“The day the
earth stood still” is one of my all-time favorite science fiction movies. If
you have haven’t seen the original 1951 version you should give it a watch.
Gort is the name of the robot in the film.
A relatively
recent incident involving a fighter pilot and subsequent release of DoD video
showed an unknown object being tracked by an A/F F18. Audio of comments being
made accompanies the video. The fighter pilot was unable to achieve a radar lock.
After retiring he came forward with information about the incident. (For those
that might not know talking about an encounter with a UFO can be a real career
ender for a pilot in the service or private sector.) According to the
information being reported, sightings had been ongoing for a couple of weeks
before the encounter. The former pilot mentioned that there was no visible
means of propulsion and that the object looked like a 40’ long white Tic Tac.
He said the UFO executed maneuvers that a human body could not withstand. This
is one of the common threads mentioned in various UFO sightings.
This news was
reported in a few mainstream news outlets before the news cycle moved on to
other things. These sightings have gone on for a long time. Most of them are
debunked. Emphasis on most. It is worth noting that these sightings were made
by radar and what appears to be thermal imaging. All sorts of questions arise.
Are they real? Are they alien? Is it our technology or the technology of
another country being displayed? If they’re alien what are their intentions?
Good? Bad? Evil? Neutral? The ramifications are somewhat scary yet fun to
contemplate.
In regards to
what the intentions of alien beings might be Stephen Hawking is reported to
have said that we should keep in mind how things worked out for Native
Americans. I do find it interesting that we think of them as a species of life.
It seems to me that when it comes to interstellar travel Artificial
Intelligence (AI) would be a better choice especially if faster than light
travel isn’t possible.
AI rather than
physical beings (carbon based life forms) would be better able to handle the
extreme speeds and maneuvers exhibited by the craft that have been observed.
Humans would be a crushed up blob if they underwent some of the G forces
observed unless inside the craft are immune to what is happening outside the
craft. Regardless AI just seems to me to be a more logical choice. We wouldn’t
be using humans for flights if AI were able to make the necessary decisions and
take remedial actions for unplanned events that might arise.
AI would also
mean that the same craft could have been here for millennia observing and
learning. For all we know they could have been reporting back to wherever for
all this time. Taking years to wait for responses would not be a bother for
them. AI might not even have a need or requisite for answering back. Gather
information. Gather knowledge. It certainly wouldn’t take AI long to figure out
that we are the biggest threat to ourselves.
I think that
there may be more to AI, or big headed aliens if you prefer, than just watching
though. If they’re indeed capable of interstellar travel they are far advanced
of us and anything that we can do. If this is the case and I believe it would
be then they are letting us see them because they can. The F18’s were unable to
get a radar lock yet the ships could be seen by different radars. Then they
“disappear”. What’s that about?
If they wanted
to do something to us or with us they certainly could have done so before now.
Seriously, why wait? The best that we could hope to do is blow the crap out of
our planet and we’ve been able to do that for decades. There would have to be
some altruistic purpose for them to “save” us from ourselves and our penchant
to self-destruct when we acquire too many nice things. If they had altruism
they would have acted waaaaay before now.
But I keep
coming back to why would they choose to let us “see” them sometimes but not at
others? That seems inquisitive.
“Look to the
skies! Look to the skies!”