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Aliens; why should we "listen" for them? Have they ever visited us?

By Robecology • 4 years ago •

Preliminary question; Is it worth any tax investments....or private investments...to attempt to "contact" or at least listen for communications from alien extra-terrestrials (A.E.T.s)?

Second question; Have A.E.T.s ever visited earth?

My answer? No to both.

it’s not worth any investment for us or them - except if you want to communicate with them. Carl Sagan noted; “Extraordinary stories of possible UFO’s (Unidentified Flying Objects) require extraordinary evidence”.
To date there has been none.
But listening for them is another story. They might have a message for us. They might teach us something that might save us from our headlong race to extinction. Maybe they might appreciate our wisdom.

As to the second question - If any alien race would have figured out how to travel many light-years to reach us, they easily could have figured out to call, via radio and/or TV transmissions, and talk to us first. So it's almost illogical for aliens to attempt to visit us here.

But observing us via listening to our radio broadcasts is another story.

They would have learned quickly that we fight over fossil fuel and territory still - we haven’t brought our growing population under control, that we've created "religions" to answer mysteries that weren't easily explainable that ended up being very powerful, and that we haven’t figured out how to get even close to 100% pollution free energy and total recycling.

So talking to us is a lot safer -for them - than visiting.

Now, for SETI (the government sponsored educational group, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) to invest in listening tools is another story. The more sensitive we can make them, the further away from earth we can detect possible radio/TV transmissions from more than 100 years ago (or 100 Light years, or LY, away).

We know radio and TV signals go the speed of light (186,000 miles per second); we also know that there’s about 10 stars with earth-like planets within a hundred years (LY) of us….so if they (within 100 LY of us) focused on our early and/or recent radio/TV signals, they know we’re doing the same - listening for them.

Assuming that OUR radio is strong enough to go light years with sufficient strength to be detectable - we’ve only started transmitting around 100 years ago - then these folks within our 100 LY circumference are the only ones who know we’ve evolved to a civilization.

But with sufficient funding - we might be able to listen beyond that 100 year circle, or sphere. In other words, even though we started sending out signals a little over 100 years ago; older civilizations may have sent out signals far longer ago than that.

All we need is the equipment sensitive enough to detect it; and that's being developed as I write this.

It makes no sense for them to come here in disguise, or pretend we can’t see or know who they are.

We know that we can barely even make sub-atomic particles last longer by getting them up to the speed of light; so getting an organism to travel close to the speed of light is a long way off.

So let’s stop talking about “aliens beings here on earth”….that’s impossible to be considered by anyone with an elementary science education.

But let's strongly support "listening" for A.E.T.'s. We might learn something from them; or we might be able to teach them something.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of this website or its members.
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2

Level 9

Both Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawkins have expressed the idea that communication with extra terrestrial beings would probably end very badly for us.
Especially id the the said AET's were anything like humans in temperament.
We need look no further than the history of our own planet to see what happens when a technically more advance "civilization" comes in to contact with a more primitive one, almost inevitably conquest and exploitation, when they were lucky, extinction and extirpation when they were not.
We have to consider what the motivation for contact and visitation would be?
To make such a huge investment of time and technology, to say nothing of expense if they have the concept, there must be an expected reward or pay off.
Be it land, minerals, alternate tech, slave labour, food or something beyond our ken, there is going to be an expected reward. If we can assume they are technologically savvy enough to have faster than light or interdimensional travel then we are going to have little to trade to them that they might actually want. We will probably be unable to fight back in the face of aggression, so chances are they will simply take what they need until there is nothing left.
If by some chance they are benificent, can we expect compassion, we need to consider how we will be perceived, a dangerous, warlike, race of angry apes, who have knowingly poisoned out own air, land, sea and sky with toxic waste. A race of beings so arrogant that we have driven hundreds of other species resident here with us to extinction, a society who deliberately keeps 90% of our own species in servitude, poverty and want for the sake 10% who have so much of the planet under their control they cannot possibly use it all.
If I were them I would give this world a wide berth until the monsters all consumed each others and the nicer rabbit people took over.

I was taken back when you allege that they both spoke negatively of communicating with E.T. aliens. I hadn't heard that. I researched it further;

I only found that Sagan along with Neil deGrasse Tyson only had good things to say about the possibility.

[thespacereview.com]

If you're referring to Stephen Hawking....I found this;

[nationalgeographic.com]

Perhaps you can find the link where you got your info?

@Robecology
I think it would be a disaster. The extraterrestrials would probably be far in advance of us. The history of advanced races meeting more primitive people on this planet is not very happy, and they were the same species. I think we should keep our heads low.
Stephen Hawking Naked Science: Alien Contact, 2004

On Sagan for the time being I stand corrected, I may have confused him with someone else, thank you for the fact check
2

Level 9

You ask two questions :

  1. Is it worth any tax investments....or private investments...to attempt to "contact" or at least listen for communications from alien extra-terrestrials (A.E.T.s)?

  2. Have A.E.T.s ever visited earth?

Then your answers:

No to both.

But then you go on to say in this article that we should consider an answer of yes to question number one.. In fact, you say it's a whole different story...

From the article;

"it’s not worth any investment for us or them - except if you want to communicate with them. "

Too many assume that money to investigate moving to other planets, or examining past alien invasions are valid.

I'm pointing out that there's one exception. Listening.

@Robecology

Is it worth any tax investments....or private investments...to attempt to "contact" or at least listen for communications from alien extra-terrestrials (A.E.T.s)?

Look at the bold face.. Listening is included in question #1... To which you answered no.. Typo?

@Cutiebeauty You got me...sharp reading!
1

Level 9

Nice article Rob.

1

Level 9

Good read thanks.

My first - and perhaps only - reader! Thanks for the reply! Honored! Let me know what you think on the 2nd one I wrote/they accepted on Global warming!

@Robecology Don't worry, it only went up last night, so most people won't have seen it yet.
0

Level 5

I think they are here or have visited in the past/present. They see how screwed up we are as a planet and wouldn't want nothing to do with us.

Trod Level 5 Sep 9, 2020
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0

Level 9

"Have A.E.T.s ever visited earth?"

Is this considered evidence ?

UFo...unidentified flying object. Do you comprehend what unidentifed means?

@Robecology That seems to suggest that this couldn't-possibly be alien. 😮

@FearlessFly It's pretty obvious that you didn't read my article.

The point is that aliens would never bother coming to visit us. Never have, never will.

It would be like if you saw an unusual wildlife show on TV and then just "had to go visit them live".

Granted; there are a few that must have that "eye-witness" experience.

But for most logical thinkers...electronic messaging...photography, video, radio, etc...is a far better and easier way to "visit" any exotic life on earth....

And multiply that feeling by 1000 and you get my point about us visiting any extra-terrestrial aliens - or them visiting us.

It's so much easier to just send radio and TV signals. Very little cost. High travel rate (the speed of light, or 186,000 miles per second) and we can "learn about each other" that way. Even assuming they have overcome light speed - have learned to do "warp" speed (I'm sure you've watched Star Trek) - you have to ask "why bother"? To "boldly go where no man has gone before" ?

Please.

@Robecology I read the article ! Not ALL logical thinkers need to agree with whatever you might say. 😛

"a far better and easier way to "visit" any exotic life on earth"

And some folks still climb Mt. Everest. 😮

@FearlessFly I never suggested that all readers should agree... but you're suggestion that alien life might be real from some obscure old and unfocused images just leaves me flabbergasted...and supports the myths that aliens are visiting us....

....which I thought you understood was so very unlikely.

Climbing Mt. Everest? Not exactly my cup of tea; and folks do go through great expense to see "alien" deep sea life microscopic life, and life hidden deep in hard-to-access jungles...

I like and respect those folk.

It's the ones who suggest that we should consider launching rockets taking generations of humans to distant stars that I'm attacking here. But they will have their readership; it does promote fantasy thought...so have at it!

Write your own "why aliens are real and probably have visited us" and share it! Good luck!

@Robecology I don't make fantasy claims that aliens are real.

Those Pentagon videos are from 2004,2014,2015 -- not very old.

"alien" deep sea life microscopic life was a 'fantasy' 80 years ago.

I can be skeptical, but I am not so eager to dismiss evidence, especially from otherwise credible source(s).

@FearlessFly I wouldn't go that far; but if you read what I wrote, and you comprehend the distances needed to travel and why it's just so much smarter and wiser to try to communicate with any aiien beings first, you'd realize that they are just not even remotely possible to be alien E.T.'s.

@Robecology
"it's just so much smarter and wiser"
"you'd realize that they are just not even remotely possible to be alien E.T.'s."

. . . you don't even bother to characterize that as your opinion
. . . IMO, that comes-across as arrogant.
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