Empty Bleachers: Are We Must See ET TV?

If UFOs are in fact the product of a nonhuman intelligence visiting Earth, it stands to reason that they’d be capable of monitoring our airwaves. With all of the recent hoopla surrounding UFOs, we think it’s likely they’d be paying extra-close attention to news stories starring them.

It raises the question: What might they learn after spending a little time channel surfing?

The first thing they’d probably glean is that they don’t have to prepare themselves for “disclosure” anytime soon. Our species can’t stick with one thing long enough to reach a settlement—especially with a subject as elusive as UFOs. Our society has developed a short attention span. We demand answers NOW! We want to Google it, Bing it, chat customer service 24/7, and get same-day delivery from Amazon. We don’t like waiting. We want immediate satisfaction. UFOs, on the other hand, are the antithesis of instant gratification. They are a long, slow burn that holds no promise of a pending resolution.

Tangible events like New York Times articles, congressional hearings, and breathless TV interviews provide a quick hit for the UFO curious; but the fleeting nature of the phenomenon itself means there are no solid conclusions on the horizon. Consequently, once the cameras and bright lights are put away, the audience disappears as well.

Case in point—no one cares about David Grusch anymore. The guy ‘bum-Grusched’ the establishment with stories about UFO crash retrievals and recovered alien bodies, but somehow his allegations failed to make a significant or lasting impact on the greater public consciousness.

If Google Trends is any indication, online inquiries for “David Grusch” ramped up after his initial June 2023 interview in The Debrief. They peaked in July after his televised congressional appearance. Just 30 days later, searches for “David Grusch” flat-lined back to their pre-Debrief levels. They’ve been languishing near the bottom ever since.

What would alien onlookers make of this collective apathy towards the topic? Does the fact that most people brushed off Grusch’s revelations prove that we’re psychologically prepared to handle the truth about extraterrestrials? It’s possible that society would absorb the news in less time than it takes to scroll to the next trending topic. Would our general indifference make ETs more or less likely to reveal their presence?

If UFOnauts were keeping an eye on our media broadcasts, they’d be familiar with the various groups advocating for (and against) Disclosure. Would they be split on which side should prevail? Do alien audiences get to vote on whether or not they should “out” themselves to the people of Earth like they’re casting a ballot for their favorite American Idol? After watching an episode of Ancient Aliens or some other embodiment of the hokey cottage industry built up like a favela around the UFO topic, would our space brothers be itching to land on the White House lawn just so they could set the record straight?

Or maybe they’d approve of the low signal-to-noise ratio. With so many disparate depictions of ETs in the media, their true nature and intentions remain muddled and unclear.

If nonhuman intelligences were reviewing Earth’s transmissions, they’d probably study them to measure our cultural reaction to their presence. Like tossing a rock into a pond to observe the ripples, extraterrestrial experimenters need only blink into view for a brief moment before hurrying back to their monitors to see how the “sighting” gets portrayed on TV. The way our culture interprets their actions and motivations would reveal a lot about our species’ disposition.

Then again, if UFO occupants decided to take a more “hands-on” approach to our planet’s broadcast frequencies, they could potentially manipulate the content being relayed. While the “deep fake” videos created by humans today are still rather primitive, imagine what might be possible with sophisticated alien technology. Perhaps they’d be able to fabricate entire television series and news segments—a primetime lineup of AI-generated propaganda that could sway public opinion in favor of their alien agenda. It couldn’t be any worse than the trash aired on TV today. If nothing else, alien-AI would explain why ABC News’ David Muir is so out-of-this-world handsome.

Most likely, our UFO friends don’t spend a lot of time in front of the tube. Even with endless channels to choose from, there’s nothing good on—especially about UFOs. It’s mostly reruns and pharmaceutical commercials, leaving little room for earth-shattering intergalactic intrigue.

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