Exopolitics

Exopolitics is the theoretical study of hypothetical political relations between humanity and extraterrestrial civilizations.

Origin and Usage

The use of the term exopolitics may have begun within the community of ufology enthusiasts, some of whom claim world governments are suppressing knowledge of an "extraterrestrial presence."^[1]
Space activist Alfred Webre has used the term.
Professor Wayne Glowka of Georgia College and State University nominated the word "exopolitics"^[2] as a possible candidate for the 2005 American Dialect Society word of the year.
As of 2007, the term does not appear in any professionally edited dictionaries.

Science

The possibility of extraterrestrial life has been theoretically addressed, often in the context of the Fermi paradox, while the existence of some form of extraterrestrial life has some support in the scientific community. In a broader context exopolitics deals with the political implications of purported extraterrestrial-related phenomena. Critical questions include what, if any, political framework might be established between human beings and extraterrestrials. While the political aspects and implications of extraterrestrial-related phenomena have been the subject of discussion and writing since reports of UFO sightings in the 1940s, the matter had not been given serious consideration until quite recently.

Politics

Conferences centered on exopolitical issues have been held under the title the X-Conference.^[3] The first X-Conference was held in 2004.^[4]

In September 25, 2005 at an exopolitics symposium in Toronto, former Canadian Minister of National Defense and Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Paul Hellyer, publicly disclosed his belief in an extraterrestrial presence stating that, "UFOs are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head." ^[5][6][7]

Education

In 2005, Rebecca Hardcastle taught a non-credit exopolitical class at Scottsdale Community College called Extraterrestrial Reality. ^[8][9]

References in popular culture

• British rock band Muse have a song titled "Exo-Politics" on the album Black Holes and Revelations, which Matthew Bellamy says is, "about the possibility of an orchestrated alien invasion created by the New World Order".^[10]
• Various exopolitical frameworks exist in science fiction, as for example in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. Galactic empires are a fairly common theme in science fiction, as are forms of galactic confederacies in the mode of the United Nations. Other examples include the Galactic Republic in Star Wars and the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek.

References

1. ^ Robert L. Pela. "Space Crash Course", Phoenix New Times, 13 January 2005. Retrieved on 2007-05-25. “Hardcastle: I'm starting by teaching about the history of UFOs. We'll begin in 1887, with the first sightings that had any kind of press coverage. Then we'll move through up to Project Blue Book, the Truman administration, and other historical reporting done during that time. There is a UFO history; it's just not taught in mainstream education.
   "NT: Is that because studying UFOs is sort of wacky?
   "Hardcastle: Well, I think that attitude first started in the '50s, when sightings stopped getting coverage. If you talk to people who were old enough, they remember the headlines.”
2. ^ American Dialect Society (December 21, 2005). 2005 Words of the Year to be chosen in Albuquerque. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
3. ^ Paradigm Research Group (PRG) Press Release (25 May 2007). Paradigm Research Group Announces X-Conference 2007 (html). PRWeb.com. “The Washington political media will be heavily lobbied to turn out in numbers similar to their attendance at the May 9, 2001 Disclosure Project press conference at the National Press Club — 100 reporters and 17 camera crews from a dozen nations. X-Conference 2007 will be held September 14-16, 2007 and X-Conference 2008 will be held April 18-20, 2008 — both at the 3-star Hilton Hotel in Gaithersburg, MD.”
4. ^ X-Conference: First Annual Exopolitics Expo — April 17-18, 2004 (html). Paradigm Research Group website.
5. ^ Hon. Paul Hellyer. Exopolitics Conference [Recording]. Toronto, Canada: Disclosure Project.
6. ^ Space Alien Hearings?. Free-Market New Network (November 28, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
7. ^ Former Canadian Minister Of Defence Asks Canadian Parliament Asked To Hold Hearings On Relations With Alien "Et" Civilizations. UFO Digest (November 24, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
8. ^ Pela, Robrt L. (January 13, 2005). Space Crash Course. Phoenix New Times. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
9. ^ Davis, Scott (January 21, 2005). Passion for the paranormal? Take a UFO class. Fox 11 AZ. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
10. ^ Exo-Politics (song). MuseWiki. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.