There has been a large uptick in UFO news lately. This is due to the release of History Channel's "Unidentified" show and the coinciding decision by the US Navy to create a reporting mechanism for UFO sightings (really, not a coincidence). Still, some scientists on Earth remain unconvinced we are being visited by intelligent people from other planets.
Seth Shostak of SETI
The general public recently became aware of the 2004 Nimitz Incident. After a major upgrade to its radar systems, the Navy was able to pick up numerous aliens spaceships in our airspace, which had previously gone undetected. A recent Space.com article quotes Seth Shostak of SETI as saying the UFOs spotted by four credible eye-witnesses and numerous radar operators in the Nimitz Incident were the result of a computer glitch in the new radar upgrade rather than due to its increased capabilities, "As anybody who uses Microsoft products knows, whenever you upgrade any technical product, there are always problems."
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| Seth Shostak of SETI |
Right...
Because the Navy is putting our National Defense in the hands of untested, bug-infested software - software which apparently was downloaded into the heads of the eye-witnesses? Figure that one out. I suppose they did the same with the fighter jets - because why not put someone behind the wheel of a $29 million airship with 17,000 pound feet of thrust, per engine, which is controlled by buggy software? Sounds reasonable, Seth... We must do that with all military equipment, right? I know a few rocket scientists and software engineers down the road at UTC who would take issue with that.
In a related story, AT&T's last remaining telegraph operator, Bertha Goodwyfe, reports that the Internet may exist but we should not believe it is controlled by intelligent beings. If you have seen the garbage on YouTube, she may have a point. But there was a correlatory joke embedded somewhere in that inane joke. Let me explain.
Shostak's SETI Institute is searching for aliens. That is great! I hope they find something. I sincerely do. But they are searching for radio waves. Remember radio? The tool that lets us broadcast awful Pop Music and grumpy, anger-inducing, call-in talk shows? Radio blasts information in every direction at the speed of light. What better way to tell the Universe, "We're here! Come and invade us with your superior technology!" For this reason alone, it is unlikely that other advanced civilizations are using radio waves for broadcasting. Anyone, out there, smart enough to broadcast radio has already learned from experience that you do not announce your presence to people with far superior technology. Just ask any natives of the Western Hemisphere how that sort of thing turns out.
Direct radio messages, in theory, are better but they can be intercepted. Even if these direct signals over radio waves were encrypted, over the course of hundreds of years those signals would be deciphered time after time, eventually rendering encryption moot, by more advanced civilizations. I said "hundreds" of years but aliens with the ability to get from there to here have probably been around for millions of years longer than we have. Yes, millions. By now, people with interstellar capabilities have determined that radio is the lowest form of communication. Well maybe second lowest, after texting with emojis
There is also a limit to how far radio waves can travel. It is possible for a radio wave to travel over 100 light years. However, as those waves spread out, like ripples in a pond after a stone is thrown in, what is received at the farthest edge of those ripples would be completely indecipherable. It may not even be perceived as a signal from another planet. Travel far enough from the source (where other intelligent life most likely lives) and these waves are undetectable.
So what is SETI doing? Do they actually think we will pick up some radio communications from another planet? Yes they do! They know that it is unlikely that we will receive broadcasts from other planets of their version of The Howard Stern Show. But there is a theory that people on other planets would create magnified point-to-point radio transmissions rather than (or in addition to) broadcasts. Why would anyone do that? Well naturally, so they could speak with Seth Shostak of SETI. This is because alien people with limited imaginations would rather beam messages at other people who lack interstellar travel capabilities (us) than to try to get off their own planets and see first-hand what is out there.
Mmm hmm...
Mike "The Wall" Wall
Shostak's personal mouthpiece, Space.com, joins in the Denial Parade. Senior Space Writer, Mike "The Wall" Wall comments, "Common sense argues against jumping on to the E.T. conclusion. If these UFOs are indeed alien spacecraft, what exactly are they doing? Why were they sent here, across the vast gulfs of space and time?"
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| Some people call me the Space Turtle |
Um... actually Mikey, common sense argues that aircraft with the ability to violate just about every known law of physics could not possibly be of this world. Common sense says that an aircraft which could do any one of the following:
- Anti-Gravity
- Instantaneous Acceleration
- Hypersonic Velocity
- Low Observability
- Trans-Medium Travel
- Sound Field Silencing
may qualify for inclusion in the Other-World-Technology category. Aircraft which demonstrate more than one of these traits make it a mathematical certainty that they are using alien technology. That is what people who possess common sense call "common sense," my friend.
I will note that The Wall is a herpetologist with a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology. This makes him about as qualified to write about UFOs as I am, with my MBA. Of course, there is that major distinction that I have had a close encounter with a UFO and The Wall has not.
The Wall does have a book for sale on Amazon, though. Props for that! The first review listed says,
The book really does not break any new ground but the absolutely maddening thing about it is the author's writing style, which comes across as a grandpa crashing his teenage grandchildren's swim party and trying to be hey, totally groovy.
To The Wall's credit, I did not have to dig deep to find some good reviews too. One of them reads,
I was very happy with the purchase and seller. I would purchase again from this seller.
Another reads,
best book of all time. so much detail and funny. Great for sif [sic] fans and for astronomyers [sic] like me. great for all ages. love this book read it
I hope that when my first book is published, my kids write equally positive reviews for me, like The Wall's did. I will encourage them to proof-read, though. But I should not make fun. The Wall's book is ranked number 44,902 on Amazon's Best Sellers List. That is 44,902 better than I have done, so far. Kudos, Mike!
It seems like the qualifications for getting a writing job at Space.com are remarkably low. All you need is a PhD in something. Anything! It does not matter if that degree is in the study of stars or, in this case, turtles. It also does not matter if you believe in facts or "alternative facts." You can simply deny thousands of eye-witness accounts and come up with your own conclusions. I want a job there!
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| Mike "The Wall" Wall |
Do I have an ax to grind? Not with anyone in particular. Just with people who actively work to impede the progress of legit UFOlogists and Science. It is ironic (or is it hypocritical?) of a "scientific" website like "Space" to take such a stance but if that is how they want to spend their time, fighting progress in science, then yes, I have an ax to grind. We are being visited by intelligent beings from other planets who possess far superior technology - technology which violates our known rules of physics. You do not need a PhD to understand that this is a problem. Although, if you do have a PhD it probably helps if it is in Physics rather than Terrapinology.
But perhaps having a degree is even a detriment when it comes to breaking new ground. I mean significant breakthroughs. Like The Smiths in the movie The Matrix, trained physicists are bound by the rules they have studied. Einstein studied physics and then could have just accepted Newton's work, with its constraints, and called it a day. He did not. He imagined new possibilities and then figured out how to get there. Physics needs more Einsteins and fewer Walls.
Alien Spaceships are Real, but don't assume they're Alien Spaceships
Back to Seth Shostak, he goes on to dismiss the Navy's new policy of encouraging UFO reporting. "Let them do it," he says. Meanwhile, he will continue pointing satellite dishes up into the sky, listening for a sign of intelligent life rather than opening his eyes and looking for it. I suspect, if someone held a large mirror in front of Shostak's dishes, he still would not find signs of intelligent life. The truth is not "out there," it is here, right in front of our faces.
I suppose you cannot blame Shostak for fighting progress. He needs to justify his work in order to keep getting all those big donations which pay his salary. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen foots a lot of this bill - strange, considering Shostak's vocal condescension of Microsoft products (see above). Shostak is valued at $11 million, by the way. Sho-me-the-money-Stak! And keep those donations rolling in.
People in radio broadcasting in the 1940s laughed at the upstarts in TV. Why should Shostak, in his ivory radio listening booth, be any different? People like that could be abducted by aliens and flown to another planet and he would still insist that aliens do not exist because he was not the one to discover them, using his archaic methods. He is like that guy who is still holding onto his Laser Disc collection because, "the picture is so much better than VHS and don't even get me started on Betamax!" 
If I ever meet Seth Shostak, I will engage him in a conversation about which is better, the Atari 2600 or 5200.
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Thank you for reading and keep an eye on the sky.
The "Flat Earth" experts.....
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