The White House has received a petition to “secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016,” and by the looks of it, will have to offer a response.

The petition, created by a Longmont, Colorado man one month ago as of Friday, has over 27,000 signatures — well more than the 25,000 signature threshold the White House set as a requirement for an official response on its petitions website.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Those who sign here petition the United States government to secure funding and resources, and begin construction on a Death Star by 2016,” the petition states.

“By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense.”

While the idea sounds pretty crazy, the U.S. has considered weirder things before. Documents surfaced recently that showed the U.S. hatched a Cold War-era plot to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon to impress the Russians during the height of the space race, when the U.S. looked like it was slipping behind the technological curb.

Nevertheless, the president’s spokesperson once scoffed at Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s genuine appeal to establish a moon base as America’s 51st state. The petitioners may want to take that as a clue: not even use of The Force could make Obama take this pitch seriously.

——

Photo: Flickr user Meng Bomin, creative commons licensed.