RAR. Aliens? have been detected. You must advise POTUS.

[Uncluttered]

Meeting summary.
--------------------------------

Ladies and Gentlemen.

It has been a long day. Many of you have been burning the midnight oil.

Those of you who have completed your assignment, please post it to the forum so that we may all benefit.

Assignments:

1. We are awaiting a joint report from the NSA and SETI with regards to the intercepted probe data.

2. A detailed examination of the SA-1 probe, and the larger object SDA-1 (Scattered Disc Anomoly 1) is underway by a subcontractor that specializes in materials.

3.We are awaiting a more detailed plan of action by the CDC.

4. The white house director of communications is researching the prose and cons of going public.

Also. The president also wants the committee to give itself a name. Please list this at the end of your reports.

The President is considering some actions
1. Going public.
2. Could and should this be a justification to shutdown wikileaks? Could wikileaks be useful here?
3. What is our military strategy, if at all?
4. Should the Cassini probe be shutdown or even scuttled to avoid provoking them.

For our next meeting, I will be calling on more input from the scientists on the line.
The President has questions.
1. What is the purpose of the probe SA-1, and SDA-1
2. Likely threat assessments.
3. Can we retrieve it, how, and would this be a good idea?
4. Could, should we attempt to communicate?
5. What is our immediate next steps?

We only get one chance at first contact. Lets take our time and do this right.
The President is greatfull to you all. Have a good nights sleep.
------------------------------------
WARNING 4th WALL BREAKING.

Guys. Great first round. Your posts and PMs are really adding to the story.

First and foremost. I hope you are all having fun. PM me if you have plot suggestions or ideas to add to the fun.
I'd like you to flesh out your characters more. Read up on wikipedia or wherever; Drop a few acronyms now and then. Each of your agencies has a jurisdiction, assets , budget, and capabilities.

The next round will start when the assignments trickle in. RAR time will be fast forwarded as far in the future as the players want to play, and the plot needs to go. As we move forward in time. I will continue to represent the President, though the President will change with elections.

The time will now fast forward one week.
By this time, your characters will be over the shock of OMGWTFALIENS, and will have bucked down and gotten to "work". There will be some great opportunities to roleplay here. Players will be reporting their findings to other players. PM me, and we can together figure out your discovery.

In the next round, you may introduce new characters. We have a limited amount of players, so everyone can wear multiple hats. Be sure to mention your characters name in your posts so we can distinguish the two.

First time posters. Please read the original post. I will not be accepting suggestions from "agents" of the BPRD or other fictional agencies. If this gets to be a problem I will request a moderator to remove them.

Additionally, PM me before you unleash a major plot point. I don't think we want to wake up to find aliens have landed in Grover's Mill NJ.

Thank you.

[Siege]

Thank you Mr. Guns. I hope you are enjoying the new Espresso Machine as much as the President is.

The President wants you to know his is deeply considering going public with this. He wants to do the right thing, but He is concerned that going public will create a massive worldwide panic. He would rather be a one term president, than be the last president.

Until the President makes his decision. Please make more detailed predictions for him.
He will need positive and negative predictions about going public, so he can make a more informed choice on the matter.
Please cite any materials, or data in your arguments. The more realistic, the better.

Until then, please refrain from distributing any press releases.

The espresso machine is a major step up from the old piece of Nixon-era junk we had up there, sir. It's nice to see we're no longer exposing the White House press corps to that particular biohazard any longer.

You requested materials or data to support my position that we should go public with our discovery. I will point your attention to the Declaration of Principles Concerning the Conduct of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence drawn up by the International Academy of Astronautics' SETI Permanent Study group. The declaration urges the discoverer of extraterrestrial life to report this conclusion in a full and complete open manner to the public, the scientific community, and the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Otherwise there is very little recent literature published on this subject, but I strongly feel that those who fear a worldwide panic over this discovery are underestimating the resilience and willpower of the American citizenry and, indeed, the human race. If 9/11 did not end the world, and the Cuban Missile Crisis did not end the world, then this discovery will not end the world either. It will be a shock, yes, and there might be civil unrest, yes, but if we break this story correctly - if we emphasize the aliens' complete lack of apparent hostility, then we can avoid a panic.

Furthermore, I do not think this is something we can keep hidden. If the aliens remain where they are, then even if we manage to suppress every observatory in the USA succesfully and without anybody noticing - a difficult proposition at best - even then sooner or later another observatory in another part of the world unaffected by our suppression effort will make the discovery. We cannot suppress every observatory in the world, not when so many scientists will disagree strongly with our decision to do so -- and who will be encouraged by that Nobel Prize that'll be waiting for them if they break this discovery. And even if we could suppress all of them, then at some point some amateur astronomer will point his telescope in the right direction and catch a glimpse of what we don't want them to see. And then the genie will be out of the bottle, and the world will understandably wonder why we hadn't caught ET yet with our vastly more powerful telescopes... And then there'll be accusations that we're covering it up, or that we're in league with the aliens, we'll lose the spin initiative, and then there may very well be a panic -- one driven into high gear by our own mistrust of the public and desire for secrecy.

Mr. President, don't make the mistakes your predecessors made during Vietnam. You can't keep something secret if it's right there for people to look at, not indefinitely anyway, and if the cat gets out of the bag before we're ready to release it we'll be chasing its tail until the cows come home. We need to be on top of this thing, break it ourselves, and control the story from the get-go. Anything less would be irresponsible and a betrayal of the trust of the American public.

If you'll permit me one more brief comment on the suggested shutdown of Wikileaks... Don't. This is one of those proverbial cats; shut down the website now and we'll witness andother example of the Streisand Effect. Attempts to hide or remove a piece of high-profile information from the Internet has the unintended consequence of causing the information to be publicized widely and to a greater extent than would have occurred if no contrary action had been attempted. It is furthermore very likely that the New York Times, Guardian and Der Spiegel newspapers posses copies of the files distributed by Wikileaks or will come into possession of such if the website is shut down. We won't be able to shut down three internationally respected newspapers, and we'll suffer catastrophic PR damage amongst our allies if we try. In fact, I would argue that the constipated reaction of the American establishment to this crisis has already caused catastrophic PR damage, let's not worsen this by appearing to take petty revenge on a website that at this point in time isn't even based in the USA anymore. We are not China, we have no state censor, let's not stoop to their level and appear as if we do.

That'll be all for now, sir.

Bob Guns, Communications Director for the White House

[NecronLord]

Mr President,

We are ready to re-task the Hubble Space Telescope, and coordinate worldwide radio telescope use. In addition, at this time, the Cassini probe has not been given any instructions. At this time, I recommend against shutting down the only asset close to SA-1, but rather allowing Cassini to continue on its course.

I note that other nations are most likely already aware of this, as Cassini's telemetry is not solely routed through United States receivers, and security was not a major concern while constructing it. For this reason I suggest an international concensus should be urgently sought.

I have taken the liberty of a preliminary costing for rapid modification of existing probes and a manned spaceflight programme on a three to five year timetable. Please see attached documentation and proposals for the President and Congress (jackpot.xls)

In order to explore all options for advancing our space presence, I recommend liaising with other involved nations and repudiating all limitations on the use of nuclear devices in and beyond Earth orbit; Earth law clearly does not rule space and any handicap in our exploration efforts may prove crippling in the future.

Proposed Actions:

1. Going public.

Technically speaking, this is inevitable, it will, in our opinion, boost public confidence. Additionally, to ensure favourable public reaction, press statements should be formulated to emphasise our active role in discovering the SA-1: 'NASA finds alien probe,' rather than 'aliens find Earth'

2. Could and should this be a justification to shutdown wikileaks? Could wikileaks be useful here?

It would be prejudicial for the United States' prestige and consequent leading role in space affairs to allow such a non-state-actor to disclose information on a matter of this importance. This is irrelevant and I recommend it be ignored.

3. What is our military strategy, if at all?

US forces will be most useful in containing any efforts to sabotage or interfere with whatever response is decided upon. NASA assets nationally and worldwide will now require a greater degree of security.

4. Should the Cassini probe be shutdown or even scuttled to avoid provoking them.

The probe is not designed to be scuttled, the only feasible way to do this would be to redirect it into something. I would caution against this, as the probe is currently not attracting adverse attention, as far as we are aware. Any display of pyrotechnics may be seen as a threat-display. Additionally, Cassini's instruments may be able to detect what exactly SA-1 is doing.


For our next meeting, I will be calling on more input from the scientists on the line.
The President has questions.
1. What is the purpose of the probe SA-1, and SDA-1

SA-1 appears to have remained on station for some time, and given its small size may be a probe, manned or unmanned, this is speculative, the nature of SDA-1 is unknown at this time, though hopefully radio-telescope reception, optical imaging via Hubble and spectroscopy may give us more information to determine this.

2. Likely threat assessments.

Essentially, Apocalyptic. We have no viable means of stopping any attack, which could be with impunity. We must assume the aliens are capable. It must be said that if they wished us harm, they could easily have done it by now.

3. Can we retrieve it, how, and would this be a good idea?

At this time, no, on both counts. We cannot feasibly do this without a much expanded space programme. Constructing a capture-and-return probe would be the most obvious approach to doing this, which requires a payload substantially in excess of anything we can get to Saturn within the year. This is probably not a good idea either, as this probe is still operational, and we would be interfering with its objectives, whatever they are. Worse, if it contains a living alien, we would be kidnapping it.

4. Could, should we attempt to communicate?

We can and probably should, though not hastily. We lose nothing by communication, as the aliens already know all they are likely to need to about us.

5. What is our immediate next steps?

The proposal to establish secure landing zones for contact with aliens seems to have merit, but to expand on this, we should defer contact with any biological entity that comes to our planet until we are able to ascertain to some degree their intention. Nonetheless, the USMC should be tasked with establishing secure zones within isolated areas to facilitate this eventuality. We should re-equip the International Space Station to host an extraterrestrial entity in the event that a would-be visitor cannot survive our atmosphere and/or gravity.

Additionally, we should re-deploy such space assets as we have to observe the objects, gain more information on SDA-1 and learn what SA-1 is doing. We must know more before we act.

~ Charles F. Bolden Jr
Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Maj. General USMC (Ret.)

---

OOC: So, I'm not sure if this doesn't belong in Gaming, but I'm not going to move it yet.

[TOSDOC]

Mr. President, I must concur with my colleagues Dr. Dreer and General Bolden.

While our initial studies have tentatively concluded that an extraterrestrial form of life may pose no biological threat to our world, we are running continued simulations and preparing a comprehensive plan for first contact protocols with the worst in mind. Meanwhile, to minimize the danger of contamination of our biosphere, it would be prudent to instead initiate and continue contact through mechanical and/or computer proxy, at the very least in order to establish the aliens’ environmental requirements so that we may fully understand and create a mutually beneficial environment for direct first contact in the future.

With the essential information received on the aliens’ intentions and biology, coordinated efforts may be able to create an artificial environment which could serve as a neutral meeting place for contact between human and alien. This environmental module may be established on Terra Firma or attached to the International Space Station, with safeguards against contamination up to and including the complete sterilization of the module without harming the surrounding biosphere on Earth or the station. The station is of course the preferred initial location.

Whatever form the first contact meeting area takes, I urge all involved to become familiar with personal HAZMAT gear such as BioSafety Level 4 suits or even space suits in the event of contact.

I request a liaison with USAMRIID to coordinate military and civilian efforts of information, safety and security in this matter.

Dr. Jack Scudder, Executive Director, CDC

[FaxModem1]

Good morning Mr. President.

I was brought in by NASA, apparently a few of them have read my books. Anyway, I'm Charles Woods, former editor of 'Rockets and Wenches'. I haven't read all the briefings yet, so forgive me if I'm not completely up to speed. Anyway, are we sure this is actually an alien probe? Has the thing changed course at all? Has it given off any energy? Any languages? Does it react to light differently than an asteroid? For all we know this is just some rock that got sucked in and is now a new minor moon for Saturn. Good thing for us Astronomy geeks, bad thing if we went public and we have nothing to show for it.

I recommend, before going public, to get as much info as possible on it. Best not to let people know we jumped like chickens with our heads cut off before counting the eggs. Please don't tell the President I just mixed metaphors.

I also recommend coordinating with nations that have good long range satellites so that the sharing of information can happen as well as us having 24 hour viewing of this. After all, the US is always pointed at Saturn, now are we?

Also, NASA's budget, I think this would be a good time to increase it. Just in case I'm wrong.

[Night_stalker]

I agree with the NASA representatives, but I do think that with regards to the secure landing zone, we are limited in terms of places were it can be done. Seeing how we know nothing about their biology, we can't safely pick one area without knowing what kind of temperatures that they can survive, so I advocate trying to make contact, and asking them what kind of temperatures they can endure so we know where not to put the LZ. Last thing we need is to send a Iceworld creature to Florida by accident.

We should get ready to make this public, BUT we should also be prepared to shut down Wikileaks prior to our Press Conference, so that we can control the source of information, but we should get ready for riots and God knows what other kinds of chaos that will ensue when this gets out.

Good news:

My codebreakers have managed to decipher part of a message being sent by the probe, which apparently contains telemetry data and is being sent out of this system to a unknown destination. In addition, my computer experts think that the computer structure might be a chemical computer, but the jury is out on that. In addition, all NASA Deep Space Network data is now being routed through Fort Meade, and will remain so until further notice. Also, there is no alien viral software in out systems, but we remain on high alert. Additional telemetry data suggests that we may have 1 or 2 more UFOs out by the probe, but until the Hubble gets us our photos, we can't say for certain. SETI has since then redirected all their attentions towards Saturn, and we will get a report eventually. In the mean time, we can see SA-1's general area on one of the telescopes, and we hope that we can see the others soon.

Night_stalker, NSA Deputy Director (Alan Smithee) out.

[FaxModem1]

wait, its emitting radio signals? Is it transmitting towards us or out of system? Or is it going in all directions?

If its the first, we have first contact, no doubt. If its the second, it could be a scanner report, a military probe, a booster station for intergalactic music, anything at this point. If its the last one, well, it could be a navigational beacon, a territory marking, a music station.

It could also be a trap, a Von neumann device, a galactic encyclopedia salesman. It could be anything.

Mr. President, you have a choice, either hope it hasn't noticed us and will never notice us, or you can try and learn more about it doing everything you can to seem non-hostile.

I heartily recommend deciphering what's sent.

[Uncluttered]

Ladies and Gentlemen.

The President has considered your advice.
He feels that in light of this information, Wikileaks is now a red herring, and will take no action.

He has an important assignment for all of you.

He has decided to go public.

He will be personally calling world leaders before hand.
He will need a list or world leaders to call, and the order in which they will be called.

The Ambassador to the UN will be giving a speech at the UN building.

We will then go to the Whitehouse, where the White house press secretary will give a short speech and take questions. The president expects all of you to be there.

Your collective job is to advise me on what to give the speech writers for their press packets.

The press will be asking loads of questions. You must anticipate these questions, and have the answers ready.

Gentlemen, you have one RAR week. Your President, your country, and now the whole world thanks you.

---------------------------
4TH WALL ALERT.

Thanks everyone.
In order for the week to pass. we must.
1. Give our Commitee a name
2. Write a q&a for the press

[JGregory32]

Mr. President my people have been searching through the various speeches given by your predecessors looking for something something useful. We feel that any opening statement to the press should begin with
"Since the dawn of time, man has looked out into the infinite darkness and wondered, are we alone? My fellow Americans I can now tell you, that question has been answered."
A little dramatic, but my people think it has the right amount of gravitas for the occasion.
On a side note I would like to ask the NASA people some questions.
1. How rare is our system in terms of materials and biospheres?
2. Is it in any way possible to back track the course of the unknown craft? Knowing where they are from, even if only in general would go a long way to dispelling fears.
3. Can we get some kind of mass reading on both the probe and the two other craft?
As for answering the press corp questions we need to be careful here, there will be allegations that this is a hoax. Also some people do not do well when their basic beliefs are challenged, and the idea of a humancentric universe is pretty well established in most religions. We should form a talking group with select religious authorities ASAP after disclosure, the last thing we need is a religious crusade against the aliens.

JG, President, Historical Imperatives Inc.

[Night_stalker]

wait, its emitting radio signals? Is it transmitting towards us or out of system? Or is it going in all directions?

If its the first, we have first contact, no doubt. If its the second, it could be a scanner report, a military probe, a booster station for intergalactic music, anything at this point. If its the last one, well, it could be a navigational beacon, a territory marking, a music station.

It could also be a trap, a Von neumann device, a galactic encyclopedia salesman. It could be anything.

Mr. President, you have a choice, either hope it hasn't noticed us and will never notice us, or you can try and learn more about it doing everything you can to seem non-hostile.

I heartily recommend deciphering what's sent.

It's emitting a signal, which we were fortunate enough to decipher partly, but it seems to be some new form of communication, part of which wasn't sent in the new form, which we intercepted. It's currently on a course that takes it out of this system, but to where is currently unknown.

Also regarding the Press Conference, I recommend that we emphasize that we don;t have a lot of information that we can safely disclose, BUT we should add a small part to our transmission that gives them a specific radio frequency. Hopefully, we can control any forms of communication with them, and avoid sparking off a war with them.

[TOSDOC]

Mr. President, anticipating press questions, the CDC only has enough information at this time to assure the public that since there has not been any direct contact with the aliens as yet, there has therefore been no danger to our species and our planet from contamination. If questioned on our preparedness should direct contact be imminent, we recommend the response to be that multiple agencies are continuing to coordinate efforts towards such preparedness to the utmost degree.

[bz249]

Mr. President,

I strongly support your idea to address the public with the information. I would like to emphasize the very delicate nature of the situation, which means:
- we know nothing about the intention of the aliens
- and we are in a totally vulnerable position
so any action towards the aliens should be made with the greatest care, therefore we have to discourage any "private" initiative trying to communicate with the aliens. We have to coordinate our efforts with the countries with independent reach of earth orbit (Russia, Japan, EU, China...etc) and the nuclear powers also, the involvement of some corporations with significant space and/or communication capability is also unavoidable.

1. How rare is our system in terms of materials and biospheres?
2. Is it in any way possible to back track the course of the unknown craft? Knowing where they are from, even if only in general would go a long way to dispelling fears.
3. Can we get some kind of mass reading on both the probe and the two other craft?


JG, President, Historical Imperatives Inc.

Though I am not a NASA guy I try to answer your questions:

1.) our system is a more or less typical solar system, though as a younger solar system it is a little bit enriched in metals (astrophyiscally we call anything a metal which is not H or He) but there is nothing special here in terms of materials. As of biospheres, well there is the Drake-formula which is only a little bit less reliable than ancient Roman hepatomancy, so there is not much to say. Apparently there are other life forms in the Galaxy though.

2.) I guess currently there is no way to backtrack its origin, since the alien craft already decelerated to orbital velocity. Checking the archives for unusually strong energy sources however not a bad idea. I suggest diverting some computing power to re-evaluate the different astronomical databases so we might spot the alien craft on them. Of course this only works if they used slower than lightspeed travel method and a generalized "rocket" propulsion.

3.) Unless something is orbiting around the alien craft no mass estimations can be made. If we can track them, there is a slight chance that we can observe their maneuvering which could give as an order of magnitude guess.

bz

Vice Chairman, Independent Material Scientist Trade Union

[FaxModem1]

Mr. President,

For dealing with the public, you will need to say something along the lines of
"My fellow Americans, before a week ago, we thought ourselves the only thing in the cosmos worth talking about. Before a week ago, we only considered ourselves when dealing with our decisions. Now, we no longer have that luxury. Mankind has now found out that there are adults in the galaxy, and we have not yet begun to lift ourselves out of our crib.

This is a stranger coming into our world. This is an opportunity for us to learn things we have never known before. Some of you will want to react in fear. I am asking you, as your president, as a fellow human, to stay calm. Continue working, continue living, things have changed, but the day will continue. We will continue, and as your leaders guide you through this new era, I ask that you trust us to do our jobs.

God Bless the Human Race."

As for the name of out committee, I suggest going with something that is short and easy to pronounce. Like the First contact Intelligence Council.

[Raj Ahten]

Dear Mr. President,
Director Skinner here from the FBI. The decision was made to bring me into this discussion to address the law enforcement/possible civil disorder aspect of a first contact scenario and tell you what the FBI can bring to the table. Along with our partners at DHS and other agencies we have plans in place for continuation of government and and for dealing with large scale civil disorder. The FBI stands ready to coordinate law enforcement agencies throughout the nation. I also have teams of agents standing by to respond with the CDC to provide law enforcement liaison and force protection for any first contact team we assemble.

Our plans to address civil disturbances function best when we have plenty of lead up time to implement them by prepositioning resources, moving key personnel to secure facilities, calling up additional resources such as the National Guard, etc. Even a few hours’ notice can be critical in many scenarios. But given the possibility of widespread disorder some fear may arise from a first contact, I recommend we start mobilizing resources immediately. We can call it a drill to test nationwide preparedness when the media starts asking questions. Most of the applicable resources can be ready to go in less than 72 hours so we don't have to obfuscate that long. Many of the preparations can be made relatively quietly as "on call" personnel are returned to base and orders are sent out to public safety organizations to put their worst case scenarios into effect. I whole heartedly The President's decision to let the public know what is going on. Fear and misinformation are huge enemies in any disaster or potential disaster. Just by showing the public that we have a plan and we know what to do will calm them considerably. I firmly belief that Americans are strong enough to rise to the challenge of contact with extraterrestrial life.

On wikileaks: I recommend we leave it a matter for another day. Given the stakes here, wikileaks just became irrelevant. Let the DOJ sort them out after we've figured out whether humanity will survive or not.

Director Skinner, FBI

[Uncluttered]

Thank you Mr. Skinner.

You may proceed with your mobilization, but do not draw attention. If too many agencies are drilling, other governments are going to see right through this and get paranoid.


Please stay in coordination with other agencies.
At this moment, because the existence of the aliens is known only to a few, we have no reason to believe anyone is planning anything related.

I seriously doubt any terrorists or foreign governments will attack in the few days after the announcement. They simply won't have had the time to plan.

We are using a temporary cover story about gamma ray bursts to commandeer telescopes. Unfortunately, our knee jerk reaction to takeover the deep space network has generated a few murmurs internationally. Should the president decide a last minute delay, We could spin this as the NRO buying a new toy. We may be deploying some modular satellites soon anyway.

This is out of your jurisdiction anyway (and in one week time it will become irrelevant.)

Thank you for your service. The President sends his regards.

[JGregory32]

Mr. President, ever since the alien craft were detected I have had my research teams picking apart any and all archives they could get their hands on regarding contact with alien lifeforms. They have just handed me a preliminary copy of their findings and it is my judgment that we may have a problem. Of the available records it seems like alien lifeforms have a predisposition to areas of the the world that are currently political hotbeds. The clearest records come from the Sumerian and Babylonian cultures, although later records do show some promise.
I would remind the president that Sumeria and Babylonia cultures were based in what is currently the middle east, although it is problematic to map these cultures onto current political landscapes.
My team feel that alien visitors in the past had expressed a noted preference to areas of the planet that are mostly hot and dry and are on or near the equator.

On another matter I would like to add my agreement to the other members of this group that when disclosure happens we will not face an immediate panic response. That being said I do feel that we should go through with the various drills and mobilization plans in place, it is better to be safe than sorry one might say.

As for the group name, the presidents council on interstellar contact would be appropriate.
JG, President, Historical Imperatives Inc.

[Uncluttered]

WARNING 4th WALL BROKEN

---------------------------
UM........ No.

Players, Please PM me before you bring in major plot points.
Aliens landing in Grover's mill NJ was specifially mentioned for this reason.

I would like to say this without sounding like a dick. To that end, pleased read the following in the voice of Mr. Rogers.

Hello Neighbor.
You just hijacked a thread with ancient Babylonian spacemen. Please think about this.

How come we have never noticed them before?
I see you are also an Archeologist. Did this historic discovery surface coincidentally as the RAR started?

Be careful, because any giant rings you find go to a different land of make-believe.

I want you to know I have a very flexible story written, it purposely has wiggle room for player creativity.
Sort of a Choose-your-own-adventure, but without the pictures.
Right now, players have been given little assignments, until we get in the groove.
If this was a movie, we would be at the part just after the credits.
The audience is still getting comfortable. A messenger is running down the hall, about to burst into a meeting.

If you would like to add a major plot twist, like say, the president is a robot controlled by Cheney, first PM me. We talk, and we find a solution. If I think that Cheney controlled BarackOBots don't fit in this land of make-believe, then you save your idea for later.

I want to make this RAR fun. Please PM me if you have any ideas on where this story should go. If I have forgotten to give you an "assignment" or you don't like yours for whatever reason, PM me.

Since I've broken the 4th wall.

Does anyone have any objections if I eventually post a cleaned up copy of the story, with attributions and pictures, in user fiction?
I thought It might be an easier read.

[JGregory32]

You just hijacked a thread with ancient Babylonian spacemen. Please think about this.
How come we have never noticed them before?
I see you are also an Archeologist. Did this historic discovery surface coincidentally as the RAR started?

Actually part of the RAR is giving BAD advice, or advice that amounts to nothing. This report was more like somebody going "Oh my god! Aliens exist, they must be the ones who built the pyramids!"
Needless to say that researcher will be fired shortly.
The Babylonians and Sumerian s I am referencing are the Annanaki (sp?) references. References to the Gods dwelling in the heavens could also mean aliens.
Also I mean to include the ramblings of Ezikel who saw the wheel, as well as others. Somebody earlier in the thread brought up the idea that aliens might have contacted humanity before, I took that and am running with it.
BTW nothing Archeological about it, both cultures were literate and left written records.

[Raj Ahten]

Mr President,
Contingency plans have been activated and we've told local and state law enforcement to be on alert. The DHS has also mobilized its resources to respond to a major civil disturbance, if we get one. The cover story we are going with right now is we have intel of increase terrorism activity. It's giving everyone in the media flashbacks to 2003. So far so good. I do recommend that we do put out the real reasons for this soon though; our local partners at the joint terrorism task forces and so forth aren't going to stay on high alert for no good reason forever.

We also have our analysts doing a threat assessment of domestic groups that might become volatile when they find out about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. I'll bring the results to our next working group meeting. Agents are also keeping close tabs on what is best described as "the UFO nuts." It's part of the threat assessment. Mainly we are looking into the sorts who say aliens are dangerous, as they are considered to be the most likely to react violently in the news. Expect some articles about Men in Black in the tabloids.

On a personal note I'm eager to see what the science boys and girls can come up with about talking with the aliens. I haven't been this excited since I was shooting mortars during the siege of Khe Sanh. Hopefully we all can avoid any incoming this time around.

Sincerely,
Director Skinner, FBI.

[Uncluttered]

Slow clap.

Good save.

Next time, let me know first. As this RAR is in its infancy, I have to garden it a bit.

[FaxModem1]

Mr. President,

I just got a call from my nephew. He's a deputy up in Nevada. He's not convinced this is a drill. They do drills all the time and this doesn't seem like a normal drill to him. No one in his department is buying it. The cover story we're working with won't last long. Don't worry, he still thinks I'm working on some new book in Orlando.

Charles Woods.

[Uncluttered]

Thank you Mr. Woods.

It's good to know the pulse of things.
The cover story doesn't have to last long.
I'll let the proper channels know, that they need to learn to lie better.

OnionBreath out.

[Lonestar]

Good Morning Mr. President,

I'm Admiral Bucher, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. I just got off the phone with SHAPE in Mons, and it's clear that many of our allies already know something is up. The consensous is that it is only a matter of days, perhaps hours, before the story breaks in the European media.

In anticipation of this I recommend establishing two international study groups, one consisting of our allies(specifically, the North Atlantic Council + RoK + Japan +Australia +NZ), and a broader international one including India, China and Russia. This committees will help decide how to regulate the flow of information to the public, allow coordination of military activities, and ensure that the major countries are on the same page.

I also recommend setting up a team whose sole purpose is to search the solar system for other probes. While it is possible that the object in orbit of Saturn is the only one within the solar system, logic dictates that in order to monitor Earth clandestinely multiple probes placed at various locales will be needed.

V/R
Vice Admiral Bucher
Defense Intelligence Agency.

[FaxModem1]

Mr. President,

Is the current funding of NASA still the same as it was before the discovering of this thing? If so, we need to reevaluate that. You always need more eggheads to make an omelet. Or something like that.

Also, wouldn't now be a good time to see about making some form of Ark or Time capsule in case this thing is a Von Neumann probe coming to wipe out the entire human race?

Charles Woods.

[NecronLord]

Mr President,

I can now report that our space assets re-tasking operation is complete, including a manned upgrade mission operated under the cover story that the Hubble Telescope had ceased to function and I can now present initial findings.

The Hubble and Spitzer (Infra-red) space telescopes have been the subject of a reprogramming mission to upload secure encryption for downloaded images, and have initial survey of the Saturnian Sub-System. As an aside, this encryption is difficult to hide, and it is likely that other nations are now aware of the upgrade.

Additionally, we have reassigned US-controlled optical and radio telescopes worldwide, subject to security vetting and

We have expanded the team dealing the Ground Control for the Cassini probe, now renamed the Cassini Phoenix Mission, and used this as a cover to ensure reliable US national staffing. The Cassini Phoenix Mission has so far been tasked with the following short term goals in Cassini’s next close flyby of SA-1 of finding out what it’s made of using Cassini’s Plasma Spectrometer, Composite Infrared Spectrometer and its Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer to attempt to determine what it’s made of, and what if any reactant it has been expelling, and give an estimate of what kind of waste heat SD-1 is radiating. They are also to use its various dust analysis tools to examine any gasses (propellant) that it may have left in its immediate area. Neither of these objectives requires any movement of Cassini from its current orbit or any direct activity by the probe.

The Imaging Group, meanwhile, has been studying images produced by Hubble and Spitzer of the Saturn region, and the estimated position of SDA-1. While I am not able to present any meaningful findings regarding this, one test-sequence did produce these.

These images show considerably increased cryovolcanism in Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This has been observed previously by Cassini, and is not believed to be linked to either SA-1 or SDA-1 at this time. Further investigation may be required.

JPL have begun a study on an improved, albeit more expensive, orbital booster system and probe deployment system based on the Constellation Program. We have also begun returning all shuttles and manned lifters that we can to operational status. Again this will be easier once we are able to liaise internationally, and consider a role of the ISS in our operations.

~ Charles F. Bolden Jr
Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Maj. General USMC (Ret.)