They haven't landed yet!

From https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#%21/response/searching-et-no-evidence-yet, yes, it's official:

Official White House Response to formally acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race - Disclosure. and 1 other petition.

Searching for ET, But No Evidence Yet

By Phil Larson

Thank you for signing the petition asking the Obama Administration to acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence here on Earth.

The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race. In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye.

However, that doesn't mean the subject of life outside our planet isn't being discussed or explored. In fact, there are a number of projects working toward the goal of understanding if life can or does exist off Earth. Here are a few examples:

SETI—the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence—was originally stood up with help from NASA, but has since been moved to other sources of private funding. SETI's main purpose is to act as a giant ear on behalf of the human race, pointing an array of ground-based telescopes towards space to listen for any signal from another world.

Kepler is a NASA spacecraft in orbit that's main goal is to search for Earth-like planets. Such a planet would be located in the "Goldilocks" zone of a distant solar system—not too hot and not too cold—and could potentially be habitable by life as we know it. The Kepler mission is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover Earth-sized, rocky planets in or near the habitable zone of the star (sun) they orbit.

The Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, is an automobile-sized rover that NASA is launching soon. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and other geology in an effort to detect the chemical building blocks of life (e.g., forms of carbon) on Mars and will assess what the Martian environment was like in the past to see if it could have harbored life.

A last point: Many scientists and mathematicians have looked with a statistical mindset at the question of whether life likely exists beyond Earth and have come to the conclusion that the odds are pretty high that somewhere among the trillions and trillions of stars in the universe there is a planet other than ours that is home to life.

Many have also noted, however, that the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved.

But that's all statistics and speculation. The fact is we have no credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on Earth.

Phil Larson works on space policy and communications at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy

Relevant Links:

SETI
NASA Kepler Mission
NASA Mars Science Laboratory

Many have also noted, however, that the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved.

The statement is accurate.

What? No conspiracy? I think the statement is honest and concise.
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Bob DeWoody

I quoted what I did because I don't think we really "make contact" with any life possible. If the life. or its remnants, arrived on Earth by surviving a meteor ride to the surface, is that still making contact?

Maybe my idea is biased, but I thought that "contact" would require the discovery of, or a meeting with, a tool building, sentient lifeform capable of abstract thinking. Such a creature, in whatever form it has, would qualify as intelligent.

Phil Larson seemed to indicate that we could make contact with other than intelligent life.

That is my only gripe about his statement.

Lt

As much as I would like to learn of alien beings or life somewhere besides earth I think there is no reason to believe the US government or any other for that matter has proof positive of such matters.

Intelligent life capable of achieving the same level or better of advancement that we have reached most likely does exist somewhere in our galaxy and many times over in the universe. Whether or not we will ever be presented proof of their existence is another story. A lot depends on how much of what we think to be true regarding the speed of light is actually true.

I doubt that an intelligent race of beings given the capability of interstellar travel would be stupid enough to make contact with us. We are just too unpredictably hostile toward anything we don't understand. A shoot first and ask questions later policy isn't very conducive to making new friends.
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Bob DeWoody

Where would they come from and how would they get here ??

I can hardly wait. Johnny, you better have it ready before Dec. 21, 2012 or else there won't be anybody here to tell you research to.
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Bob DeWoody