In this clip, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs received a surprise call from “Ryan”, a man from Seattle, Washington, which dealt with the Obama administration’s promises of “transparency” regarding UFOs:

Gibbs is already being criticized by folks posting in comment forums on a variety of websites carrying this video, mostly due to the fact that he appears to be “snickering” as the caller poses his question. However, it seems that, when addressing politicians about this sort of thing, Gibbs’ handling of the question was far better than what we’ve seen in the past, even from Obama, who has been asked similar questions on a few occasions. For instance, recalling the late October 2008 Democratic debates we are reminded that Obama was asked by the late Tim Russert if he believed in intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe. Obama quickly dodged the question, using the opportunity to instead reflect his concern for “life here on Earth.” In addition to a wry grin similar to that displayed by Gibbs in the video above, I remember detecting a slight air of criticism in his voice as I watched that evening, likely at the notion that the commentators would use time given for debate to discus aliens and UFOs instead.

Indeed, when discussing politics, if you throw in questions about UFOs or other strange phenomena it’s unlikely at best to assume that you’ll end up sparking a debate that leads to any great revelation. After all, most people in positions of authority strive to protect their public image, and if indeed UFOs are of any interest to the Obama administration, they likely won’t be planning to go public with such info any time soon. Therefore, Gibbs’ approach, in which he says “Ryan, I take your question seriously, not simply because of the topic, but also because if you’re calling from Seattle and it’s a little after seven here, it’s a little after four in the morning there,” seems legitimate, in that he attempts to express that he is of a mind to take the subject seriously. Though he then admits that “I haven’t talked to the President about this topic,” this doesn’t necessarily indicate that he’s dismissing the caller; with all the concern over Health Care, the recession, threats from countries like North Korea, and other subjects the media bombards Gibbs with daily as White House Press Spokesperson, it is indeed likely that he and President Obama haven’t discussed UFOs.

Nonetheless, let’s hope at some point that they do find time to chat about this; like everyone else, I’ll admit that I’d find it interesting to see what Gibbs (or Obama, for that matter) would have to say about the matter under better circumstances.