# Who in the US Government would have responsibility over a real UFO? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147 "2023-02-21T15:44:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/41 "2023-02-23T12:34:38Z")
What if it landed in international waters? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/42 "2023-02-23T12:46:16Z")
The Unidentified Flying Object becomes and Unidentified Floating object, you can keep the acronym. Until it sinks. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Personally, if I was an alien, I’d think the safer choice is news media. Take me to the President of Reuters. Take me to the president of the internet. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/43 "2023-02-23T13:20:27Z")
Take me to ChatGPT. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/44 "2023-02-23T13:21:19Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Take me to the president of the internet. We’re an anarcho-syndicalist commune, we take turns being a sort of executive officer for the week… ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/45 "2023-02-23T13:32:40Z")
If it crashed directly into the Vatican or Scientology headquarters (not that those are the same), it would certainly start some interesting conversations. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/46 "2023-02-23T14:18:56Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > To “serve man” can have two meanings You don’t recognize this?: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ABwvcM3MMgQ?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLNUtHTSpGamOj6iZOubfXMOi2GXz0f6Fg ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2023, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/47 "2023-02-23T14:29:14Z")
Oh! Then I am afraid we will have to annihilate you for your own good. 🎆 ✨ 🎆 Pity, they looked like nice enough fellows. Now, what should we do with what’s left of the planet? > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > You don’t recognize this?: No, but it starts promising. “What time is it on Earth?” “Any time you want, you fool! Choose you longitude!” Will watch it a while, I guess it is not long. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/48 "2023-02-24T02:06:37Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I guess it is not long. It’s an episode of _The Twilight Zone_, which was 30 minutes long that year (25 minutes if you don’t include the commercials). YouTube splits it into 13 videos. It’s based on a short story by Damon Knight. Note that the man is smoking. Perhaps he hopes he will die from the effects of smoking before he gets to the planet of the aliens. Smoking was what killed Rod Serling. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/49 "2023-02-24T23:39:40Z")
OK, now I have seen it through. I wasn’t far off when I wrote “to serve man” has two meanings! And as a conference interpreter I really enjoy the colleagues depicted in the booths at the UN with no separation between the booths. Nice! That is not how it is done today, but back then… who knows? Then the next episode starts automatically and Captain Kirk appears as a young man on a plane. I’ll watch that too. A new rabbit hole! How nice! That was before my time, we had no telly back then or I was not allowed to watch it. I like those black and white videos. Thanks for the link! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147/50 "2023-02-25T04:07:37Z")
Even bigger question what happens if a large unknown object is observed into international waters in the middle of the Atlantic or Pacific oceans? Who would take responsibility for trying to recover the object? Would there be a fight over it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-in-the-us-government-would-have-responsibility-over-a-real-ufo/980147.md?page=2)