This year we’ve had devastating bushfires. A worldwide global pandemic. Monoliths. Aliens existing feels like a natural next step for 2020, but that doesn’t make it fact. In a widely reported interview with Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Chaim Eshed, said to be a former Israeli space chief, claimed that aliens not only exist, but work exclusively with the U.S. and Israel as part of a ‘Galactic Federation’.
Correction 1:56 p.m. AEDT 9/12/20: The original version of this article questioned the identity of Dr. Chaim Eshed, the space chief quoted in the Yedioth Ahronoth article. Evidence has since emerged that Eshed does exist, and Gizmodo Australia regrets the error.
A Gizmodo Australia reader reached out via email to provide evidence of Eshed’s existence, linking to a Smithsonian Wall of Honor listing a ‘Dr. Chaim Eshed’ as an honoree. He is listed as:
“Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Veteran Pilot and Flight Instructor
Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Cofounder of the Israel Space Agency and Space Research Institute in the TECHNION-Israel Institute of Technology”
A source later confirmed Eshed’s existence and credentials to Gizmodo Australia via email.
His public Facebook page, which appears to be legitimate, contains links to the Hagar Yanai-penned book detailed below.
It’s likely the existing reports have misidentified Eshed, contributing to the mystery around his theories. This confusion stems from the English translation of the Hebrew name, ‘Chaim’ which has multiple possible spellings.
While the Galactic Federation remains in question, it does appear Chaim Eshed exists.
An edited version of the original story continues below.
The Galactic Federation
According to media reports, Eshed allegedly served as the head of Israel’s space security program for three decades. During that time he was privy to wild government secrets, including an alliance between the United States, Israel and the Galactic Federation of aliens using Earth for their research grounds. In the interview detailed by The Jewish Press, he claimed these aliens were afraid of coming out, but shared secrets with the governments of both nations for their own purposes.
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“They have been waiting for humanity to evolve and reach a stage where we will generally understand what space and spaceships are. There’s an agreement between the U.S. government and the aliens,” Eshed allegedly told Yedioth Ahronoth. “They signed a contract with us to do experiments here. They, too, are researching and trying to understand the whole fabric of the universe, and they want us as helpers.”
It was further alleged U.S. president Donald Trump was involved in these conversations, and was on the verge of revealing everything to the world before he was stopped by the Galactic Federation. “Trump was on the verge of revealing, but the aliens in the Galactic Federation are saying: Wait, let people calm down first. They don’t want to start mass hysteria. They want to first make us sane and understanding,” Eshed was reported as saying.
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Something seemed a bit off
The news was first translated to English by The Jewish Press, with several mainstream English media organisations including Forbes, NBC News and Global News quickly picking it up. According to the original report, Eshed spent his career in research and development across the IDF Intelligence Division and Israeli Intelligence Corps — but exact details of his career and position were originally difficult to confirm.
At first the only real clue of his existence is in the form of a new book: The universe beyond the horizon – conversations with Professor Haim Eshed, written by author Hagar Yanai. The book reportedly contains conversations Yanai had with Eshed including those pertaining to the Galactic Federation and the alien conspiracy theory spanning the U.S. and Israel.
As we discovered, as detailed above, there is further evidence of Eshed’s body of work under the correct spelling.
What’s also important here is Yanai’s history: she’s best known for being a fantasy fiction author and a two-time winner of the Geffen Award for Best Original Hebrew Fantasy.
Given the wild Galactic Federation rumours are all sourced directly from The Jewish Press (which also refers directly to Yanai’s book), it’s likely there’s been something lost in translation here.
The article isn’t labelled as fiction or presented as anything other than fact but the claims it makes are unverified.
Considering the classified nature of military secrets, the press releases for a new book are still a little suspicious, as is the claim the U.S. and Israeli governments know about extraterrestrial aliens living on Earth.
While 2020 has been one of the strangest years on record, it’s likely we’re not at the ‘aliens exist’ stage just yet. It’s just another disappointment in a year full of them.