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Aliens and where to find them
Is there life elsewhere?
In the very real terrestrial world of 3 channel television in the 1970s, I loved watching Star Trek. ‘To boldly go’ at ‘warp speed’ across the galaxies every week with Captain Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scottie and the crew of the Starship Enterprise was wonderful escapism enjoyed by the whole family.
In Florida 3 years ago, having been subjected to packed Disney and Universal theme park days by my teenage children, I insisted on a 2-hour drive to the Kennedy Space Centre later in the week. Their huge car park was nearly empty and we queued for nothing all day apart from a short wait, by Disney standards, for the space shuttle simulator — best ride of the week.
Space and our desire to explore it is a popular subject judging by the numerous big budget sci-fi films produced and the underlying philosophical question that they like to play with, ‘is there life elsewhere’ and what happens to humanity if there is?
Arthur C. Clarke, an English science-fiction writer summed up the human dilemma well, “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
Area 51
Conspiracy theories abound. Area 51, an infamous, not so secret military facility in the Nevada desert has been harbouring…
