SO FAR INCONCLUSIVE AND NO
EVIDENCE OF AIR SPACESHIPS.
NEIL: SO ABOVE SOME OF THE
INCIDENTS YOU SEE HAPPENING ON
PLANES BUT SCARY STUFF,
NONETHELESS.
FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT IS WITH
US.
TOM, GOOD TO HAVE YOU BECAUSE
NOW WE ARE LOOKING AT EXPANDING
SPACE MISSIONS THIS TIME, JUST
LIKE SOME OF OUR MORE
SPECTACULAR INVENTIONS TO MARS
HAS BEEN UNMANNED.
WE ARE TOLD THAT IN THE CASE OF
VENUS, FOR EXAMPLE, INDIA, JAPAN CAN FOLLOW US.
CAN FOLLOW US.
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF UNMANNED
MISSIONS?
>> IN THE LAST LANDER FROM THE
RUSSIANS WAS IN 1985.
A LOT OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
FROM VENUS.
WE IGNORED OUR TWIN PLANET
BECAUSE IT’S A HARSH ENVIRONMENT
TO OPERATE IN.
IF YOU PUT A SPACECRAFT IN THE
SERVICE IT’S GOING TO GET COOKED
IN AN HOUR OR CRUSHED BY THE
IMMENSE PRESSURE OF THE
ATMOSPHERE, 92 TIMES OF EARTH’S
SURFACE PRESSURE HERE.
IT’S A TOUGH PLACE TO GO VISIT
BUT THERE’S A LOT OF QUESTIONS
UNANSWERED WHY THE PLANET WENT
OFF THE RAILS AND BECOME A HELL
HOUSE, RUN AWAY GREENHOUSE, IF
YOU WILL, AND WHY IS IT
DIFFERENT OR LIKE EARTH IN TERMS
OF ITS COMPOSITION AND WHY DID
WE HAVE DIVERGENT PATHS IN ITS
NEAREST NEIGHBOR.
NEIL: PART OF CURIOSITY THAT IT
MIGHT PROVIDE KEY LESSONS THAT
TURNED OCEANS WE ARE TOLD INTO
BOILING ONES IF THEY EXIST AT
ALL ANYMORE, WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>> ONE OF THE BIGGEST QUESTIONS.
EARTH GOT A LOT OF WATER WHEN IT
WAS FORMED OUT OF THE SOLAR
NEBULA.
VENUS SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A
SIMILAR COMPLEMENT, MAYBE LITTLE
BIT LESS BECAUSE IT’S CLOSER TO
THE SUN BUT IF IT DID HAVE
OCEANS IN THE PAST AND BOILED
AWAY, CAN WE PROVE THAT AND ONE
OF THE PROBES WILL PARACHUTE IN
THE ATMOSPHERE AND LOOK FOR THE
LEFTOVER GASES IN THE ATMOSPHERE
THAT MIGHT BE THE CLUES, THE
FINGERPRINT OF AN ANCIENT OCEAN
AND THE OTHER PROBE WILL TAKE
RADAR IN IMAGES TO HAVE PLANET
AND DETAILED MAP, YOU MIGHT BE
ABLE TO SEE SHORELINE OR OCEAN
BEACH TERRACES FROM MILLIONS
YEARS AGO.
GET SOME GOOD CLUES ABOUT THE
EARLY DIVERGENCE OF PATHS FOR
EARTH AND VENUS THIS WAY.
NEIL: WE WE ALWAYS TALK BACK AND
FORTH AND LIFE IN OTHER WORLDS
AND THE UFO’S INCIDENTS THAT THE
MILITARY IS RELEASING, I’M JUST
WONDERING YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT
AND -- AND WHETHER YOU BELIEVE
THEY ARE OUT THERE, WHETHER THEY
ARE OUT AND NOW VISITING EARTH?
>> SO BIG PICTURE, I THINK, OUR
MILKY WAY GALAXY HAS 40 BILLION
EARTH-LIKE PLANET SO THE ODDS OF
US BEING THE ONLY IN HABITAT
PLANET ARE PRETTY SMALL.
I THINK THERE ARE INTELLIGENCE
OUT THERE AND I DON’T THINK THEY
ARE IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO WARRANT
A VISIT BY ANY CIVILIZATION
THAT’S OUT THERE.
I’D LIKE TO SEE MORE EVIDENCE OF
THESE SIGHTINGS OF UFO’S I’VE
NOT SEEN ONE IN SPACE OR ON THE
GROUND AND SO UNTIL I GET SOME
CONCRETE PIECES OF THESE CRAFT
OR MACHINES OR PHENOMENA, YOU
KNOW, I REALLY CAN’T SAY THAT
THEY ARE ANYTHING TO WORRY
ABOUT.
WHAT DOES WORRY, ME, THOUGH,
THAT THEY MIGHT BE TERRESTRIAL,
ADVERSARIES MACHINES, DRONES OR,
OTHER MILITARY EQUIPMENT THAT’S
BEING TESTED AND THAT WE JUST
DON’T HAVE A HANDLE ON.
I LIKE TO THINK THAT WE HAVE
SOMETHING IN OUR BACK POCKET
HERE AND IT’S A U.S. MACHINE
THAT’S BEING TESTED AND JUST
MOST PEOPLE AREN’T READ IN ON IT
JUST LIKE WE HAVE SECRETARY
CRAFT PROGRAMS IN THE LAST
DECADES.
NEIL: WHATEVER THE IMAGES -- I’M
SORRY, TOM, WHATEVER THE IMAGES
ARE, LOOKED LIKE UNIDENTIFIED
FLYING OBJECTS MIGHT BE
EARTH-MADE OBJECTS BUT MAYBE NOT
FROM US BUT FROM OTHER
COUNTRIES.
THAT COULD BE SCARY TOO IF SOME
OF THEM HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY THAT
WE DO NOT AND ALL THE
IMPLICATIONS OF THAT, DOES THAT
CONCERN YOU?
>> WELL, WE SHOULD BE PROPERLY
CONCERNED AND MAKE SURE THAT WE
CAN ELIMINATE THAT THERE ARE AN
ADVISORY’S CRAFT AS ANSWER TO
THE QUESTION.
THERE ARE SIGHTINGS THAT CAN’T
EXPLAIN.
THESE ARE REAL THINGS THAT
PEOPLE HAVE SEEN.
SOME OF THEM ARE CASES OF
MISTAKEN IDENTITY, AIRLINER OR A
PLANET SHIMMERING IN THE
ATMOSPHERE, BUT WE SHOULD MAKE
THAT SHE SHALL WE CAN RULE OUT
THAT THEY ARE FLOWN BY CHINESE
OR RUSSIAN CONTROLLERS
SOMEWHERE.
I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT WHEN
I WAS IN THE AIR FORCE FLYING BY
52’S, I DIDN’T KNOW OF
CLASSIFIED PROGRAMS THAT THE AIR
FORCE WAS OPERATING.
IF I SPOTTED ONE OF THOSE I WOULD HAVE EXPLAINED OTHER THAN
WOULD HAVE EXPLAINED OTHER THAN
SAYING IT WAS A UF OF -- UFO.
NEIL: I WAS READING FROM -- I
DON’T REMEMBER THE EXACT NUMBER
BUT CHINA SPENDING ON SPACE
EFFORTS, ALL THE OTHER NATIONS
ARE INCLUDED COMBINED, DOES THAT
CONCERN YOU IN ANY LEVEL?
>> I’M CONCERNED THAT CHINA IS
MAKING RAPID ADVANCES IN SPACE
TO SHOW TECHNOLOGICAL TO SHOW
ITS THE LEADER IN TECHNOLOGY.
I THINK THE CHINESE ARE BEHIND
US.
WE’VE LANDED ROVERS ON VENUS,
SPACECRAFT SINCE 1976 AND THEY
ARE JUST GETTING THEIR FIRST ONE
DOWN.
THEY HAVE A LOT OF GROUND TO
MAKE UP AND I THINK WE SHOULD
KEEP OUR TECHNOLOGICAL LEAD BY
TAKING ON CHALLENGING TASKS LIKE
VISITING THE SURFACE OF VENUS OR
PUTTING A SEARCH FOR LIFE ON THE
JUPITER MOON EUROPA AND PUTTING
PEOPLE BACK ON THE MOON SO WE
ARE WELL AHEAD OF FRIENDLY
ADVERSARIES AND HUMAN SPACE
EXPLORATION.
NEIL: ALL RIGHT.
AS LONG AS THEY STAY FRIENDLY