on October 23. The archive now contains 478 files. Shostak has no doubt that aliens exist. He says they may be detected before microbes because intelligent aliens build radio transmitters, which are easier to detect from a distance.
A Triangular Object Near a Sensitive Site
One document describes federal agents in the western United States who saw a black triangular object about 5 kilometers away, near a sensitive site. The object reportedly hovered over a ridge for about 20 seconds, then accelerated into a canyon. Three other sightings in the batch describe similar objects over military sites. The object was not identified.
Shostak doesn’t say what the observers saw. He says a triangular shape is unusual, but not a practical design for a rocket. In his view, most sightings in the United States turn out to be spacecraft, satellites, and missiles, many of which are overhead. Some are bright enough to catch the eye, and their movements can seem strange to people who don’t know what they’re seeing. He also argues that movies and television shape the explanations people give for things they don’t understand: “If you see something you don’t understand, especially in the sky, you say it’s aliens, because you’ve seen aliens on TV and in movies.”
Why He Doesn’t Believe in a Cover-Up
David Grusch and Luis Elizondo, both former intelligence officials, claim the government is hiding evidence of aliens from Congress. Shostak, who previously worked in government service, believes something like that couldn’t be kept secret. “If aliens were here, it would be all over the news, that’s for sure.” He argues that genuine evidence would transform the field, because “almost nothing would be more interesting.” He asks why aliens, if they exist, don’t fly over Denmark, Botswana, Bolivia, or Belgium. “There are plenty of places they could be, but somehow they prefer the United States.”
“I’m all for looking for aliens. That’s what I do for a living,” he says.