Technology –
Are Aliens Trying To Contact Us?
What would you do if you discovered aliens were trying to make contact with us here on earth? No, it’s not the opening line to a sci-fi movie, but rather a very real possibility that noted scientists believe has us on the brink of a discovery of epic proportions.
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This may come as somewhat of a surprise, but for the past 15 years, scientists have been detecting strange radio bursts from deep space that appear mathematical in nature. According to the publication New Scientist, the fact that the signals are of a mathematical pattern is crucial, since there are no known natural phenomenon capable of generating radio bursts with this sort of pattern.
Scientists have purposely not spoken much about the signals because they’re baffled and not exactly sure what to make of them. However, they have concluded that the radio waves are either from some yet undiscovered celestial event, or are signals being produced by some sort of extraterrestrial intelligence: aliens.
The signals have been named FRB’s, which is short for fast radio bursts. They usually only last a few milliseconds but are enormously powerful, duplicating the same amount of energy the sun expels in a month. Scientists have detected at least 10 bursts since 2001, with the most recent captured in 2014 at the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales, Australia. The brevity of the bursts means the source is likely small and comes from very far away, possibly another galaxy entirely.
THE MATH
The 10 bursts detected so far have dispersion measures that are multiples of a single number: 187.5 — which is a mathematical regularity that is hard to ignore. The breakdown of the pattern implies 5 sources for the bursts all at regularly spaced distances from Earth, billions of light-years away. Scientists have calculated that the chances of this being a coincidence is a 5 in 10,000 probability. Or in other words, not very likely.
“If the pattern is real, it is very, very hard to explain,” said John Learned, a scientist at the University of Hawaii in Manoa who analyzed the FRBs.
If the radio bursts are in fact beacons from extraterrestrial aliens, then there are some exciting but also scary scenarios to consider.
FRBs would not be easy messages to send, which means the amount of energy it would take to send such powerful bursts from another galaxy is almost impossible to fathom. To make contact with extraterrestrial life forms and learn of technological advances beyond our wildest imaginations would be breathtaking. On the other hand, with such alien technology capable of harnessing power equivalent to the sun, making contact with them may not turn out very well for us.
Noted physicist Stephen Hawking has spoken of this very possibility for years, warning humans that making contact with any advanced life form could end up catastrophic for mankind.
Since 2010, Hawking has spoken publicly about his fears that an advanced alien civilization might have no problem wiping out the human race the way a human might wipe out a colony of ants. Hawking noted that since humans have a terrible history of mistreating, and even massacring, other human cultures that are less technologically advanced —- why would an alien civilization be any different?
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With the help of religion, humans have long been conditioned to believe we are superior and at the very top of the food chain. However, an advanced alien life form could dispel this theory in the blink of an eye. Just as we do not consider insects our equals or feel compelled to share our knowledge and technology with them, aliens could very well feel the same way about us. To them, we may be as irrelevant as an insect.
Although Hawking’s fears and concerns are very real, it seems his desire to know if there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe has trumped all. Earlier this summer, Hawking announced a $100 million dollar initiative known as Breakthrough Listen, which organizers say will be the most powerful search ever initiated for signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.
“I am here today because I believe the Breakthrough initiatives are incredibly important,” Hawking said during a media event at the Royal Society in London. “It’s time […] to search for life beyond Earth. The Breakthrough initiatives are making that commitment. We are alive. We are intelligent. We must know.”
In addition to Hawking, one high-ranking NASA scientist also believes that humanity is on the verge of discovering alien life.
“I think we’re going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade, and I think we’re going to have definitive evidence within 20 to 30 years,” NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan said. “We know where to look. We know how to look,” Stofan added. “In most cases we have the technology, and we’re on a path to implementing it. And so I think we’re definitely on the road.”
Former astronaut John Grunsfeld, who currently serves as associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, shared Stofan’s optimism. He predicted that signs of life will be found relatively soon both in our own solar system and beyond.
“I think we’re one generation away in our solar system, whether it’s on an icy moon or on Mars, and one generation [away] on a planet around a nearby star,” Grunsfeld said.
However, the 6th man to walk on the Moon says he believes aliens have already made contact with earth. In fact, he believes extraterrestrials already tried to create world peace by disabling missiles during Cold War weapons tests.
Edgar Mitchell, who was on the Apollo 14 mission in 1971, said he believes the UFOs reported around military bases during the Cold War were on a mission to prevent a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
“My own experience talking to people has made it clear the ETs had been attempting to keep us from going to war and help create peace on Earth,” Mitchell said.
He added, “I have spoken to many Air Force officers who worked at these silos during the Cold War. They told me UFOs were frequently seen overhead and often disabled their missiles. Other officers from bases on the Pacific coast told me their [test] missiles were frequently shot down by alien spacecraft. There was a lot of activity in those days.”
Mitchell has been an outspoken believer in extraterrestrial visitors to Earth since his return from the Moon in 1971. He grew up in New Mexico near the White Sands Missile Range, where the first nuclear bombs were tested.
“White Sands was a testing ground for atomic weapons – and that’s what the extraterrestrials were interested in. They wanted to know about our military capabilities,” said Mitchell. Hmmm…
If these scientists, NASA representatives and former astronauts are correct and aliens are in fact sending us FRB’s from some far away galaxy, or have already made contact — is society truly ready to answer the call?
TAKE OUR POLL:
I know some people this this is a silly topic but I believe there is other life out there. We can't be all by ourselves in a big universe like this. I think I said this before when this topic came up but I know religions would hate if there was other life because it would kill the story of Adam and Eve. It's possible we already had contact with some alien life and the government keeps it quiet. I just can't believe it's all these hundreds of planets out there but just us living.
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