What if you were offered the opportunity to visit another planet? You get to experience the culture of an alien race, explore a new world; see and use technology that's 5,000 years ahead of ours. Would you do it? Before you answer, there are a few catches. You'll be gone for at least ten years. And when you return to Earth, all evidence of your existence will be erased. You have to start a new life, with a new identity; forbidden to tell anyone about what you experienced. Now would you do it? In 1965, 12 astronauts were sent to an alien planet as part of a human-alien exchange program. 13 years later the astronauts returned home. Well, most of them did. The mission commander wrote a 3,000-page report of everything his team experienced. First alien contact, the 40-light-year trip to the alien world, and everything that happened on the planet. This is the true story of Project Serpo. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices