“The surest sign that intelligent life doesn’t exist elsewhere

in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.”

That’s the weakest premise for disapproving ETs I’ve ever heard!  This was a statement I saw scribbled on a whiteboard where I work.  But I have no idea who wrote it.  His or her absolute skepticism is the surest sign that this writer is not a very intelligent life form.

Yes, it’s true, some close-minded people naively believe we haven’t seen a full-fledged alien presence here on Earth, nor that they have even bothered to contact us in some way, because they don’t really exist.  This is too narrow-minded a view to really take seriously, but to humor them, I’ll offer some sensible explanations why aliens might be keeping their distance, or even refuse to contact us, publicly  at any rate.

The human species is too freaking dangerous! We’re savage barbarians in the aliens’ eyes, most likely.  Also if we’re not as intelligent as them, perhaps they are not able to clearly communicate with us, since we have the most rudimentary communication technology in the galaxy — so there would be very little clear conversation between us. So it goes without saying that the language barrier between us would be pretty wide as well. The SETI program (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is still listening for alien signals with the most primitive equipment in the universe – compared to how the ETs actually communicate, we can assume. Imagine a primitive man using smoke signals as he attempts to communicate to a modern man who uses cell phone – not compatible! These more intelligent aliens may see us as simplistic animals, perhaps cattle, or goofy monkeys, or rats running around in a maze.

In one of those old Star Trek episodes, Spock said, referring to some highly advanced society they had encountered, “They are as much above us as we are above the amoeba.” Which means, folks, these aliens may not want to have anything to do with us.  Or they might not even notice us as if we were just specs of dust on the instrument panel of their spaceship while they’re hyper-light-speeding their way to some fast food joint at the edge of the universe.

On the other hand, they might be remotely curious about us, those wacky creatures that do strange things to the extremity on both sides of the spectrum of life; we’ll do things either so horribly and idiotically wrong or valiantly and triumphantly right — and everything in between. We’ve got everybody from sinners to saints, angels and demons, from total idiots to idiot savants, and a few questionable geniuses. Plus, we’ve got free will, and we don’t know how to use it! Most people are karmically ignorant, which means they believe: what you put out, you don’t have to worry about getting back, good or bad. We arrogantly think we can do whatever we want and get away with it! In my estimation, that’s what makes us so dangerous to these observing ETs.

For many thousands of years, wars have run rampant across the face of the planet, and we’ve even dropped nukes on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Due to war, countless millions of people have died over the centuries, usually based on conquest, greed, mistrust, hatred, vengeance, etc. And the crime rate in most nation is usually out of control.So, if you were a visiting alien, would you really want to step foot on this particular planet?

You’ve heard stories about how missionaries traveled to backwards countries and tried to convert the savages to their silly religion, failing miserably, especially when they wound up in a big stew-pot — but at least it was nice that they were invited for dinner. Most likely that’s how these intelligent aliens view us. They don’t want to be invited for dinner.

I have heard various reports of our Air Force fighter pilots shooting down  UFOs, and then such incidences were filed under “top secret” or “classified information,” and most prominent  of all, “never happened!” Because, of course, UFOs and ETs just don’t exist.  In spite of these claims, countless eyewitnesses and abductees have experienced these strange phenomena. Quite possibly, the aliens are just eavesdropping on us and don’t want to be seen.

If it’s true that ETs have never contacted us, that just means they’re being cautious.  But it’s quite possible they may have contacted certain individuals, and there are numerous reports stating such.  But the government foolishly denies all this, or says these individuals are either delusional or flat-out lying.  The fact is, Uncle Sam just can’t suddenly declare that there in fact has been an actual UFO phenomenon that they are now revealing to us for the first time. Because if they did that, they would be exposing the fact that they were brazenly lying  to us all these years, that they were covering up the truth, that they created a massive conspiracy — and then, folks, we would realize we can’t trust our own government! So they have to keep it all under wraps.  What they’ve done is painted themselves into a corner!

Even the Freedom of Information Act can’t be completely trusted, which is the government’s way to slowly release to the public outdated, obsolete data, because it’s usually info the US Govt. doesn’t care about it anymore — like the big secret that the Military plans to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki if Japan pisses us off by bombing Pearl Harbor. Well, folks, that’s really old news, and nearly 70-years after the freaking fact, so nobody cares anymore. But it’s very possible the questionable FOIA is strewn with misinformation and missing data and skewed reports, so by the time we the public get to this wealth of information, we get scattered puzzle pieces that just don’t fit together, because there are still a lot of missing puzzle pieces left. You can’t see the whole puzzle without all the pieces, and Uncle Sam is most likely holding onto the most important pieces.

We’re just left with a confused mess created by cover-up upon cover-up, so even if aliens were trying to contact us, we would be the last to know.

And if you were suddenly abducted by aliens and eventually returned a gibbering idiot to tell the tale, who’d believe you anyway?!

(first published November 2008)

Have extraterrestrials contacted us yet? Have only certain people been contacted, and are these secret contacts?

Obviously they have not contacted the general public yet, or else we’d be hearing all about it on TV and radio, or seeing huge saucers hovering all over our skies.

Is it possible they have contacted certain governments in various nations across the world, that is, a secret contact? Or are these just crazy rumors that we read about in the tabloids, or hear from conspiracy theorists with over-active imaginations? We have heard and read that there have been numerous alien abductions, countless UFO sightings, even extraterrestrial telepathic communications with individuals, or even aliens visiting certain individuals physically, and other such rumors. But these are separate contacts that cannot be proven as to their authenticity.

What has been deemed as “First Contact,” as suggested in science-fiction novels, movies, and TV shows, is indeed a glorious and grand idea. But will it ever take place upon our world the way we may imagine it? Or instead, will the tragedy of alien invasion actually take place? Ever since H. G. Wells’ devastating science-fiction novel, The War of the Worlds, our world-view has changed in regards to alien life, because we must ask whether or not it may be benign or malignant. In 1938, Orson Welles reproduced this devastating story in a horrifying radio broadcast that wreaked havoc to millions of listeners. For a short while radio listeners actually believed the Earth was being invaded by aliens from Mars. It demonstrates just how gullible people can be. This is one of the reasons our government is trying to keep the lid on the UFO phenomenon; they think we’re not ready, that we’ll go nuts if aliens revealed themselves. But after several decades of exposure via various and sundry ways, I think we’ve become desensitized and prepared enough. After many years of the public hearing about sightings and abductions, including all the books and magazines and movies and talk shows and so forth regarding ETs, it has become a normal topic in today’s society.

Perhaps the notion of alien invasion is more fascinating and captivating in science fiction than a peaceful, benevolent manner of first contact. But in the real world, I know we would prefer the latter. I wonder if the first movie version of The War of the Worlds in 1953 continued our extraterrestrial paranoia, and any other alien invasion movies, especially the two remakes that came out just a few short years ago, and let’s not forget Independence Day. That’s all we need — more fear and paranoia. Perhaps the real ETs are simply observing us, yes, we the insane savage humans that live here, too dangerous to confront, who seem to be on an inevitable path of self- annihilation, whether it be through thermonuclear warfare, poisoning our atmosphere and oceans with countless toxins, biochemical methods, the creation and spread of new viruses, and so forth. I doubt these intelligent aliens really want to greet us with open arms. I doubt if they feel we’re anywhere close to being ready to join the Galactic Community of Extraterrestrial Worlds (if it exists). I’m sure they’re just watching us from afar, because if they get too close, we could infect them with some horrible virus, or we might capture one of them, or start a war with them.

They may even abandon their Galactic Watch program with Earth soon, and perhaps return in several centuries, to see if we’ve grown up yet.

Or are the ETs here to help us? Can they save us form ourselves? But if they have a Prime Directive (as suggested in the Star Trek TV shows) then they can’t tamper with our backwards culture; they can only observe us, whether we advance further and develop global unity and peace, or completely destroy ourselves first.

On the other hand, perhaps they have orders from the Mothership to blow this hopeless planet to smithereens before we stumble upon warp-drive capability so we can spread our insanity to other worlds.

If I were them, I’d choose that option. Put us out of our misery.????

But give us a few centuries, see if we can get our collective act together first.

Now, if we applied our imagination, what would actual first contact be like? Will they land on the White House lawn, ask some random passerby to “Take us to your leader,” and then shake hands with the President? Perhaps they’ll ignore the arrogant, greedy politicians and meet the scientists first, the astrophysicists, the astronomers, the biologists, some metaphysicians, etc. Or they might feel drawn to botanists, gardeners, environmentalists, zoologists, oceanographers, or people who are in touch with the Earth. Perhaps they will offer to cure all diseases, create peace between all humans, and deliver us out of a Dark Age we didn’t realize we were in. Or, they may perceive dolphins as the superior intelligent life on Earth and contact them instead of us! Who knows!

We don’t really know, but we can dream, or write silly science fiction stories about it. But if they open their arms to the welcoming public in friendship, will we return the favor, or will paranoid war-mongers spoil it and attack them for intruding our airspace? Will the paranoid savage humans cause a war with our could-have-been new friends?

For this reason, which they can easily foresee, they may remain hidden.

No, I don’t think we’re ready yet. I think we have some serious growing up to do.

(article first published in December 2008)