# Our astronauts aren't telling us everything they know.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 6, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265 "2003-02-06T18:33:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/1 "2003-02-06T18:33:30Z")
The most powerful man in radio wonders about alien life… * * * This morning, Thursday the 6th, Don Imus was talking to Jay Barbree about Columbia. He has talked to him several times since the disaster. However today he surprised me! He asked Jay whether the astronauts were holding back knowledge they had about aliens. He said he had the impression that the astronauts are not telling us everything they know. I agree, but I was surprised to hear Imus ask about it. He might be crude sometimes, but he is a hard man to fool when he sets his attention on something. Interesting… Jay Barbree mentioned that Gordon Cooper had made some comments about aliens/UFOs, but he seemed to want to get off this subject as quickly as possible. Cooper says there is a cover-up: [http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/gordon\_ufos\_000728.html](http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/gordon_ufos_000728.html) I understand Mr. Cooper is now in poor health. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/2 "2003-02-06T18:39:14Z")
Oh, for God’s sake. Who are “the astronauts” that are “Holding back” what they know? Specifics, please, or we don’t have a debate. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/3 "2003-02-06T18:44:59Z")
Of course they’re not telling everything they know. Astronauts are some of the world’s most highly trained and intelligent people. It’s obvious even upon cursory examination that if they told us “everything” that certain people would not survive the experience. Their tiny little minds couldn’t take it. _Won’t someone **please** think if the tiny brained?!?_ Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/4 "2003-02-06T18:58:20Z")
Do you just reach out and grab every tenuous possiblity of conspiracy and cover-ups GOM? Is this the only way life and the world seems exciting? ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/5 "2003-02-06T19:27:20Z")
Of course, it may be that the astronauts have reported everything of significance that occurred during their missions, and all the stories that’re floating around are just that. Stories. In fact This is a good place to start if you want to understand how some of these “stories” get around and what really happened. ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/6 "2003-02-06T19:36:32Z")
Y’know I think we ought to stop using the term “Unidentified Flying Object.” It gets misinterpreted too often. In articles from the OP’s link, Cooper talks about UFO’s and I honestly did not know whether he meant an unidentified flying object or an alien spacecraft. In another example, some worthless TV show played audio tape from a shuttle mission where astronauts report seeing a UFO. It just means an astronaut saw something and, being a good scientist, doesn’t want to jump to conclusions about what it is. So it’s unidentified. It does not mean, as the TV show tried to imply, that the astronaut saw an alien spaceship the government had hushed it up. So let’s all just drop the term “UFO.” Every time that term is used, some people take it as an additional datum in favor of their pet theories. (BTW, ‘some people’ really doesn’t refer to **GOM** or anyone in particular. I don’t know what **GOM’s** personal ideas on the subject are or how strongly he or she feels about it.) ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/7 "2003-02-06T19:50:23Z")
Aliens warned us about the Columbia! I have proof! They told me last night! Elvis is their leader! ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/8 "2003-02-06T20:34:55Z")
The main complaint I have with your post is this wild assertion: > [@](#): > > The most powerful man in radio 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/9 "2003-02-06T20:36:45Z")
TOAD! you beat me. IMUS is the most powerful man in radio? Cripes I’d pick Dan PATRICK before IMUS. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/10 "2003-02-06T20:54:50Z")
Well, GOM, I’ve responded to some of your points. Maybe not very well but they were responses. This does it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/11 "2003-02-06T21:21:05Z")
GOM, how in the world do you get, logically, from, “One astronaut believes in UFOs” to, “All the astronauts are not telling us everything they know about UFOs”? By the same logic, you could say, “Robert Wise believes in UFOs, therefore all Hollywood directors are not telling us everything they know about UFOs.” [http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/phenomena/celebrity\_ufo\_991015.html](http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/phenomena/celebrity_ufo_991015.html) > [@](#): > > It’s not just the nobodies who believe in flying saucers. From filmmakers to astronauts, Hollywood to Silicon Valley, an upcoming documentary surveys the UFO beliefs of the distinguished, rich and famous. > > For “Celebrity Close Encounters,” an hour-length original production of the Arts & Entertainment channel, documentarian Kevin Barry interviewed actors Dennis Weaver and Patricia Neal, Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper, Internet millionaire Joe Firmage and veteran director Robert Wise about their UFO experiences and beliefs. So big deal, Gordon Cooper happens to believe in UFOs. That’s not news, we’ve known that for years. **1980.** [http://ebe.allwebco.com/Sections/UFOs/Archive/gordon-c.shtml](http://ebe.allwebco.com/Sections/UFOs/Archive/gordon-c.shtml) 1. [http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/phenomena/cooper.html](http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/phenomena/cooper.html) 1. [http://abcnews.go.com/onair/DailyNews/chat\_cooper1121.html](http://abcnews.go.com/onair/DailyNews/chat_cooper1121.html) So how do you get from that simple fact, to a conspiracy of all the astronauts to not tell us “everything they know” [_cue the Twilight Zone music_]? My guess as to Jay Barbree’s seeming desire to “get off the subject as quickly as possible” would be that he was simply embarrassed by the fact that one of the Grand Old Men of the American Space Program believes in aliens and UFOs. Also: > [@](#): > > **I understand Mr. Cooper is now in poor health.** Got a cite for this statement? You seem to be implying that the Government is somehow causing his poor health in order to silence him, so don’t you think you should demonstrate that he is in fact in poor health first? From your own link: > [@](#): > > \*Cooper is ready to leave Earth again, at the drop of a space helmet. > > “I told the NASA administrator (Dan Goldin) that when I was John Glenn’s age, I wanted to take another flight,” he said with a smile. > > “But the flight I want is to be put on [is] the Mars mission. I hope to hang in there for it.” \*Evidently he’s feeling well enough to go on a three-year mission to Mars… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/12 "2003-02-06T22:07:07Z")
There aren’t enough rolleyes in all our browser caches combined to respond to something like this. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/13 "2003-02-06T23:01:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*Oh, for God’s sake. > > Who are “the astronauts” that are “Holding back” what they know? Specifics, please, or we don’t have a debate. \*\* Good luck. I started a new thread, _at GOM’s request,_ to discuss the specifics of his conspiracy theory but he backed out and never participated. I think part of the reason he’s so coy is because he likes to pretend he’s Mr. X. “Think ‘time compression,’ Mulder. That will lead to the answers you seek…” ---
**Author:** ![Bongmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Bongmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bongmaster)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/14 "2003-02-06T23:42:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*There aren’t enough rolleyes in all our browser caches combined to respond to something like this. \*\* Now _thats_ funny! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/our-astronauts-arent-telling-us-everything-they-know/153265/15 "2003-02-07T03:47:51Z")
I could have sworn I posted something in this thread, but it seems to have gone away…