"Summary of eRumor:
This message says that a law already passed by Congress makes
it illegal to have contact with a space alien and establishes
penalties for anybody who does. It specifies Title 14, Section 1211
of the Code of Federal Regulations.
The Truth:
Several things to say about this story.
First, the section of the Code of Federal Regulations that it is
referring to is Title 14, Chapter V, Section 1211. Title 14 is the part of the code dealing with aviation and space and sections 1211
through 1299 specifically regulate the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).
Section 1211 was added in 1969 when the U.S. would be bringing
a space vehicle and astronauts back to earth from a mission to the
moon. The section was designed to protect the earth from any
contamination that may have been picked up during the trip and did
not specifically describe contact with alien beings or UFO's. The
wording from Section 1211 part 100 says, " NASA policy,
responsibility and authority to guard the Earth against any
harmful contamination or adverse changes in its environment
resulting from personnel, spacecraft and other property returning to
the [earth] after landing on or coming within the atmospheric
envelope of a celestial body..." There is no mention of alien beings or vehicles.
Section 1211 was taken out of the Code of Federal Regulations in
1991. An announcement in the 1991 code says that the section
was removed "...since it has served its purpose and is no longer in
keeping with current policy."
A complete reading of the regulation makes it clear that it applied
to any manned or unmanned space mission that lands or comes
within the "atmospheric envelope of a celestial body." That would
apply to anyone who has been into space, not all American citizens. It didn't prohibit contact with extraterrestrials. It merely specified what regulations would affect a mission's return to earth to protect us from space contamination..."
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/aliens.htm
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