Art Bell presses Goddard on the terrifying scenario of a deadly airborne pathogen breaking loose in a major city, and what decisions authorities would face regarding quarantine and containment. Goddard acknowledges the near-impossibility of containing such an outbreak in a sprawling metropolitan area and discusses the ethical dilemmas of sacrificing a smaller population to protect a larger one.
The discussion extends into genetic engineering, designer babies, DNA privacy concerns, and the philosophical implications of potentially achieving human immortality. Goddard weighs in on the Spotted Owl controversy, the fragility of desert ecosystems, and the challenges of regulating private laboratories.
Key Moments
Goddard war-games a Phoenix-scale outbreak: Goddard walks Bell through the impossible decision of containing an airborne virus loose in a sprawling city of two million - military cordons fail, panic accelerates flight, and the Australian horse-lung virus already shows cross-species jumping is real.
Goddard's parallel: alien evidence and viral panic: Bell pins Goddard down: he conceded a virus discovery wouldn't be made public to avoid panic, then asks how alien-presence evidence is any different. Goddard pauses and answers: 'the honest answer is it's not.'
Australian horse virus that dissolved lungs and killed trainer: A caller from Australia confirms the seven-month-old Brisbane outbreak: stud-farm trainer Vic Rails and nine horses died of an unknown virus that 'dissolved the lungs,' yet his lady assistant - equally exposed - never contracted it. A textbook real-world cross-species jump.
The 87% rise in infectious-disease deaths: A caller pushes back on Goddard's earlier 87% figure, noting that subtracting AIDS drops it to 22%. Goddard accepts the disaggregation but holds the line: even net of AIDS, the rise is 'non-trivial' and 'horrifying no matter which way you look at it.'