Take Me to the Nearest Alien Spacecraft

Panel discussion at the Virginia Theatre, Champaign, where the facts and fiction about alien spacecraft were examined in front of a sold-out audience of nearly 1,500 people on October 16 and 17, 2026. From left to right: Sarah Edwards, Bill Odenkirk, Ahmed Best and Avi Loeb. (Image credit: Professor Nico Yunes, University of Illinois)In the new play that I participated in last night at the historic Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign, Illinois (“We Interrupt This Program,” written by Bill Odenkirk), the alien character (played by Bob Odenkirk) complains that his spacecraft is such an old model that there is an ashtray in the door. Also, the food is so bad that even a black hole (which eats everything, including light) spits it out.The show was brilliant but was mostly about humans. The aliens were the focus of a subsequent panel discussion, moderated by Emmy-winning PBS host, Sarah Edwards, and attended by Ahmed Best (Star Wars prequel trilogy), the four-time Emmy winner Bill Odenkirk (The Simpsons, Futurama, Mr. Show) and myself. The event was sold out to an audience of nearly 1,500 people.For eight snippets from the 45-minute panel discussion, click on the following links: (i) Introduction, (ii) Science Fiction, (iii) Cosmological Context, (iv) UAP History, (v) UAP Storytelling and Much Needed Scientific Evidence, (vi) Jay Stratton’s latest testimonies, (vii) The Galileo Project, and (viii) Alien visitation is not necessarily about us.***Earlier in the day, I gave a special seminar at the University of Illinois, where I reviewed the latest updates on the “Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters” from the vantage point of my leadership of the UAP Science Advisory Council (https://uapsac.com/) in service of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the White House, the Pentagon, the FBI and the Intelligence Community. The video of this lecture is available here.An hour later, I explained here on Fox 25 Chicago the added benefit f