On Extra-Terrestrial Life

Thanks for the memories, my friend.

---

We've tried each spinning space mote
And reckoned its true worth:
Take us back again to the homes of men
On the cool, green hills of Earth.

The arching sky is calling
Spacemen back to their trade.
All hands! Standby! Free falling!
And the lights below us fade.

Out ride the sons of Terra,
Far drives the thundering jet,
Up leaps the race of Earthmen,
Out, far, and onward yet--

We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.

-- Robert A. Heinlein, 1941

www . youtube . com/watch?v=0cm55Hl6g0I
.

Posted by cond0011 at December 3, 2016 8:22 PM

Ever notice how 19th century "saucers" resemble 19th century hot air balloons?

Or that 20th century "saucers" look like 1950's sci-fi flix?

If extraterrestrials exist no one on earth has seen them yet.

And then, why would they come here, to a planet filled with violent animals that have not learned to control their silly emotions?

It's so beneath them.

If they exist they do so on a level we cannot perceive, or recognize.

Posted by ghostsniper at December 4, 2016 6:11 AM

Somewhat like I wrote last month after a meteor fireballed over Florida at nighttime:
>>>>>
But the questions is begged: If indeed people called 9-1-1 expressing fears of an alien invasion or attack, why? (I am skeptical that The Sun's report of "panicked locals fearing a UFO invasion" is very reliable.)

By that I mean, why are we so conceited to think that there is any reason an alien species, advanced and wealthy enough to cross incalculable distances of interstellar space, would have the slightest interest in Earth or its inhabitants? Why do we think we are so special?

After all, the entire edifice of the assumption that life on other worlds exists at all, especially intelligent life, rests on the "Theory of Mediocrity," the idea that the Earth is merely mediocre, or average. But if we are average, why would we be of special interest to some advanced, space-faring species?

If there are alien space travelers, I think they would see us and snoooozzze right on by without a second look.

Posted by Donald Sensing at December 4, 2016 8:04 AM

Space travelers would find earth far more interesting than their own for the same reason all explorers do, and the human element is likewise only one part.

Posted by james wilson at December 4, 2016 11:33 AM

@jw, that's because you're envisioning them through the limitations of earthling eyes.

If they can span the galaxies there is nothing here to interest them, in fact, interest may not even be a thing anymore, and even my post is probably irrelevant.

We have no idea how much we don't know, and they can say the same thing.

The future is bigger than the past.

Posted by ghostsniper at December 5, 2016 6:32 AM