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posted by martyb on Monday July 02 2018, @01:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the Close-Encounters-of-Whatever-Kind dept.

Are we alone? The question is worthy of serious scientific study

Are we alone? Unfortunately, neither of the answers feel satisfactory. To be alone in this vast universe is a lonely prospect. On the other hand, if we are not alone and there is someone or something more powerful out there, that too is terrifying.

As a NASA research scientist and now a professor of physics, I attended the 2002 NASA Contact Conference, which focused on serious speculation about extraterrestrials. During the meeting a concerned participant said loudly in a sinister tone, "You have absolutely no idea what is out there!" The silence was palpable as the truth of this statement sunk in. Humans are fearful of extraterrestrials visiting Earth. Perhaps fortunately, the distances between the stars are prohibitively vast. At least this is what we novices, who are just learning to travel into space, tell ourselves.

I have always been interested in UFOs. Of course, there was the excitement that there could be aliens and other living worlds. But more exciting to me was the possibility that interstellar travel was technologically achievable. In 1988, during my second week of graduate school at Montana State University, several students and I were discussing a recent cattle mutilation that was associated with UFOs. A physics professor joined the conversation and told us that he had colleagues working at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, where they were having problems with UFOs shutting down nuclear missiles. At the time I thought this professor was talking nonsense. But 20 years later, I was stunned to see a recording of a press conference featuring several former US Air Force personnel, with a couple from Malmstrom AFB, describing similar occurrences in the 1960s. Clearly there must be something to this.

With July 2 being World UFO Day, it is a good time for society to address the unsettling and refreshing fact we may not be alone. I believe we need to face the possibility that some of the strange flying objects that outperform the best aircraft in our inventory and defy explanation may indeed be visitors from afar – and there's plenty of evidence to support UFO sightings.

See also: Released FAA recording reveals pilot report of a UFO over Long Island
I-Team Exclusive: Nevada senator fought to save secret UFO program

Related: Pentagon's UFO Investigation Program Revealed
UFO Existence 'Proven Beyond Reasonable Doubt': Former Head Of Pentagon Program
Newly-Released Video Shows 2015 U.S. Navy Sighting of UFO


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  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by takyon on Monday July 02 2018, @01:52PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday July 02 2018, @01:52PM (#701340) Journal

    Moon base? Draconian authoritarian corporatocracy.

    Utopia with self-sufficient utilization of available resources.

    Interstellar travel? Genocide of primitive aliens.

    Possible, but seems more unlikely than not.

    Interstellar trade? Interstellar war.

    Bad economics. There is enough solar system material within 0.05 light years to support trillions. You can get more real estate by conquering the next star system over, but there may never be a competitive advantage to shipping material from one star system to another. You are better off finding some of the millions of interstellar asteroids/comets that are supposedly entering the solar system every year, and redirecting them so that they stay within our reach permanently instead of zipping back out.

    Colonies in other star systems? See moon base.

    Let's say we colonize an Earth-like exoplanet, and it turns out that way. Your complaint is really about how your life is organized here on Earth is right now. The colony at least offers a chance to start over far away from the control of existing governments and orgs. If you're unsatisfied with Earth governments, maybe experiment with anarchy. Make the most of your bleak, sad life.

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  • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday July 02 2018, @05:37PM

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 02 2018, @05:37PM (#701486) Journal

    Unfortunately, any space habitat is going to need a strong (central?) authority running it to make sure the airlocks are maintained, etc. The hopeful idea is that this strong authority could be a "Friendly AI". If so, then it could *appear* to be rather loosely organized. A more likely idea is that freedom in that situation is going to have to move into virtual reality.

    Currently the main blocker to permanent space habitats is our lack of the ability so design stable societies. There are lots of others, but in my evaluation that's the main blocker. And it's one that it's crucial to solve, as our life on Earth is running into the same problems. I think the problems may be inevitable given a dense population, fast transport, and rapid communication, but I really don't want to get rid of those. Another factor is high powered weaponry. I'd be really rather happy to get rid of that, but it's a situation where everyone needs to get rid of it at the same time, and this means all forms of weaponry....unfortunately I also don't want to get rid of advanced medical capability, and there's an conflict there, too. (I'm not just talking about nuclear weapons.)

    This comes up to one of my solutions to the Fermi Paradox: High technology civilizations destroy themselves. It's one possibility, and probably a part of the great filter. I don't think it inevitable, but we've already come within 30 seconds of doing it to ourselves. I don't think humans are capable of running a high tech civilization. We've got too many strong impulses, and vicious heuristic thought processes. They may be inherent in any naturally evolved sentient. But we're also on the brink of a strong AI, which won't necessarily have those thought processes (though it will have different ones). And it may be able to take advantage of our inherent laziness to take over running the world(s). This may be the best outcome possible. Or not.

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