Teller wrote, "The result of his question was general laughter because of the strange fact that in spite of Fermi's question coming from the clear blue, everybody around the table seemed to understand at once that he was talking about extraterrestrial life." York wrote, "Somehow . . . we all knew he meant extra-terrestrials." However, Emil Konopinski was not emphatic that he immediately knew Fermi was referring to possible aliens, merely writing, "It was his way of putting it that drew laughs from us."