(NewsNation) — More than half of all Americans believe intelligent life exists on other planets, according to NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ polling, and you can count astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson among them.
Tyson said Monday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” it would be “unrealistic” to “demand of the universe that we are alone.”
“I can tell you that I wouldn’t be terrified if the universe were filled with life. I mean, that’d be great. We’re here. That would be just fine,” Tyson said. “Let’s learn more about them.”
Discussions about extraterrestrials have taken on a life of their own in recent months following claims from a government whistleblower that the Pentagon is shielding information about a decadeslong crash retrieval program.
It led to a congressional hearing this summer and legislation that would require the government to disclose some records about unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, what are more commonly referred to as UFOs.
Tyson previously told NewsNation that he needs “better data” on the UAP matter and says in science, experiments are better than observations.
“If he’s got aliens in a locked box somewhere and no one can see it, that’s the same thing to a scientist as having no alien at all if it can’t be shared with the scientific community,” Tyson said.
The whistleblower, former military intelligence officer David Grusch, has been pushing for more transparency.
Tyson says the military should study UAPs if they’ve found them but pushed back on the idea that everything about them should be disclosed if the information puts the public at risk.
“If there’s something we don’t understand flying around, yes, military, go check it out, and if it’s a threat to us, do something about it. That’s what we pay you for,” Tyson said. “There’s a Pentagon that’s charged with figuring this out, and I would expect some of that to be classified. … We recognize that the U.S. military is making an informed judgment about what they withhold from us and what they don’t.”