If the gov't has no knowledge of aliens, then why...

[Adul]

If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: Adul
If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?

hmm good question...i might have to keep an eye on this post to see if anyone with any intelligence responds with something useful

 

[rayma2]

good point.....

edit: <---- sorry no intelligence here....

 

[Azraele]

What's the penalty?

 

[Torghn]

Do you have a link?

My guess is it's just a precaution, so if we ever do find aliens the government would have control of the situation.

 

[wellerdball]

penalty is death via sex

 

[nord1899]

Any link to the actual law in question or did you get this in an e-mail?

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: wellerdball
penalty is death via sex

With extraterrestrials.

 

[Kadarin]

From snopes2.com:

Origins: On 16 July 1969, the United States of America (through the efforts of its National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was poised to achieve a milestone in space Take me to your bailbondsman exploration. That day would see the launch of the Apollo 11 mission, an undertaking which would -- if successful -- see men set foot on a celestial body other than Earth for the first time in the history of mankind, when two astronauts would land on and explore the surface of our moon.

Of course, a key portion of this achievement was to be the safe return to Earth of those very same astronauts, a prospect that raised a number of issues we had not confronted before. Who knew what else might return to Earth with the lunar explorers? Although the moon was presumed to be lifeless, we couldn't rule out the possibility that bringing back equipment and samples from the lunar surface might also introduce hitherto unknown microorganisms or germs into our environment, potentially triggering a scenario like the one described by Michael Crichton's 1969 novel The Andromeda Strain, in which a sample-gathering satellite returns to Earth bearing deadly pathogens from space, touching off a plague that threatens to kill nearly everyone exposed to it.

To prepare for this eventuality, on the same day that Apollo 11 was launched from Kennedy Space Center, the United States adopted Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, since known as the "Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law." The purpose of Title 14, Section 1211 of the CFR was not to "make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles"; the law allowed the government to prevent the possibility of biological contamination from pathogens carried to Earth by men and objects returning from space by enforcing a quarantine on any people, plant or animal life, or other material that had "touched directly or come within the atmospheric envelope of any other celestial body."

 

[Tominator]

Originally posted by: Adul
If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?

Because in most municipalities cruising is illegal!

 

[tk149]

Can't find 14 CFR 1211.

link

Maybe it was repealed?

Searching for "EXTRATERRESTRIAL" had no results.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: tk149
Can't find 14 CFR 1211.

link

Maybe it was repealed?

Searching for "EXTRATERRESTRIAL" had no results.

Read the link I provided earlier. Per snopes, this was repealed in 1991.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Well thank goodness it was repealed. I can safely touch spaceships.

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer
Well thank goodness it was repealed. I can safely touch spaceships.

thank goodness! no more sleepless nights for me either, wondering when the government is going to come get me for that whole "Flight of the Navigator" scenario.