In 1999, the University of California created SETI@Home, a user-based system for sifting through a vast amount of radio signals recorded by a SERENDIP radio telescope. Its concept was as ingenious as it was simple. Rather than using one expensive and massive computer to look for alien signals within a mass of data, the SETI@Home project invited anyone with a home computer to download a program along with small collections of data and run the analysis during the personal computer’s downtime. With almost 200,000 volunteers, the result is a combined effort that is more powerful than that of one large computer.
However, not everyone is a fan of the SETI program. In 2009, Brad Niesluchowski, an information technologist at Higley Unified School District in Mesa, Arizona, resigned after an audit of schools’ computers found that he had installed the SETI@Home program on many of them in 2000. It was claimed that the program had slowed down the schools’ computers and interfered with other operations. It was estimated that it would cost about one million dollars to bring the computers back into normal operation. Even though Niesluchowski’s intentions were purely scientific, his passion ended up costing him his job.
UFOS AND ALIENS IN MOVIES
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) is a classic even beyond ufology, turning the alien invasion theme on its head. When the alien Klaatu’s saucer hovers over Washington, it creates absolute chaos, despite his good intentions. When he tries to give humans some gifts and wisdom, the response is less than warm. This is a story of hope and peace dashed by our inherent xenophobia, and the inappropriate and unwise use of military force when faced with what we might perceive as a threat to ourselves and society. How will we react when an alien spaceship does land on Earth?
UFO SIGHTINGS, FROM PAST TO PRESENT
Throughout recorded history, people have seen unusual objects in the sky that they could not explain or understand. The earliest ancestors of humans may have looked up and seen a multitude of bright lights that hung motionless in the sky or zipped quickly across the bowl of night. The Milky Way — our galaxy — would have been visible as a bright patch of white that extended from horizon to horizon. Some ancient peoples called it the “Backbone of Night” (as noted by astronomy popularizer Carl Sagan).
A few objects in the sky were different, however. The brightest one was blinding in its intensity, and at certain times of the year, it gave a pleasing warmth. Another, about the same size, illuminated the ground and allowed seeing things when the brighter one had fled below the horizon or fell into the ocean, but didn’t offer any heat at all.
Some of the lights in the sky were brighter than others, and some had different colours. A few were bright enough to cast shadows. It wasn’t until much later in the evolution of our civilization that some humans began systematically observing the objects in the sky and noticing patterns and periodicity to their movements. The movement of the brighter ones could be predicted over time, and they found that using a tree or stone marker to indicate the rising of a particular bright light could help determine the coming and going of seasons. This was important for knowing when to plant crops for growing food and learning the migration patterns of wild animals that were hunted for their furs.
It became very important to study the objects in the sky. Soon, some people became experts at doing it and were looked upon as wise counselors, advising kings and leaders when to go on journeys, when to get slaves working in the fields, and when to go to war.
These early astronomers were astrologers who tracked the changes in the sky and came up with imaginative explanations for the comings and goings up above. Gods were playing with us, blessing us or reprimanding us as they saw fit, and humans had very little control over their own destiny. The best that could be hoped for was to try and please the gods or at least keep them from punishing us in some way.
But who were these gods? They obviously were not human, for they had powers of flight, control of weather, and doled out heat and light when they saw fit. They were, by definition, extraterrestrial; they were truly alien beings about whom we knew very little. Did they reside in ornate palaces held high in the air? Were there other worlds like our own?
It wasn’t until Galileo demonstrated that some of the brighter lights in the sky were planets like our own, with smaller objects revolving around them, that it was realized that gods or other creatures might live on worlds other than Earth. But if so, how did they travel between there and here?
Some writers thought that such travel was done with large balloons. Others thought that giant birds could carry people between worlds. One Jules Verne story had humans travelling through the Solar System after accidentally being plucked from the air by a comet. Others suggested astral or soul travel was the way to explore the universe.
But that’s how we would get from here to there. How would aliens on other planets travel between the stars? Would they use the same methods and technology? Would we even recognize them if they were here?
This last point is one that has led to some interesting speculation. Suppose, for example, that aliens visited Earth at some point in our history, rather than contacting us right now. What would our ancestors have thought of them?
The answer is that it depends on when they came for their visit. If an alien race came to Earth before recorded history, we would of course have no way of knowing they had been here. Or would we?
Statistically, it is more likely that aliens have visited Earth in the past than they are visiting right now. This is because given the billions of years since Earth was formed, if there are any aliens out there, the window of opportunity for them to happen to be in our neighbourhood is billions of years in length. It would allow for many visits or many different aliens to visit, even allowing for the alien civilizations themselves to evolve and develop space travel over the course of hundreds or thousands or millions of years. On Earth, we’re just now starting to take our first few hesitant steps into space.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Channel Islands, California February 13, 1995
Before I state what I saw I would like to clarify that I am using UFO in the very literal sense. I, and four of my friends saw something that we cannot explain. Here’s the story.
At about 11:00 p.m. PST last night my friend called me over to his room. His room looks out on the Channel Islands and is on the 7th floor, giving it an excellent view. On the horizon I saw a line of lights. After summoning two more friends and getting a pair of binoculars was able to see it somewhat more clearly. The lights were arranged symmetrically around the axis perpendicular to us.
I will describe the lights as I saw them from left to right. The first light was slightly above the others, after a small space there was a group of four lights close together in a straight line, after another space was a single light, a larger space separated it from a pair lights in the centre, another equally large space lead to another single light, a smaller space separated this single light from a another straight line of four lights, at the end was another light above the rest at the same level as the first.
Through the Binoculars it appeared that the object was actually curved. At this point we left the dorm and went down to the beach to get a better view. As we watched we noticed it moved from East to West (The Ocean in Santa Barbara is actually to the South so it was moving from our left to our right) at differing speeds. It would go very fast for a short time and then stop. At one point