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Alien Contact Illegal in US

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the you-gotta-read-this dept.

Hard_Code writes "Apparently it is illegal for United States citizens to make contact with aliens and their vehicles. " This is bizarre as hell. Not much in the way of proof, but its still pretty interesting. I'll definitely be giving extra terrestrials the silent treatment next time they try to abduct me. Update: 10/30 05:55 by CT : several people pointed out that this is an Urban Legend. Pretty cool.

13 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Uh oh.. by pen · · Score: 4
    I guess I better not post on Slashdot anymore...

    P.S. Very interesting, I got some errors when I tried to post this message - my browser refused to talk to www.slashdot.org (tried all 3 IPs). THEY'RE TRYING TO SILENCE ME!

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  2. Um... it is legal, after all. by Kid+Zero · · Score: 5

    let's see if I can copy this right..

    http://www.cninews.com/Search/CNI.0199.html

    This article says it is legal again, since 1991.

    Which means it's been legal to talk to me since I was, oh, 23 or so.

  3. This is B.S. by kaphka · · Score: 3

    You can find Title 14, Section 1211 (or rather, the lack thereof) at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/cf r/14p1211.htm#14p1211s .

    I know Rob can't personally verify every story before he posts it. But shouldn't you be a little more careful with a particularly implausible and inflammatory one, like this one? It took me ten minutes on Google to find this information.

    (I hope this isn't a double post... my first version of this comment mysteriously vanished, along with about twenty other posts.)

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    MSK

  4. Thoughts on the matter by Tobor+the+Eighth+Man · · Score: 3

    Well, in my opinion, I believe that this may actually be a good idea, to some degree. Imagine what happened to the native cultures when the Conquistadors landed in South America, but on a much larger scale. Any viral bodies that these "visitors" might be carrying could have devastating effects to humans.

    Now, while I don't think that this is necessary legislation (if indeed it's actually in existence), I think that it may indeed be a good idea to at least ask those aliens to wash their hands before you let them in your house.

  5. Hoax by breser · · Score: 5
    Title 14, Section 1211 CFR does not even exist. Take a look for yourself.

    *sigh* repost because /. lost my original post.

  6. Imagine that... by quonsar · · Score: 3

    and here I am on my way out the door to meet the ambassador from Arbarkulous Maalb for lunch.

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    "Rex unto my cleeb, and thou shalt have everlasting blort." - Zorp 3:16

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    Sacred cows make the best burgers.

  7. Found Where It Was Removed... by 8Complex · · Score: 3

    1211 Removed in 1991 and I think its a page next to it 19259, but who the hell would have a copy of this thing on their shelf with THAT many pages...

    http://frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgat e.cgi?WAISdocID=203086071+14+0+0&WAISactio n=retrieve

    That is the line where I found it... If you're too lazy to go see it I'll paste that small section here...

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1991

    14 CFR
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 FR
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page
    Chapter V
    1204.501 (a) revised........................................... ............57592
    1204.503 (b), (f)(3)(i)(D), (ii), (g) and (i) revised.............57592
    1204.504 (a), (e)(3)(ii)(B), (iii), (f) and (h) revised...........57592
    1204.1400--1204.1407 (Subpart 14) Revised................35812
    1205 Removed........................................... ...................14191
    1209.100--1209.104 (Subpart 1) Revised........................8910
    1211 Removed........................................... ....................19259
    1213.102 (a) introductory text revised..............................66787

    Hope the HTML works, I'm not too familiar with it on /.

    [after preview] Ok... so you can't use PRE on the board? What a pain in the ass... So I formatted with Period's by hand... hope you all can read it :-)

    - 8Complex

  8. Laws vs. Regulations by phliar · · Score: 3
    14 CFR 1211 100 through 108 was removed by Richard Truly on 26 Apr 1991 (which in itself struck many people as odd, since theoretically only Congress can repeal laws

    There's a difference between Laws and Regulations, and CFR means Code of Federal Regulations. (14 CFR, for example, contains all the Federal Aviation Regulations: Parts 1 - 199.) Regulations are a civil, not a criminal, matter.

    You cannot be imprisoned for violating a regulation, but other sanctions and fines can be applied. But you don't necessarily have the usual constitutional protections of due process etc. in a regulatory process.

    The CFR's tend to be very technical, and the average congress person has no hope of understanding them. Try browsing Title 14. For example, 91.175 - Takeoff and Landing Under IFR.

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    Unlimited growth == Cancer.
  9. Phone home--best rates by Scurrilous+Knave · · Score: 4

    Hey, I mean, If you saw an alien who needed to use your phone what would YOU do?

    Probably the same thing Ed O'Neill did, and tell him about 1-800-COLLECT. Save fifty percent to all calls in the Orion Arm, sixty after Galactic Midnight.
  10. Uh, Dont Look Now, But... by quonsar · · Score: 3

    Alright, about ten minutes ago there were about two dozen comments-- where the hell did they all go??

    Can you say "alien abduction"?

    ======
    "Rex unto my cleeb, and thou shalt have everlasting blort." - Zorp 3:16

    --

    Sacred cows make the best burgers.

  11. Fight the power by gad_zuki! · · Score: 5
    Right now the ACLU is fighting to keep movies like E.T. and Starman, which glamorize criminal alien activities, from being taken off the shelves at local video stores.

    "1211, talking to aliens is no fun!" chanted an angry crowd outside of Blockbuster today. Debbie Smith, local protester, had this to say, "Look at Drew Barrymore, she played with that little brown alien and look what happened to her - drugs, booze, sex, is this what we're trying to tell our young people?!?"

    ACLU spokesman Kent Harris replied, "Talking to aliens is every man and woman's right. George Washington was a mason and all they do is talk to aliens, well sometimes they talk to scientologists but thats about the same thing."

  12. Hardly sensational by Chris+Marlowe · · Score: 4

    The point about the Star being a tabloid is well-taken. Certainly it explains the bizarre slant given the story.

    The regulation in question was the enforcement for the biological-isolation régime observed after Apollo 11, 12, and (I think) 14. Astronauts returning from the moon had to wear respirators and (at first) suits; the command module had to be sealed, and anything exposed in the course of getting the astronauts out of it disinfected; the crew had to spend a couple of weeks in a negative-pressure lab; workers exposed to moon rocks were also put in the lab.

    It was done, not because anyone thought it likely that there were Moon Germs, but because if there were, it'd look stupid not to have taken precautions.

    As with any quarantine, this had the force of law, and the power to enforce it resided, not in the Public Health Service or USAMRIID, but NASA, in the person of its administrator. That's all the reg said.

  13. in the light by lawn_ornament · · Score: 3

    of this, I think this little play is appropriate:

    "ET phone home... ET PHONE HOME!!"
    "Hell no.. I'm not allowed to have any sort of contact with you, I'll be damned if I let you use my phone!"

    Hey, I mean, If you saw an alien who needed to use your phone what would YOU do?

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    Killroy Woz Here