59 214434 Sp 16 7 18 1963

Summary

Six-page memorandum from the Executive Office of the President, dated 1963 and addressed to Robert F. Packard of the Department of State Office of International Scientific Affairs, titled Thoughts on the Space Alien Race Question. Signed by professional staff member Maxwell W. Hunter, II, it weighs the scientific consensus that intelligent life in the solar system is unlikely against the claims of flying-saucer advocates and discusses the possibility of Martian bases on the moon, lunar anomalies such as crater Alphonsus, and the prospects for interstellar visitors. The memo concludes that any policy response would depend on the visitors' level of space technology and that no useful preparation is possible in advance.