Summary
A FOIA response to the-black-vault reveals that nasa personnel convened a June 2025 internal meeting to develop a formal communications protocol for announcing a confirmed discovery of extraterrestrial life, building on a July 2020 presentation titled “Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life Communications Protocol Development.” Key participants included astrobiologists David Grinspoon and Linda Billings, alongside prior work by Jim Green. The 2020 framework emphasizes managing societal reaction across “socioeconomics, race, gender, education level, culture, faith,” aiming to “cultivate a culture of celebration vs. fear.” Portions are withheld under FOIA Exemption 5 (deliberative-process privilege). Documents confirm planning activity as recently as June 2025 but do not indicate any discovery has occurred or that a finalized protocol exists. the-black-vault has filed a FOIA appeal targeting the redacted “Initial Guidance to Develop the Protocol” slide.
Key Claims
- A June 2025 NASA internal Teams meeting was convened to “develop ideas toward rough outlining of how an official communications protocol for a definitive discovery of ET life might look.” (per released Teams invitation)
- Participants included David Grinspoon and Linda Billings; prior materials were attributed to Jim Green. (per meeting invitation)
- A July 2020 NASA presentation identified a spectrum of possible discovery types: “near (in our Solar System) far (exoplanets) Organism: microbial humanoid Biosignature: chemical/molecular ‘traditional’ fossil.” (per released presentation)
- NASA’s defined role in a discovery scenario includes “the provision of accurate scientific information in an equitable way” and acting as “facilitators in a co-creative, meaning-making process across diverse communities.” (per released documents)
- FOIA Exemption 5 was applied to “draft documents, analyses, recommendations and/or opinions expressed by employees,” obscuring key recommendations. (per NASA FOIA response)
- Grinspoon was a member of NASA’s 2023 UAP independent study team; the documents do not reference UAP or connect this planning to UAP investigations. (Greenewald)
- No finalized or approved protocol is disclosed; no discovery is claimed.
Notable Quotes
“This is a meeting to work with Linda to develop ideas toward rough outlining of how an official communications protocol for a definitive discovery of ET life might look.” — NASA internal Teams meeting invitation (June 2025)
“Cultivate a culture of celebration vs. fear.” — NASA 2020 ET discovery communications presentation