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153 tions, and alien interference in human affairs were staples of the long- running television series “The X-Files.” The dialogue of the deaf continues to the present day. UFO advocates continue to claim that governments know UFOs are alien spacecraft but will not release that information to the public. Governments, to the extent that they respond to such allegations, deny them. Meanwhile, several polls have suggested that a majority of Americans continue to believe that flying saucers exist and are here. The proportion of believers seems to be less among Europeans, but still is high.** UFOs and SETI SETI scientists have resisted any linkage between their search and the UFO phenomenon, seeing that as a serious threat to the credibility of their enterprise. They generally reject the idea that UFOs are extrater- restrial visitors, or keep quiet about the issue. Jill Tarter showed how sensitive this was when she wrote a blistering letter to a newspaper that had paired a story about SETI with a feature about a UFO “nut case.” Emphasizing the effort expended over two decades to distinguish the science of SETI from the pseudo-science and outright fraud that characterizes the UFO community, she declared that such irresponsible journalism can threaten federal funding. In 1981, Frank Drake asserted that there is no evidence that any UFO is the product of another civilization. He went beyond that 17 years later. If UFO reports are real, he said, they must be due to extraterrestrial spacecraft. As interstellar travel is impossible, UFO reports may be discounted. By keeping extraterrestrial intelligence far away from us, SETI researchers avoid public attention that might attract the lunatic fringe. To some extent, this strategy has worked. By contrast with UFO studies, SETI is seen as a middle-of-the-road scientific activity. There is a down side. In its eagerness to avoid being tainted by the UFO issue, the SETI community has excluded any form of direct contact from its calculations. Many refuse even to acknowledge that the possi- bility of such contact should be studied objectively. Other, equally intel- ligent and scientifically trained people protest that contact through interstellar probes is as credible as helpful messages from the stars. Psychiatrists Lester Grinspoon and Alan Persky were impressed by the unusual emotions exhibited by both witnesses and interpreters of UFO phenomena. Unlike most scientific topics, UFOs seemed to rouse a fervor usually reserved for politics, morality, or religion.*” Those who debate the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence sometimes display similar zeal. Fact, Speculation, and Disinformation Fact, Speculation, and Disinformation