1987.09.15
There is a fourth, unofficial, similar statement from Ronald Reagan about this particular subject. It was reported in the New Republic by senior editor Fred Barnes. The article described a luncheon in the White House between the president and Eduard Shevardnadze, during the foreign minister’s visit to Washington to sign the INF treaty on 1987.09.15. “Near the end of his lunch with Shevardnadze,” wrote Barnes, “Reagan wondered aloud what would happen if the world faced an ‘alien threat’ from outer space. ‘Don’t you think the United States and the Soviet Union would be together?’ he asked. Shevardnadze said, ‘Yes, absolutely… And we wouldn’t need our defense ministers to meet,’ he added.”