The Search for Alien Intelligence - Not Just for Tabloids

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence got a huge boost back in 2005 when former Canadian Defense Minister Paul Hellyer made public statements that he had been privy to a government cover up of alien contact over the years. In fact Hon. Paul Hellyer went on record with the statement that it was the greatest cover up of all time, and has since been demanding that governments all over the world release the information that they have kept secret for so long. The UFO seeking community no doubt found this to be a great boon to their credibility, as after all, Mr Hellyer has to be a man of some believability considering his career. But is this the only instance that lends credo to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence?

Certainly not!

While we think of UFO hunters as crazed crackpots with tinfoil hats ranting on about conspiracies and abductions, there is some evidence that this stereotype is far from the truth, considering that as many as one in seven Americans claim that they themselves, or someone they know has had first hand experience with a UFO. There are a number of college professors also, who apparently hold this field in high enough regard to teach it. While everyone has likely heard of the SETI project at University of California Berkeley , most people wouldn't be aware that a class called Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence is taught at a college such as the University of Texas, or that MIT hosted a conference on alien abduction experiences in 1992. Is this proof that aliens exist? Why, of course not! It is the closest any of us would ever expect to come, though isn't it? Don't we usually consider the word of a government official to be worthy of at least examination? We have certainly gone to war on nothing more. If it is enough of a reason to take human life, it is certainly enough of a reason to lend a little credibility to the search, if not the claims.

Undoubtedly science has shown that it is not likely that cosmic explorers would be able to come all this way through space, and common sense suggests that they certainly wouldn't do so to do nothing more than prod and poke at us, then erase our memories as though nothing had happened. Abductions stories do not seem to hold together when exposed to a too harsh light~ but sightings are a different issue. Sightings of unidentified objects have many times been very persuasive. While one can not say that space ships filled with probing aliens exists, no one can deny that unidentified flying objects are a real phenomenon, that no one has been able to explain. While most cases are disproved there are a sufficient number that have been made by people with technical backgrounds and impressive education that we must take note of what they say they have seen. To do otherwise would be nothing more than denial or arrogance.

For those who are interested in researching this topic further and drawing your own conclusions, the FBI has declassified and made available roughly 1600 pages of UFO related documents that are open to the public to peruse and study at will. Also , for those who wish to take an active role in research but don't have the necessary education or the means, SETI offers a program where you can work from home computing data for them on a volunteer basis. Go give it a try, maybe the truth IS out there. It is simpler than it sounds, SETI offers a free software program that links your computer to their giant dish and database. The information that SETI receives is then downloaded to your computer in project sized packets. The program sorts through and analyzes these packets then sends the results back. All you have to do is donate a little effort from your CPU in order to further the search!

Whether we are likely to find little gray men out there or not, it does stand to reason the we are not alone. Science teaches us that it is an impossibility that anyone from the distant reaches of space could ever hope to travel between galaxies to earth, but again and again we have proven science has not yet learned everything there is to know. Physicists believe that new breakthroughs in quantum theory will be able to help us do things previously considered impossible, and that must leave the rational person wondering if there is life out there, might it not have already uncovered a science we have yet to come to understand? As long as someone is looking there will be something to see and something that inspires further investigation, that is what we Earthlings do best.