From The Washington Post:
…The alleged extraterrestrial sighting, described by the French government as “one of the most astonishing observed in France,” is among 1,600 UFO case files spanning the last half-century that the country’s space agency opened to the public for the first time Thursday.
The voluntary decision by France’s National Center for Space Studies to dump more than 100,000 pages of witness testimony, photographs, film footage and audiotapes from its secret UFO archives onto its Internet site, http://www.cnes.fr, for worldwide viewing is an unprecedented move among Western countries. Most of them, the United States included, consider such records classified matters of national security.
To: Supreme Commisioner Graalnok and the Blurburthian Command Committee
Subject: Executive summary of Ongoing Study of Inhabitants of BW-1415-s, Region 45
Date: 23 Graaiblik, 328475902
Fearsome Commissioner, and Respected Committee members;
Enclosed you will find our report on the ongoing investigations into the culture, potential, and relevance of the inhabitants of BW-1415-s. This particular report concerns our ongoing efforts in region 45, also known as “France.” Here is a summary of our findings:
- The inhabitants are reasonably certain that they live in “the greatest nation” on their world. This they have in common with the inhabitants of Regions 3, 6, 7,11, 16, 24, 33, 35, 47, 48, 49, 51, 74, and 82. It should be noted, however, that they don’t think their nation is really very great at all - they are just not very impressed with anyone else, either.
- Technologically and culturally, Region 54 is in the top tier. Operative Frunglig reports being unable to understand “their arty little movies.” Frunglig also reports that their television “features a lot more skin than you get anywhere else without paying through the driblop.” [Recommendation to reassign Operative Frunglig is pending.]
- Abducted subjects seem much more amenable to standard and intensive probing than those of other Regions. More than once our researchers were surprised by their subjects’ detailed and specific instructions as to how they believed the probes ought to be conducted.
- Some of the more strident abductees were sent for Protocol 14 testing. Those subjects proved to have “a tough, leathery consistency with smoky overtones and a spicy/fruity aftertaste.” Culinarian Kreblar reports that he still prefers the fattier, more abundant, marbleized cuts obtained from Region 7 (”United States”).
- In post-abduction interviews (obviously not performed on Protocol 14 subjects!), subjects consistently expressed that they were neither surprised by our presence nor impressed by our appearance or technologies. Redacter Korbnaar grew increasingly frustrated by this, and exposed subjects to increasingly dazzlingly displays of our on-board capabilities, including the Parnaathian Portable Black Hole, the Grundak 24003 Sensory Enhancing Mindworm, the Holographic Galactic Array on Deck 16, and the Trubnanian Mojito served at McTullzaark’s on Fridays. None of the above were met with anything more than a shrug and a weary exhalation of smoke. [Redacter Korbnaar has requested reassignment.]
The Commissioner should be aware that the governing forces of Region 45 have recently made materials concerning OUR mission public to all their citizens. Our analysis is that this will not change their behavior when they encounter us. Testing indicates that their first reaction to any unfamiliar life-form is to snap their fingers at it impatiently and order a drink. Operatives have been advised to provide drinks but, as stipulated by Directive 239, not to accept gratuities (which, according to Redactor Korbnaar, “probably won’t be a problem anyway”).





47 comments
siobhan
March 23, 2007 at 12:57 pm
1I guess you’ve got to go extraterrestrial. It’s pretty much impossible to satirize Washington these days, isn’t it?
K. Trout
March 23, 2007 at 1:38 pm
2I once wrote a Sci-Fi short story that I called The Yeast Dialog. It was about a conversation between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne. And so on.
Mojo
March 23, 2007 at 2:38 pm
3Technologically and culturally, Region 54 is in the top tier.
Obviously you meant to say Region “45″. Region 54 culturally top tier? Don’t make me laugh!
Boomer
March 23, 2007 at 3:02 pm
4If the waiter at McTullzaark’s would have just spit into the Trubnanian Mojito as it was serving the dish, the Region 7′er would assume he had been teleported to Region 45. Now that would have impressed the heck out of 7.
piglet
March 23, 2007 at 3:50 pm
5I’m guessing the abductees also scoffed at their Blurburthian-accented French.
wmblair
March 23, 2007 at 4:02 pm
6I am an avid reader of FA and I read the comments a lot. I don’t post too much and this isn’t related to today’s great post by Adam but I am trying to beat VH1 to the punch and create a list of the top 100 most influential lists of all time.
So, I humbly ask you to list five of your picks for the most influential lists of all time. My first five choices were:
1. The 7 Wonders of the Ancient World
2. Schindler’s List
3. Richard Nixon’s Enemies List
4. The Queen’s New Year’s Honors List
5. The Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels
thank you
Dale
March 23, 2007 at 5:20 pm
7Sorry, wmblair, I´m feeling listless.
wmblair
March 23, 2007 at 5:25 pm
8no problems Dale. It is a strictly optional exercise
Ann
March 23, 2007 at 5:33 pm
9Let’s see…my “To do” list always gets a strong reaction. Avoidance, mostly.
Rebecca
March 23, 2007 at 5:47 pm
10My vote’s for Craigslist.
SeattleDan
March 23, 2007 at 5:48 pm
11Reporting from the upper left hand corner of region 7, here is a small list of some of my favorite things:
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
It’s not an exhaustive list, by any means.
David
March 23, 2007 at 6:50 pm
121. Who’s who among bloody conquerors.
2. Hitler’s enemies list.
3. The DJIA.
4. The known entries in the evolution of humans.
5. The known concetrations over time of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Dr. Happy Harry Cox
March 23, 2007 at 7:04 pm
13Okay seekers, in case anyone out there still does not believe there are aliens living among us, here’s proof!
http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1076360.html
Ann
March 23, 2007 at 7:09 pm
14I can’t possibly approach the simple brilliance of piglet’s comment at #5. I’m just giggling at the image of French people refusing to understand that they’re being invaded by space aliens. Quoi? Quoi?
bri
March 23, 2007 at 7:11 pm
15i prefer Franz Liszt.
and my bordeaux with notes of earth, leather, and tobacco.
definitely decanted.
Dr. Happy Harry Cox
March 23, 2007 at 7:13 pm
16That was no crazed sterno bum, but a respected Republican politician from the state of Arizona. Well, not exactly respected and not exactly a politician anymore…
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984740,00.html
siobhan
March 23, 2007 at 7:27 pm
17Dr. Cox, it took me a moment to realize that was a NetFlix ad and not the photo accompanying the story.
OT - given the usual six-ish week cycle, we’re about due for a new batch of Get Your War On. This oughta be good - it seems like there has been some fodder since mid-Feb.
cooper
March 24, 2007 at 4:22 am
18Wait a minute - the author thinks that Region 45 is “Technologically … top tier”? Obviously the author has never driven a Peugeot!
cooper
March 24, 2007 at 4:55 am
19O.T., sorry, but with the existence of millions of blogs, has anyone else noticed how the patented White House “Friday-Afternoon -News-Dumps” just aren’t as effective at burying bad news as they used to be? http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/03/24/documents-show-gonzales-appro ved-firings-of-us-attorneys/
Also, for any of the old guard who remembers the flimsy cover-ups of Watergate, isn’t the current juxtaposition of “18″ and “gap” particularly sweet?
David
March 24, 2007 at 6:49 am
20cooper, it’s like Yogi Berra said, and it is deliciously ironic. And yeah, the old Friday news dump she ain’t what she used to be…
I must say Peugeots are incredibly comfortable and quirkily interesting, all the way up until the time comes to shoot the things.
bri, your Liszt definitely helps me cope with my list.
David
March 24, 2007 at 7:16 am
21Michelle Malkin and that bozo at Little Green Footballs strike again:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/03/another_wingnut.p hp
You gotta love these people (kind of like the way you’d love a rabid racoon).
piglet
March 24, 2007 at 10:22 am
22Oh, and Duck, Duck, Oregon Duck! It’s my Ducks against the Gators!
I’m not much of a basketball fan (last night’s game was the first one I’ve watched since I was a student), and the mascot match-up is a little intimidating (and the fact that one of our star players in 5′ 6″), but it will be fun while it lasts!
Dale
March 24, 2007 at 10:26 am
23Go Ducks! I didn´t go to Oregon, but I always root for the team with the short guys and the cute mascot.
Rebecca
March 24, 2007 at 11:11 am
24Go Ducks indeed! (But shhh, no one tell David, of Gator rooting fame.) I always like the underdogs.
Sharon
March 24, 2007 at 11:35 am
25Re 18 days of missing emails, all this time everyone–MSM, pundits, me, W–thought that W was emulating Ronald Reagan, when in reality it’s always been Nixon.
siobhan
March 24, 2007 at 12:55 pm
26Sharon, Tom Tomorrow (of This Modern World) has a great cartoon about it. I’m going to try to link to it, but in a separate post because our favorite rat seems to dislike commercial links and the only copy I can find right now is on his sales site.
siobhan
March 24, 2007 at 12:59 pm
27Bush math
K. Trout
March 24, 2007 at 4:23 pm
28I wrote a story called “Flash in the Pan”, about Jakov Feiertag, the first cartoonist to use the light bulb to signify an idea. Despite the rather Jewish name, he was a sheygets, actually a Southern Baptist. Growing up in Poughkeepsie in the 1890’s, his name made his youth a living hell, constantly being harassed and ridiculed - one fistfight after another. He was taking a shortcut through the woods one night, avoiding Butch Bradshaw who was a particular thorn in his side, when he saw a flash of light, heard a loud explosion, and woke up sometime later inside a spacecraft barely large enough to hold him. His captors filled his brain with a large array of knowledge that would be of great use on Earth - advanced music theory; principles of metallurgy and static mechanics that would finally make feasible the construction of high rise office buildings and skyscrapers; mathematical equations hinting at General Relativity (this part of his education did not stick, which was okay, because they made another stop in Austria in early 1905, before leaving the galaxy); art appreciation; medical breakthroughs in human anatomy and large animal husbandry and philosophical insights that could lead humans to live in harmony for all time with the other creatures of the Earth. He was given a supply of sketch pads, #2 pencils, and the engineering drawings for a new invention - the incandescent light bulb (with the tip to try using tungsten filaments and to not even fuck around with carbon strands, bismuth/iron or tin/copper alloy wires. He later sold this drawing to a cousin - Thomas Edison, and what an pompous asshole he turned out to be - for $3.96, but retained the rights to use of all pictorial representations of this invention). The space creatures put Jakov back to sleep and gently removed him from the space craft, leaving him by the path where they had found him. When he woke up, Butch was standing over him and proceeded to beat the crap out of him, again. During his convalescence, Jakov took up drawing, since only his jaw, back and legs had been broken in the mauling he took. He fixated on panels showing him getting the upper hand on his tormentors, by coming up with great ideas (the light bulb rights came in handy here), involving complicated constructions that usually delivered bowling balls or anvils at high velocity to his victim’s head. He sold these rights to Ruben Goldberg, a real Jew posing as a sheygets, in order to get the job of sponge bathing Jacov and emptying his bedpan until he was able to do these tasks himself. Sadly, Jakov never did regain the use of his legs and had to drag himself around whenever he left the house, using only his hands and elbows. The following year Jakov was run over by a horse drawn freight wagon and killed when an anvil fell off the back of the wagon and brained him.
cooper
March 24, 2007 at 7:02 pm
29Maybe she promised to help with his campaign debt. Ya think?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/03/24/vilsack-to-endorse-hillary-cl inton/
Dale
March 24, 2007 at 7:16 pm
30Mr. Trout, the wikipedia list of your works seems to be sadly in need of an update!
Hungry Gator
March 24, 2007 at 7:52 pm
31Ducks are good.
SeattleDan
March 24, 2007 at 8:05 pm
32Bruins in the final four!
David
March 24, 2007 at 9:31 pm
33Convincingly, too. Now, if my Gators can just get past the Ducks, it will be Gators and Bears, oh, my, part deux, in the semi-final. Lord love a Duck, and a Jayhawk. Feathers everywhere.
Rebecca
March 24, 2007 at 11:56 pm
34Grumble. Should be Bulldogs and Ducks. But I’m biased.
Sheesh, I go out for the night and come back to find my final four already halfway dead, with my championship game halfway dead as well. This is what I get for spending a day without paying attention to basketball.
M. Moskowitz
March 25, 2007 at 6:01 am
35Look, I know Adam’s a busy guy, but I thought he’d at least take a moment to endorse my latest acquisition - I cornered the market on the neon lime green and hunter orange horizontally striped “Free Katie Holmes” t-shirts. I saw Tom on Inside Edition the other day, and believe me, that message will always be in style. I can’t imagine why they were still in boxes, stored in the back of that leaky trailer at the far end of the flea market. Someone has no vision! (Adam, come on pal. I’m givin’ you .0001% of all profits here. Step up to the plate! Sheez!)
In a giddy mood over your teams victory in the NCAA playoffs?!! Bummed out and ready to unzip the wrists over their loss? Live a little - at least long enough to buy one of these beauties. Only $24.95 each! 1-800-BUY-CRAP. Operators are standing by. CALL NOW!!!
It's Pat!
March 25, 2007 at 6:06 am
36The Gophers are gaining weight (we just got Tubbier), and Redacter Korbnaar is here in Minne-so-nice-ta on vacation (we go from -20F and two feet of snow to 70F and tulips in the same month).
I had to at least try to get the conversation back to Adam’s post.
Kjell Mikkelson
March 25, 2007 at 7:06 am
37Fordømme, Pat, det er het!
David
March 25, 2007 at 10:36 am
38Good luck, It’s Pat!, on all counts. You got a good one in Coach Smith. He got it done at Georgia before going to Kentucky, and you can look forward to winning seasons in the future.
The Orlando Sentinel picked Oregon over Florida. That’s usually a good sign. They picked Ohio State in the gridiron showdown. Should piss my guys off, which always helps. GO, GATORS!
I do want one of those shirts, Moskie.
piglet
March 25, 2007 at 3:54 pm
39Ah, well. Back to waiting for the Ducks to unveil their fall football season fashions.
Boomer
March 25, 2007 at 5:50 pm
40Uh, Pat. The next time you run into Kjell down at the co-op, you should ask to see his green card. The boy just does not seem to be assimilating too well, now does he? And what language is that - Swedish?
Hot Tub Tommy
March 25, 2007 at 6:35 pm
41Hell’s Bells, it’s not like I broke wind or anything…
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4657409.html
David
March 25, 2007 at 6:40 pm
42Imagination does reign at Oregon, which is pretty cool. And your Ducks are for real. My Gators are just on a mission, and Lee for Three manned his battle station today.
Dale
March 25, 2007 at 10:24 pm
43I don´t know how I can laugh at any of this, but I did… http://www.glumbert.com/media/irack
David
March 26, 2007 at 6:50 am
44You are the very definition of broken wind, HTT. Love the reference to the fact that you “used to” do work on the dark side. Tell me about this other side the ACU has discovered.
Murray
March 26, 2007 at 9:02 am
45In gornoal the sector 45s are the Alvernears, the sector 52s are the ffoers, and the sector 37s are the vworl~s. But in laonrog the 52s are the Alvernears, the 37s are the ffoers and the 45s are the vworl~s.
(a little galactic humor)
hedera
March 26, 2007 at 8:13 pm
46Dale, I laughed at it too, and I’m not sure why either…
Murray
March 27, 2007 at 3:13 pm
47(On earth that would be:)
In heaven the French are the chefs, the Germans are the engineers, and the British are the police.
In Hell the Germans are the police, the British are the chefs and the French are the engineers.