Real-Life Men in Black? UN to Appoint Space Ambassador

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Forget negotiating conflicts in the Sudan.  The United Nations is set to act as earth’s first contact with aliens. They’re appointing Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist, to head its Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), reports the Telegraph.

(More on NewsFeed: Once the aliens arrive on Earth, will they be baptized?)

With the recent discovery of hundreds of planets around other stars, it has made the detection of extraterrestrial life more likely than ever before, Othman will tell a group of scientists at a conference this week.

Similar to the agency in the movie Men in Black, UNOOSA  will have bases in Vienna, Bonn and Beijing as well as a highly skilled staff.  The plan to make UNOOSA the coordinating body for dealing with alien encounters will be debated by UN scientific advisory committees and should eventually reach the body’s general assembly.

(More on TIME.com: A brief history of intergalactic warfare.)

So when aliens demand we take them to our leader, we’ll actually have a go-to person at hand.