Reagan’s ‘Star Wars’ Idea: U.S., Soviets vs. Spacemen

President Reagan said today that he told Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev at their Geneva summit that they would surely quickly join forces and forget their differences if aliens attacked Earth from another planet.

Reagan did not characterize Gorbachev’s response.

The President reached into the realm of science fiction in an off-the-cuff remark after addressing students at Fallston High School in Maryland about the summit.

In his speech, Reagan described Gorbachev as “a determined man, but one who is willing to listen” and called on the Kremlin to agree to people-to-people programs that would open up the closed Soviet society.

In his extemporaneous remark, Reagan said, “I couldn’t help but say to him, just think how easy his task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from another species from another planet outside in the universe.

“We’d forget all the little local differences that we have between our countries and we would find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this Earth together.”

Sincerity Understood

In his speech, Reagan said he believes Gorbachev understood his sincerity when they discussed Reagan’s “Star Wars” Strategic Defense Initiative research plan for developing a space-based missile defense.

Reagan said he hoped that an agreement announced at Geneva for people-to-people exchanges would lead to the Kremlin’s willingness “to open up their closed society.”