Originally published 2020-12-09.
In December 2020, Haim Eshed, the retired Israeli brigadier general who ran his country's military space programme for nearly three decades, said in a newspaper interview that Israel and the United States had been in contact with extraterrestrials for years. He described a "Galactic Federation", a secret agreement with Washington and a shared underground base on Mars. He offered no evidence, and no government, space agency or scientist has confirmed any part of the story.
The claims spread quickly because of who made them. Here is what Eshed actually said, who he is, and how experts responded.
What Eshed claimed
Eshed set out his account in an interview with the Hebrew daily Yediot Aharonot, parts of which were then translated into English by the Jerusalem Post and picked up by NBC News, Newsweek and many other outlets. The main points were:
- A "Galactic Federation" of alien beings had been working with Israel and the US for years.
- The US government had signed an agreement allowing the aliens to carry out experiments on Earth.
- The two sides were building or operating an underground base on Mars.
- Donald Trump, then still president, knew about the arrangement and had nearly made it public, but was talked out of it to avoid mass hysteria.
According to Eshed, the visitors had asked to stay hidden. "The Unidentified Flying Objects have asked not to publish that they are here, humanity is not ready yet," he was quoted as saying. In his telling, the federation wanted people to develop to the point where they could understand space and spacecraft before any disclosure.
Who Haim Eshed is
Eshed, born in 1933, is a serious figure in Israel's defence history. He trained as an electronics engineer at the Technion and went on to earn a master's degree and doctorate in aeronautical engineering. As a colonel in military intelligence in 1979, he argued for an independent Israeli satellite capability, and he later directed space programmes at the Ministry of Defense for close to 30 years.
He is credited with overseeing the launch of around 20 Israeli-made satellites, including spy satellites of the Ofek series, and is often called the father of Israel's space programme. He received the Israel Defense Prize three times for work that remains classified, and he later chaired the space committee of Israel's National Council for Research and Development. He was 87 when the interview appeared.
Where the claims came from
The interview coincided with the release of a Hebrew-language book, The Universe Beyond the Horizon, written by Hagar Yanai and based on conversations with Eshed. Published in November 2020, it contains further assertions, including that aliens intervened to prevent nuclear incidents, among them one connected with the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. Eshed also told the newspaper that he felt free to speak because he had nothing left to lose professionally.
That timing matters. Startling statements in an interview helped draw international attention to a newly published book. That does not prove Eshed was insincere, but it is a reason to read the claims as promotion of a personal account rather than an official disclosure.
How officials and experts responded
The White House, the US Department of Defense and Israeli officials did not respond to NBC News's requests for comment. No document, photograph, recording or second witness has ever surfaced to support the story.
Reactions from people familiar with the field were sceptical:
- Isaac Ben-Israel, then chairman of the Israel Space Agency, said Eshed had gone too far and that encounters between humans and aliens were unlikely.
- Nick Pope, who once investigated UFO reports for the British Ministry of Defence, suggested it could be "some sort of practical joke or publicity stunt."
- NASA said in response to questions that it had yet to find signs of extraterrestrial life, a statement that still holds.
Weighing the evidence
A distinguished career is a good reason to listen to someone about the subjects they worked on. It is not evidence for a separate claim about secret knowledge. Eshed did not say how he learned of the alien agreement, what documents he saw or who else could confirm it.
Some details also clash with what is publicly known. No person has ever travelled to Mars. Every spacecraft that has reached the planet has been tracked by agencies and independent observers around the world, and robotic missions from several countries have photographed its surface in detail. Building and supplying a hidden underground base there would require launches, communications and logistics on a scale that would be very hard to conceal from other space powers and amateur astronomers.
The claim about Trump is also difficult to square with events. He left office in January 2021 without making any disclosure about aliens, and no account from anyone in his administration has backed Eshed's version.
What science actually says about alien life
Scientists take the question of life beyond Earth seriously. Space agencies study Mars, Europa and Enceladus for signs of past or present microbial life, and astronomers analyse the atmospheres of planets around other stars for chemical clues. Radio searches for signals from intelligent civilisations have run for decades. So far, none of this work has produced confirmed evidence of extraterrestrial life, intelligent or otherwise.
That is the honest position: the universe is vast and the search is ongoing, but there is no verified contact. Extraordinary claims need evidence that others can examine, and Eshed's account offers none.
Why the story spread so widely
The interview had everything a viral story needs: a credible-sounding source, a secret, a famous president and a hint that the truth was about to come out. Headlines often dropped the qualifiers and presented the claims as revelations from Israel's space chief, which made them sound like an official statement.
When you see a story like this, it helps to ask three questions. Is there evidence anyone else can check? Has any independent source confirmed it? And does the person making the claim have something to sell or promote? In this case the answers point firmly towards caution.
Sources: Wikipedia: Haim Eshed; Deseret News, 8 December 2020; The Jerusalem Post, December 2020.
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