A newly released Freedom of Information Act response from NASA reveals internal discussions focused on how the agency would communicate a confirmed discovery of extraterrestrial life.
This includes details about a 2025 meeting convened to outline a formal communications protocol.
The records stem from a request seeking documents related to “agency-level planning, policy, or procedural guidance addressing the detection, reporting, analysis, or response to the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence, extraterrestrial life, or non-terrestrial technological signals.”
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2025 Meeting Focused on “Definitive Discovery of ET Life”
Central to the release is a June 2025 Microsoft Teams meeting invitation and related email correspondence documenting a discussion among NASA personnel and affiliated participants.
The purpose of the meeting is described directly in the invitation:
“This is a meeting to work with Linda to develop ideas toward rough outlining of how an official communications protocol for a definitive discovery of ET life might look…”
The same communication indicates the effort was not new, referencing prior internal work:
“I’ll send around some materials/thoughts Mary, Jim Green, and I developed awhile back on this.”
The participants include individuals associated with NASA’s science mission and astrobiology communications efforts, including David H. Grinspoon and Linda Billings, both of whom have longstanding roles in public engagement and the societal implications of astrobiology research.
Hellbound and Down 