1963

1963-07-18 / Washington, D.C.

On July 18, 1963, Maxwell W. Hunter II of the National Aeronautics and Space Council sent a memorandum to Robert F. Packard at the State Department's Office of International Scientific Affairs, titled "Thoughts on the Space Alien Race Question." The memo outlines three types of potential alien contact scenarios and argues that diplomatic policy would need to differ for each, ranging from chemical-propulsion Martians to a faster-than-light race, for which Hunter writes "our policy had better be to negotiate fast.