Although the Earth has not made contact with any extraterrestrial yet, it doesn’t mean governments haven’t started preparing for it. Don’t believe it? Consider the following.
The Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law.
On July 16, 1969, the U.S. would send some of its bravest to the moon for the first time. One of the many different challenges associated with the Apollo 11 mission was the return. Who knew if the astronauts might bring back unknown microorganisms or germs? To prepare for such a scenario, the government adopted Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, also known as the “Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law.” This had the legislative intent to make it “illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles.” Of course, because of its phrasing, people took it to mean actual space aliens, and not astronauts.
Someone Proposed the U.S. Change Its Name to The United States of Earth.
In the more than 200 years since the U.S. Constitution was created, there have been a total of 27 amendments, and only 27 amendments, but not for lack of trying on the part of some legislators. Back in 1893, there was a proposed amendment to change the name of the country to “The United States of Earth.” Although legislative history research shows that Rep. Lucas Miller, a Democrat from Wisconsin, proposed the amendment, it doesn’t say why. Fortunately, a proposed amendment needs to be ratified by three-fourths of the states, and so this great country kept its equally great (and specific) name.
Alien Insurance.
London-based insurance company Goodfellow Rebecca Ingrams Pearson offers a shockingly popular alien abduction insurance policy. So far, GRIP has sold about 30,000 of these policies. Although this technically isn’t a legal statute in and of itself, it’s interesting to think that there isn’t a legal statute making it illegal to sell alien abduction insurance, or any other wacky types of insurance for that matter.
If your own law research has turned up any weird laws dealing with extraterrestrials, feel free to share in the comments.