Record

Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies

A June 1947 document presenting views attributed to J. Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein on the legal, political and security implications of relationships between humanity and inhabitants of other celestial bodies.

Pdf · J. Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein · 1947-06 · 6 pages

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1947-06

According to Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies, dated 1947-06, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein considered relations with extraterrestrial beings both legally familiar in principle and difficult in practice.¹² The document distinguishes between accepting the possibility of mutual understanding and determining the principles on which such relationships would rest.³ It presents communication through a language, together with a psychology sufficiently similar to that of humans, as a necessary first condition.⁴ Its proposed legal framework is a new field called Law Among Planetary Peoples, which would require changes so fundamental that it might no longer be regarded as international law.⁵

The document considers political recognition, settlement and conflict. It states that culturally and politically organised extraterrestrial beings would have a right to recognition as independent and sovereign peoples, while allowing only a necessary degree of legitimate defence if they became an imminent threat to Earth.⁶⁷ It also discusses whether a human population could become culturally independent on another celestial body, with living conditions on the moon or Mars needing to support stable and partly economically independent life.⁸ In considering beings who might settle on Earth, it uses the term extraterrestrial biological entity (EBE).⁹ Possible roles for the United Nations (UN) include tacit approval of tutelage, although the document also argues that the UN would not automatically have authority over humanity.¹⁰¹¹

A further subject is the legal status of celestial territory. The document defines res nullius as something belonging to nobody and proposes that an inhabited body would instead be res communis, with equal rights for celestial states.¹²¹³ It also addresses unidentified spacecraft, stating that their presence in Earth’s atmosphere was accepted de facto by the US military and linking unidentified space vehicles with security anxiety among major powers.¹⁴¹⁵ The possibility of mistaking such a craft for a missile is presented as a route to accidental nuclear war, and the situation is described as extremely perilous.¹⁶¹⁷ The document identifies both men as being based in USA, New Jersey, Princeton; an unnamed annotator additionally recorded an approach to George Marshall and a conversation with Gordon concerning its prospects for presidential consideration.¹⁸¹⁹²⁰²¹

References (21)

Oppenheimer and Einstein considered relations with extraterrestrial men to pose no fundamentally new problem for international law.
“Relationships with extraterrestrial men presents no bascially new problem from the standpoint of international law”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:244-355
They considered contact with intelligent non-human beings difficult to address.
“the possibility of confronting intelligent beings that do not belong to the human race would bring up problems whose solution it is difficult to conceive”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:364-509
They distinguished the possibility of understanding extraterrestrial beings from the difficulty of establishing governing principles.
“In principle, there is no difficulty in accepting the possibility of coming to an understanding with them, and of establishing all kinds of relationships. The difficulty lies in trying to establish the principles on which these relationships should be based.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:520-772
They proposed language and a sufficiently similar psychology as conditions for communication.
“it would be necessary to establish communication with them through some language or other, and afterwards, as a first condition for all intelligence, that they should have a psychology similar to that of men”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:800-1004
They proposed a new law called Law Among Planetary Peoples.
“international law should make place for a new law on a different basis, and it might be called "Law Among Planetary Peoples," following the guidelines found in the Pentateuch”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:1023-1187
They argued that culturally and politically organised extraterrestrial beings would have a right to recognition as sovereign peoples.
“If these intelligent beings were in possession of a more or less culture, and a more or less perfect political organization, they would have an absolute right to be recognized as independent and sovereign peoples”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:1566-1771
They allowed for a limited right of legitimate defence against an imminent extraterrestrial threat.
“if they should reject all peaceful cooperation and become an imminent threat to the earth, we would have the right to legitimate defense, but only insofar as would be necessary to annul this danger”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:1984-2175
They discussed conditions for independent settlement on the moon or Mars.
“living conditions on these bodies lets say the moon, or the planet Mars, would have to be such as to permit a stable, and to a certain extent, independent life, from an economic standpoint”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:2634-2812
They used the term extraterrestrial biological entities for inhabitants of celestial bodies in a settlement scenario.
“Now we come to the problem of determining what to do if the inhabitants of celestial bodies, or extraterrestrial biological entitles (EBE) desire to settle here.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:3970-4126
They proposed that the United Nations might tacitly approve a form of tutelage.
“A superior form of colonizing will have to be conceived, that could be a kind of tutelage, possibly through the tacit approval of the United Nations.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:4531-4672
They argued that the United Nations would not automatically possess authority over humanity.
“Although the United Nations is an international organization, there is no doubt that it would have no right of tutelage, since its domain does not extend beyond relationships between its members.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:4814-5001
They described res nullius as territory belonging to nobody.
“Res nullius is something that belongs to nobody such as the moon. In international law a celestial body is not subject to the sovereignty of any state is considered res nullius.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:8250-8419
They proposed that an inhabited celestial body would instead be res communis.
“If it could be established that a celestial body within our solar system such as our moon was, or is occupied by another celestial race, there could be no claim of res nullius by any state on earth (if that state should decide in the future to send explorers to lay claim to it). It would exist as res communis, that is that all celestial states have the same rights over it.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:8428-8800
They stated that the US military accepted unidentified spacecraft in Earth's atmosphere as a de facto presence.
“The presence of unidentified space craft flying in our atmosphere (and possibly maintaining orbits about our planet) is now, however, accepted as de facto by our military.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:8958-9120
They connected unidentified space vehicles with security anxiety among major powers.
“The use of the atomic bomb combined with space vehicles poses a threat on a scale which makes it absolutely necessary to come to an agreement in this area. With the appearance of unidentified space vehicles (opinions are sharply divided as to their origin) over the skies of Europe and the United States has sustained an ineradical fear, an anxiety about security, that is driving the great powers to make an effort to find a solution to the threat.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:9643-10085
They warned that misidentifying an unidentified spacecraft as a missile could lead to accidental nuclear war.
“One must consider the fact that mis-identification of these space craft for a intercontenental missile in a re-entry phase of flight could lead to accidental nuclear war with horrible consequences.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:11240-11424
They concluded that the situation concerning celestial spacecraft was extremely perilous.
“it is our professional opinion based on submitted data that this situation is extremely perilous, and measures must be taken to rectify a very serious problem are very apparent”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:11745-11937
Oppenheimer was identified as Director of Advanced Studies, based in Princeton, New Jersey.
“Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer / Director of Advanced Studies / Princeton, New Jersey”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:11968-12039
Einstein was identified as Professor, based in Princeton, New Jersey.
“Professor Albert Einstein / Princeton, New Jersey”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:12052-12094
An unnamed annotator understood that Oppenheimer approached George Marshall about discussing the document with the President, but that Marshall rebuffed the idea.
“I understand Oppenheimer approached Marshall while they attended ceremony at {{illegible}} As I understand it Marshall rebuffed the idea of Oppenheimer discussing this with the President.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:12250-12427
An unnamed annotator wrote that Gordon agreed the President was unlikely to consider the document.
“I talked to Gordon, and he agreed.”
Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies char:12438-12465

Relationships with Inhabitants of Celestial Bodies

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