Your Pet May Be A Space Alien   On April 2, 1991, a syndicated column entitled "Short Takes" carried an item revealing Brad Steiger's shocking research: "YOUR PET MAY BE A SPACE ALIEN!"   I was shocked to read that I was quoted as stating that "one out of five dogs and cats are space pets, descendants of original alien creatures that were 'seeded' on Earth 50,000 years ago. . . ."   The incredible saga of the alien pets began sometime in the spring of 1983 when I spoke on the reality of angels to a reporter for the National Enquirer. In what I deemed to be a quite moving and inspirational interview, I stated my belief that, on occasion, in order to work a miracle--such as saving a drowning infant, rescuing a family from a burning house, and so forth--angels could actually enter the body of a family's pet and temporarily utilize its physical form to accomplish the miraculous deed.   On May 3, 1983, when the interview was published in the National Enquirer, I was astonished to read the headline: NOTED UFO EXPERT DECLARES: MILLIONS OF PETS ARE REALLY SPACE ALIENS.   In examining the published article, I could see that my belief in angels transiently employing the physical bodies of pets had been combined with my well-known Star People research. The article cited the "space pets" as having "charismatic personalities, extremely protective natures, very compelling eyes, and healing powers."   Because of the space pets' great psychic powers, the article continued, "they get along better with humans because they can bond very closely with their masters." When I expressed my annoyance to the reporter who had interviewed me, I received the following explanation of editorial rationale:   Since angels are not of this world and exist somewhere "out there" in Heaven--or in space--they may be regarded as "extraterrestrials." Extraterrestrials are commonly referred to as "space aliens." If angels--now "extraterrestrial space aliens"--can temporarily possess pets, then those dogs and cats have thereby been transformed to "alien space pets."   A few months later, in August of 1983, the National Examiner managed to discover a Dr. Radj Potel at the "prestigious University of Calcutta," who substantiated my discovery that "one out of five dogs and cats are descended from alien animals."   In 1984, just when I thought it was safe to return to the supermarkets, a reporter from Omni magazine called to verify my discovery of "alien space pets." When I explained the anatomy and evolution of the misquotation to him, the reporter seemed willing to clarify matters. In the pages of Omni (February 1985), the angels became "disembodied, superintelligent extraterrestrials" who may enter the bodies of common pets."   As the author or co-author of over 150 books about the strange and unknown, I understand that I am fair game for enterprising journalists. I do not intend any specific criticism of the tabloid newspapers. I believe that when the better ones are at their best, they offer a lively form of reportage and a wealth of human-interest stories. I have freely given interviews to various tabloids, and I have appreciated their excerpting and serializing a good number of our books to their diverse and enormous audiences. I only wish at this time to set the record straight on this bizarre misquotation that seems to appear in cyclical rotation in various publications and never fails to draw mail asking how I could have said such a thing.   Imagine my bemused amazement when I even heard Weird Al Yankovich singing that his pets were space aliens. What began as a distortion to the subject as an interview has become embedded in the culture.