This is more important to the UN than stopping Iranian nukes

THE United Nations was set today to appoint an obscure Malaysian astrophysicist to act as Earth’s first contact for any aliens that may come visiting.

Mazlan Othman, the head of the UN's little-known Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa), is to describe her potential new role next week at a scientific conference at the Royal Society's Kavli conference centre in Buckinghamshire.

She is scheduled to tell delegates that the recent discovery of hundreds of planets around other stars has made the detection of extraterrestrial life more likely than ever before - and that means the UN must be ready to coordinate humanity's response to any "first contact".

During a talk Othman gave recently to fellow scientists, she said: "The continued search for extraterrestrial communication, by several entities, sustains the hope that some day humankind will receive signals from extraterrestrials."

When we do, we should have in place a coordinated response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism for such coordination."

I'm sure Othman is a very nice lady and all but with the world dealing with rogue nuclear states, simmering conflicts in several places, and the prospect that a messianic cult of apocalypse believers is about to get its hands on the ultimate weapon to punish those who insult Islam, one would think they might have better things to do than prepare for an eventuality that is beyond remote.

No doubt there are alien civilizations out there. But the prospect of any of them coming down to meet us is not even registering on the possibility meter. More likely, they will be sending us a radio signal of some kind - at least that's the thinking behind the SETI program. So far, no luck in that regard either.

Why Othman?

Professor Richard Crowther, an expert in space law and governance at the UK Space Agency and who leads British delegations to the UN on such matters, said: "Othman is absolutely the nearest thing we have to a ‘take me to your leader' person."

Actually, I think Barack Obama would be the logical choice to be the first to press the flesh of an interplanetary visitor. He's already the "one we've been waiting for." Besides, it would be the perfect place for him; getting him out of the way so he doesn't cause any more damage. And the job is much more attuned to his unique "talents" and abilities. 

Even a former community organizer would have a hard time screwing up a job where he will never have to do anything at all.