If there was someone who opened the way of science for the general public, it was Carl Sagan. The renowned cosmologist took his vision far beyond academic fields, transforming science into a possible way for anyone who wanted to approach it. With his eloquent way of conducting one of the most-watched scientific programs in the world, Cosmos, Sagan took us through the cosmological history of the Universe. But even the greatest science propagator of the cosmos had to keep himself quiet about certain things. To preserve the respect of the scientific community, Carl Sagan had to keep a secret, or so thinks Bryce Zabel, a believer in the UFO phenomenon (Unidentified Flying Object).
For anyone who loves Sagan’s work, it will not be strange that the cosmologist considered the existence of life outside our planet. Not only in the poetically hypothetical degree, which he left exemplified in his novel Contact, but also beyond imagination. After all, if he always encouraged his audience to know and think beyond the obvious, why shouldn’t he?
Beyond Saturn
On the anniversary of the launch of Voyager II, and to celebrate the transit of the spacecraft that had traveled for four years to cross near Saturn, the science fiction writer, Bryce Zabel, wanted to approach Sagan to know his thoughts on the existence of extraterrestrial life. Until then, Sagan had only suggested between the lines the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence, yet he never spoke openly about the UFO phenomenon.
“I got to present Saturn and Beyond, and it was going to be Carl Sagan and me, live, without commercial interruption, for thirty minutes in a program that was picked up by PBS for broadcast in the United States,” wrote Zabel about the night he shared a table with Sagan to direct the program regarding Voyager II’s transit near Saturn. “The show was great. Carl Sagan was great. He gave us everything we could wish for and more,” said Bryce in an article titled My UFO Debate with Carl Sagan.
An unexpected plot twist
After the broadcast, Zabel walked his special guest to his car, and it was here that things got really interesting. The (now) screenwriter launched a question that would change the course of the night completely.
“You are famous for saying that there are billions of stars in the Universe. In fact, you have said that you believe that the Universe is full of life, and that part of it must be intelligent, probably more advanced than we are. But you also insist that none of these other beings could really be here on Earth because the distances are too vast”.
Then Sagan’s smile completely fell apart in an instant, and he replied with a playful “What’s your point?”
“Well, you want us to look for radio signals from other civilizations in space. Yet, you say in Cosmos that UFOs aren’t worth investigating because they can’t be here in the first place. You’re a scientist. Why wouldn’t you want to investigate it, especially since it could prove we’re not alone?” Zabel refuted.
“I also said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” stated Sagan. “The claims I’ve seen don’t come with a lot of proof.”
After this, Zabel did not have contact with Sagan who, unfortunately, passed away at an early age. But after four decades of this strange conversation, the science fiction writer was left pondering. From his perspective, Carl Sagan had to suppress his curious instinct on the UFO subject for fear of losing all credibility.
Carl Sagan and the UFO phenomenon
At that time Harvard had already denied Sagan a place, and he was also in the sights of both the scientific community and the millions of viewers of Cosmos. Any misstep would have ruined his career as a scientist. And perhaps having shown his thinking openly about the UFO phenomenon would have been the end. For this reason, Sagan had to learn to keep quiet about some aspects, due to the possibility of not being taken seriously. Or at least that’s what Zabel thinks since they lived in times when prejudices reigned over the exploration of certain areas of research.
Even so, it seems that these taboos have been breaking down little by little. The Pentagon itself has accepted the veracity of some videos where the UFO phenomenon is appreciated, and NASA has programs to search for intelligent life. After all, we could not hold for long the idea that we are the only ones living in this vast Universe.
Text and photos courtesy of Ecoosfera
Body photo by Sam Falconer
Translated by Gaby Flores