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

[Uncluttered]

Good morning gentleman.

Thank you for attending this emergency panel meeting on short notice.

You may not know this, but for this RAR. I am fictionally the personal assistant of the President Of The United States.
I will compile and relay the advise you give to the president on this matter.

For this RAR. You have been given a Top Secret SCI/ELINT clearence.
You are all loyal patriotic citizens of the United States. The advise you give the president must be sincere.
Depending on outcome, some of you will be asked to give more detailed advice to the president.

Also. In your first post, please introduce yourself to the President. In your introduction please mention the branch, and department of government you might work for. If you would rather work for a private contractor, that is OK too. Please be specific and as real as possible. Your department or agency must be real, I will not pass along advise from people who claim to work for the BPRD.

Based on preliminary discussions, I will post related threads with subtopics if the mods allow.

-----------------------------------------------------
Executive summary.

Here is what we know.

11 months ago.
The Cassini exporation probe found a small object in orbit around Saturn. This was a fortunate stroke of luck, as this was not what the probe was looking for.
Although the resolution is low, The object found is believed to be a probe not unlike Cassini, but extraterrestrial in origin.
The research team believes the probe is transmitting data to larger object.
The Larger object is at least 550 Astronomical Units Away. It's movement is unknown, but it is believed to be circular in orbit. Size is unknown. The larger object might actually be two or more objects flying in close formation.
Time will get us more accurate measurements.
The data has been classified Top secret.

---------------------------

Players who wish to join the "research" team are asked to contribute "research" through PMs until I get the format down.
Being on the research team, means you might be required to break the 4th wall.

Updates will follow as the research team works. Until the research team is put together, Please direct all inquiries to the research team through me for now.

Please refer to me as FPATTPOTUS. Fictional Personal Assistant To The President Of The United States. Or to my secret service nickname, OnionBreath.

The president wants a multi pronged approach. He is looking for multiple solutions and different points of view.

The topic is now open for discussion.
------------------------------------------

To get the ball rolling. Here are some questions.
Should we go public?
What is the nature of the spacecraft?
Where did it come from?
What are its capabilities?
Why Saturn?

[Night_stalker]

Greetings Mr. President,

Currently, my advice would be to start using the radio telescopes we have to try and get a better view of the area, and in addition, we should see about broadcasting a radio message similar to the one we included on Voyager. In addition, I recommend that we move all SAC forces to DEFCON 2, and all regular US forces to DEFCON 3, so if they are hostile, we are somewhat prepared for them. Also, I recommend letting the UN know about this discovery. 1 last thing that I ask we have NASA see about having the Hubble rotate so it has a chance to get a good picture of the aliens.

Sincerly,

Night_stalker, NSA Deputy Director, Information Assurance

[Jeremy]

Minor Nitpick:
SAC is dead, in its husk is USSTRATCOM.

[Night_stalker]

My mistake. The point was, start warming up the Minutemen-IIs, we may need to use them, if these visitors from the stars turn out to be hostile.

[JGregory32]

Greeting Mr. President. I represent a small company dedicated to providing historical context to policy makers and public figures. Sir, as of this moment I would advise against disclosure. It is the position of my researchers that discovery of these objects by civilian observers and other space agencies will eventually happen but until we have more data about these objects all disclosure would do at this point is generate panic.
I would advise a increased tempo of preparedness drills under the guise of national security plans. I would also advise the president to inform the other nuclear powers through back channels so them may prepare their own plans.
JG, President, Historical Imperatives Inc.

[TOSDOC]

Greetings, Mr. President. Dr. Jack Scudder, Executive Director, CDC.

Sir, I would recommend at this time the highest levels of preparedness on the part of the CDC, FEMA, and Homeland Security in the event of a landing on Earth by this probe. My foremost concern is the health and safety of our citizens and all humanity, in this case their health following contact with extraterrestrial organisms. We should coordinate our efforts with the other nations of the world and prepare to assemble comprehensive teams to visit any corner of the globe at a moment's notice to investigate such a landing, and include precautions that not only prevent a medical hazard to us but to the aliens in return as well. Such teams should also be well prepared to communicate and learn all we can.

That said, the nature and location of the probe might as yet indicate no interest at all in our planet. They may not even be aware of our existence. The probe might only be investigating potential sources of fuel and raw materials on the outer planets and moons of our solar system for a passing mothership, and not necessarily be attempting to gather information on our world. The ball is in our court to make friendly contact with them, Mr. President. I concur with the NSA to make an attempt at such a contact.

[JGregory32]

Mr. President, Sir I feel I must respond to Dr. Scudder. We must be wary of applying human terminology and thinking to these unknown objects, for all we know the object in Saturn's orbit could be a control ship for the larger objects. While I admit that its distance from the objects makes this unlikely we should not blind ourselves to the possibility. It could also be a one part of a VERY large array of similar sensors.
Also in respect to my colleges statement that the aliens might not be aware of earth and of us I must respectfully disagree. The number of objects in orbit, the constant transmission of signals from radio and satellite sources, combed with the sheer amount of light pollution visible on the dark side of the Earth would all indicate Earth's and Humanities presence.

[Uncluttered]

Good afternoon gentlemen.

Once again. The President thanks you for your time and effort.

As you know, there is a worldwide banking crisis, and now a wikileaks fiasco to deal with. The reputation of the united states is in danger.

Right now, the president does not feel it's a good idea to go to a higher DEFCON. Other nations may mistake this as a deliberate distraction from wikileaks, or an actual war to rally public support.

As such, the president has asked USSTRATCOM to do what it can in secret. USSSTRATCOM will be running computer only simulations. The vice president will be in a "secret" bunker near the Naval Observatory.

We have tasked our Astronomical advisors to make telescopes available to us. We are using the The Gamma-ray bursts Coordinates Network to provide cover for us, but are preparing multiple cover stories just in case.

I will now reply to individual comments.

Thank you.

[Uncluttered]

Greetings Mr. President,

Currently, my advice would be to start using the radio telescopes we have to try and get a better view of the area, and in addition, we should see about broadcasting a radio message similar to the one we included on Voyager. In addition, I recommend that we move all SAC forces to DEFCON 2, and all regular US forces to DEFCON 3, so if they are hostile, we are somewhat prepared for them. Also, I recommend letting the UN know about this discovery. 1 last thing that I ask we have NASA see about having the Hubble rotate so it has a chance to get a good picture of the aliens.

Sincerly,

Night_stalker, NSA Deputy Director, Information Assurance

Thank you Deputy director.

The president feels going to DEFCON could start a war. USSTRATCOM is running computer only simulations.
Also, the president feels that the missiles might not be the best asset. We will be looking for experts to determine this as they appear.
I have passed on your suggestions to the president, and also CCd the directors of NASA, and our Ambasador to the UN.

What I request from you, as Deputy Director of the NSA, is to report the resources the NSA can bring to this situation. Please report to us what you have, and how you intend to use it. The President thanks you for your time and effort.
You may need to coordinate with other agencies. You have permission to extend clearence to directors of government agencies, and bring them to this RAR.
We have not chosen to go public yet, so please choose carefully.

[Uncluttered]

Greeting Mr. President. I represent a small company dedicated to providing historical context to policy makers and public figures. Sir, as of this moment I would advise against disclosure. It is the position of my researchers that discovery of these objects by civilian observers and other space agencies will eventually happen but until we have more data about these objects all disclosure would do at this point is generate panic.
I would advise a increased tempo of preparedness drills under the guise of national security plans. I would also advise the president to inform the other nuclear powers through back channels so them may prepare their own plans.
JG, President, Historical Imperatives Inc.

Thank you Mr Gregory.

Although this is an unprecidented situation. We are greatful that you bring the historic perspective to the table.

As you have suggested, We are drilling the USSTRATCOM, and The CDC with computer simulations. These simulations are more for mobilization and readyness, but we plan on using the data to make a better plan.

I'm guessing the President would probably like you to be more specific about who to contact, when, and most importantly, what we should say to them.

The president thanks you for your time and effort.

[Uncluttered]

Greetings, Mr. President. Dr. Jack Scudder, Executive Director, CDC.

Sir, I would recommend at this time the highest levels of preparedness on the part of the CDC, FEMA, and Homeland Security in the event of a landing on Earth by this probe. My foremost concern is the health and safety of our citizens and all humanity, in this case their health following contact with extraterrestrial organisms. We should coordinate our efforts with the other nations of the world and prepare to assemble comprehensive teams to visit any corner of the globe at a moment's notice to investigate such a landing, and include precautions that not only prevent a medical hazard to us but to the aliens in return as well. Such teams should also be well prepared to communicate and learn all we can.

That said, the nature and location of the probe might as yet indicate no interest at all in our planet. They may not even be aware of our existence. The probe might only be investigating potential sources of fuel and raw materials on the outer planets and moons of our solar system for a passing mothership, and not necessarily be attempting to gather information on our world. The ball is in our court to make friendly contact with them, Mr. President. I concur with the NSA to make an attempt at such a contact.

Thank you DR Scudder.

The President is giving you authorization to run computer simulations, and limited drills. There is a concern that the public may consider this a distraction from the wikileaks fiasco, so we will not be raising FPCON at this time.

The President would like you to craft a plan of action for the CDC, should an unexpected event occur.
If a plan already exists, please give a citation.

You are authorized to contact public servants from other government agencies, and extend clearance to them as needed.
We have not decided to go public yet, so please use caution, and your best judgment.
I will CC your recomendations to the directors of FEMA and HLS. Hopefully they will appear on this forum in a timely manner.

[Uncluttered]

Minor Nitpick:
SAC is dead, in its husk is USSTRATCOM.

Hello there.

Unfortunately, your transmission was garbled.
We didn't receive your suggestion, your position, and your government agency.
Can you please resend your information?

The President thanks you for your time.

[Uncluttered]

My mistake. The point was, start warming up the Minutemen-IIs, we may need to use them, if these visitors from the stars turn out to be hostile.

Hello Gentlemen.

The President would like someone to tell him if the Minutemen IIs, or any other nuclear weapons in our inventory for that matter, can be used against a threat from space?

If you can, please give me a citation I can read to him if he has questions.

Thank you.

[Night_stalker]

I have my best codebreakers, on stand by, ready to try and decrypt the message that we will doubtlessly be receiving in return. In addition, we are sweeping all US computer systems just to ensure that we don't have some sort of virus that could leave us open to being hacked already in our systems. So far, we can safely say that Fort Meade, NASA, the NRO, and Langley are safe from potential viral software, and currently, we're working on USSTRATCOM's systems right now.

Currently, I will see about trying to dig up the CIA Director and the deputy director, but Mr. Ryan and Adm. Greer haven't returned my calls. I have contacted USSTRATCOM's potential representative for this grave affair, but he might not return my PM.

Nothing else I can do at the moment, save having a pre-printed D-notice on this ready to issue to any news agency that hears of this, and also issuing a internal memo stating that anyone who leaks this to wikileaks WILL end up spending a very long time in ADX Florence.

[Uncluttered]

Mr. President, Sir I feel I must respond to Dr. Scudder. We must be wary of applying human terminology and thinking to these unknown objects, for all we know the object in Saturn's orbit could be a control ship for the larger objects. While I admit that its distance from the objects makes this unlikely we should not blind ourselves to the possibility. It could also be a one part of a VERY large array of similar sensors.
Also in respect to my colleges statement that the aliens might not be aware of earth and of us I must respectfully disagree. The number of objects in orbit, the constant transmission of signals from radio and satellite sources, combed with the sheer amount of light pollution visible on the dark side of the Earth would all indicate Earth's and Humanities presence.

Thank you again Mr. Gregory.

This is an interesting insight.

The President may want to know the aliens possible motivations.
The President will want to know If they can detect us as well.

Do we have a volunteer on this forum?

[Night_stalker]

My mistake. The point was, start warming up the Minutemen-IIs, we may need to use them, if these visitors from the stars turn out to be hostile.

Hello Gentlemen.

The President would like someone to tell him if the Minutemen IIs, or any other nuclear weapons in our inventory for that matter, can be used against a threat from space?

If you can, please give me a citation I can read to him if he has questions.

Thank you.

http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/USA/index.html

This good enough for the President? I meant Minuteman IIIs, not IIs my mistake. Last I checked, if we perhaps modified them to have a longer range, this would be a technical matter that maybe some one from the military could answer, but their flight paths do take them out of the atmosphere which would mean any low-flying hostiles would get a nasty surprise, but anything past it would be impossible without modifications. Perhaps DARPA could be of assistance to us?

[JGregory32]

I'm guessing the President would probably like you to be more specific about who to contact, when, and most importantly, what we should say to them.

As of this moment my researcher feels that it is only a matter of weeks if not days before the wider astronomical community becomes aware of the object in Saturns orbit, less if the more distant objects engage in any sort of radical maneuvers or engage some method of propulsion that can be detected.
We feel that there is also the possibility that a civilian computer running the popular SETI program might detect something in the backlog of data. Given the world wide distribution of this data and the historical importance of such a discovery we feel that it is a certainty that this will go public sooner rather than later.
Lines of communication should be opened with the Russian, Chinese, European and British space agencies at the top level, we may need their resources and when disclosure happens having everyone on the same page is essential.
At present Earth lacks the ability to send a manned mission past the moon, and a probe towards saturn will takes years even if launched today. If interception is required it may be possible to kludge together a crude orion style probe, though doing so will have sever consequences internationally.
In regards to the wikileak fisaco while we understand its usefulness as a Mossad disinformation vehicle the looming crisis of interplanetary proportion means we can no longer tolerate it. I would advise the President to have the DHS shut it down, I would remind the president that most of the physical infrastructure of the Internet is still under the control of the United States.

[Uncluttered]

I have my best codebreakers, on stand by, ready to try and decrypt the message that we will doubtlessly be receiving in return. In addition, we are sweeping all US computer systems just to ensure that we don't have some sort of virus that could leave us open to being hacked already in our systems. So far, we can safely say that Fort Meade, NASA, the NRO, and Langley are safe from potential viral software, and currently, we're working on USSTRATCOM's systems right now.

Currently, I will see about trying to dig up the CIA Director and the deputy director, but Mr. Ryan and Adm. Greer haven't returned my calls. I have contacted USSTRATCOM's potential representative for this grave affair, but he might not return my PM.

Nothing else I can do at the moment, save having a pre-printed D-notice on this ready to issue to any news agency that hears of this, and also issuing a internal memo stating that anyone who leaks this to wikileaks WILL end up spending a very long time in ADX Florence.

Thank you.

The Casinni data on hard drives is being dispatched to you by courier as I write this. The Casinni probe was not made as an ELINT platform per se, but maybe you can do something with it. The alien probe, we are calling SA-1, was transmitting both radio and laser pulses. Most of what we intercept is coming off of the backscatter from Saturns rings.

Do your best.

Thank you.

[Night_stalker]

The NSA would be glad to shut down Wikileaks, but doing so would require the authorization of POTUS, or a representative of POTUS, preferably declaring that Wikileaks poses a "Clear and Present Danger" to the Safety and Security of the USA...

Also, no estimate on when we'll get a reliable translation, so don't hold your breath. We have no Point of Reference, so we have to try brute-force code breaking, which could take a little while.

[bz249]

Mr. President,

I seriously suggest to do nothing, or almost nothing. Judging the aliens there could be three type of behaviour:
- they are hostile... then I sorry to say, but we are screwed, their main assets (the motherships) are out of our reach, however they can lob anything towards Earth at their will. Our only chance if they, for whatever reason, start a ground invasion. Then our troops might, I have to emphasize might cause them enough damage. However according to the present data, they are not doing anything hostile, so we have plenty of time to prepare
- they are neutral, and have nothing to do with us. Well it seems obvious that they detected our presence, but they might leave us, since we pose them no threat. Such as we do not take a notice of a house sparrow, although we detect it. However any unintended action can change this situation, and from that point they could feel, that we should be neutralized in order to achieve their aims. I also suggest to deactivate the Cassini probe, since its presence in the dangerous zone might trigger some really unwanted event.
- they are friendly. In that case they will try to make contact with us, and this would happen independently of our actions, so there is nothing to do from our side.

What we can do? Well observing the aliens from Earth orbit is not something I consider really dangerous, so using the current space and ground based telescopes should present no hazard. Also we could consider building some deep shelters, so we can save some of our assets in case of a hostile force, which however would not like to take over Earth. We could also start to train our ground force to offer the stiffest possible resistance, but again, I do not really think we can defend ourselves, we can die trying, that´s always possible. The most important thing is however is try to minimize the risk of provocation, so it is better to start international discussion about the situation.

bz

Vice Chairman, Independent Material Scientist Trade Union

[Siege]

Mr. President,

Bob Guns here, Communications Director for the White House. My suggestion is that we inform our allies of the situation, then the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and then disclose to the public what we have found out so far, and keep them updated on the situation as it develops. It will be impossible to keep the alien presence from our allies or indeed the Russians and the Chinese in the long run, so best we bring them in on this early in order to coordinate a response and avoid potentially very unfortunate misunderstandings -- I imagine we want to prevent the Kremlin waming up its missiles because we're going to heightened alert, or because they think we've secretly weaponized space when they weren't looking.

As for informing the public, I believe they have a right to know about what may be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind - the discovery of extraterrestrial life, and the realization that we are truly not alone in the universe. More practically, it is crucial we stay on top of the spin cycle on this one -- should our visitors decide to stick around, which seems probable, it is unlikely their presence can be kept secret indefinitely, and if it gets out in an uncontrolled fashion we may face widespread panic, not to mention allegations of covering this up which wouldn't do the popularity of your administration any favours. If we break the news ourselves we can tailor the story to avoid as much civil unrest as possible. The fact that the extraterrestrials are not showing undue interest in our planet makes a controlled release feasible in my opinion.

Aside from this, as your former campaign director I'd like to point out that should you decide to go public with this, all your current problems are likely to vanish or at the very least appear immaterial; your presidency will be immortalized in the history of mankind simply by virtue of you having been the person up on that stage confirming that we are indeed Not Alone. I think we all know your ratings could do with a good polishing, and this is the best shine that could've possibly come our way.

Thank you.

[Uncluttered]

Good evening gentlemen.
I have a few procedural notes for you.

With us so far we have.

NSA Deputy Director, Information Assurance
JG, President, Historical Imperatives Inc.
Vice Chairman, Independent Material Scientist Trade Union
Dr. Jack Scudder, Executive Director, CDC.
Communications Director for the White House.

Please give your title at the end of each post, as I may forget and misreport the president.
We don't want the SECDEF to run the CDC by mistake.

Based on suggestions from this council, I feel we need of a few more voices. This is a suggestion, and there are no restrictions.

We need astronomers, preferably SETI.
We need an Ambassador to the UN.
We also need people from NASA.

Also. If your organization does not show up on a casual Google search, please tell us about its capabilities when you introduce yourselves.

[Uncluttered]

The NSA would be glad to shut down Wikileaks, but doing so would require the authorization of POTUS, or a representative of POTUS, preferably declaring that Wikileaks poses a "Clear and Present Danger" to the Safety and Security of the USA...

Your suggestion is noted on the record.

[Uncluttered]

Mr. President,

Bob Guns here, Communications Director for the White House. My suggestion is that we inform our allies of the situation, then the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and then disclose to the public what we have found out so far, and keep them updated on the situation as it develops. It will be impossible to keep the alien presence from our allies or indeed the Russians and the Chinese in the long run, so best we bring them in on this early in order to coordinate a response and avoid potentially very unfortunate misunderstandings -- I imagine we want to prevent the Kremlin waming up its missiles because we're going to heightened alert, or because they think we've secretly weaponized space when they weren't looking.

As for informing the public, I believe they have a right to know about what may be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind - the discovery of extraterrestrial life, and the realization that we are truly not alone in the universe. More practically, it is crucial we stay on top of the spin cycle on this one -- should our visitors decide to stick around, which seems probable, it is unlikely their presence can be kept secret indefinitely, and if it gets out in an uncontrolled fashion we may face widespread panic, not to mention allegations of covering this up which wouldn't do the popularity of your administration any favours. If we break the news ourselves we can tailor the story to avoid as much civil unrest as possible. The fact that the extraterrestrials are not showing undue interest in our planet makes a controlled release feasible in my opinion.

Aside from this, as your former campaign director I'd like to point out that should you decide to go public with this, all your current problems are likely to vanish or at the very least appear immaterial; your presidency will be immortalized in the history of mankind simply by virtue of you having been the person up on that stage confirming that we are indeed Not Alone. I think we all know your ratings could do with a good polishing, and this is the best shine that could've possibly come our way.

Thank you.

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.

[Solauren]

[I understand Solauren wants this post removed, not sure, but spoilering it until he confirms it ~NL]
Spoiler

Greetings Mr. President.

Agent M. Division 6.

In addition to the suggestions already given to you, I'd like to make refinements.

Attempting to Make Contact
Should we attempt to make contact with the objects (and we should only do so if a majority of World leaders agree), we should transmit messages to them in all known Earth languages, and alphabets (living and dead). It's possible these aliens have made contact with Earth in the past, or have intercepted and translated some of our transmissions, but not nessacarily those in English, or using the Roman Alphabet.

We should also include visuals of ourselves (both genders, and a varient of ethnitic's and body shapes), and a political map of the Earth, with potiental landing sites marked out. Let the aliens know we are interesting in peaceful contact.

Diplomatic Posture
In the event of the alien devices/vessels moving towards Earth, we should begin preparing the marked landing sites for the arrival of the aliens. As mentioned, every precaution should be taken. I would also like to suggest;

The military should not be in charge of any first contact attempts, anywhere. They should provide security only. No direct combat vehicles nearby (i.e Tanks), but nearby bases on stand-by to get to the area quickly. Keep any hard-combat and direct-combat vehicles a respectful distance away. Preferably out of line of sight on the ground, but visible from the air/orbit.

Military Personnel assigned to landing sites need to undergo tight psychological screening. We don't need the interplanetary version of a international incident because a soldier had a negative or adverse emtional or psychological reaction to the aliens. On that note, it would be a good idea to keep any military animals away from the landing site, for the same consideration to alien visitors.

Let scientists and diplomats (trained to work with the scientists) make contact. Civilians should not be allowed anywhere near the contact zones. (Marked as landing sites above). The security perimeter for these sites should be at least 40 kilometers, if not more. Anyone caught in the landing sites without the proper authorization, at any time, should be placed in detention.