Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, on Pentagon’s UFO files: “Bring out the alien”

Beginning last month, the U.S. government began releasing batches of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files, known as the UFO Files. The first one drew outsized interest with over 1 billion visits to the website where the documents, pictures and videos are being shared with the public.

President Donald Trump, who ordered the release of the documents, said in a social media post upon their release: “The people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’”

There is some pretty interesting information and hard to explain pictures and videos in the UFO Files. But even with this “hard” evidence, there are those like Neil deGrasse Tyson who don’t think they are solid enough proof that aliens have visited Earth.

“Bring out the alien”

The celebrity astrophysicist appeared on The Beat With Ari Melber where he was asked “what do we make of these files?” Tyson responded that he was “not surprised by them,” given the testimony that has been given to Congress from high-ranking government officials, former military personnel, and former intelligence officers.

“[They’re] all saying that they’ve got alien body parts and crashed saucers and reverse engineered technologies,” he pointed out. “So, if they’re saying we have it, to then have some documents that basically say the same thing, it becomes less interesting to me.”

While Tyson believes that “the universe is teeming with life,” what he wants is definitive proof that aliens have visited Earth. “From my perspective as a scientist, testimony does not count as evidence. Evidence is evidence,” he told Melber. “So, if you’ve got it, bring out the alien. Is that too much to ask? Given all of these files and everything else.”

Only 30% of Americans believe UFOs are aliens

The Cosmos host’s views are shared by his fellow Americans to a point. The majority, 56%, believe that aliens exist. However, only 47% believe that they have managed to make the journey across the vastness of space to visit our planet. Far fewer, just 30%, think that the unidentified flying objects that have been spotted are actually alien ships or life forms according to a YouGov survey.

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