Should We Be Phoning E.T.?

It seems so many here are like the people in the movie Independence Day, celebrating the arrival of the aliens from the top of that building in L.A. - just before the alien ship blasts the city to bits.

But what if all the hopeful people are just as wrong about the aliens, and they turn out to be hostile?

Here's an article from David Brin, a respected physicist and Sci-Fi author.

article

We've been listening for the signs of extraterrestrial civilizations for nearly 50 years - and if E.T.s are out there, they just might have picked up on the radio signals that we've been transmitting for even longer. More recently, some broadcasters have been sending intentional shout-outs to the aliens.

Is that so wrong?

Yes, in the opinion of physicist-novelist David Brin and other scientists who say such transmissions could bring unwelcome consequences.

For years, Brin has been concerned about the idea of phoning E.T. - a practice he calls METI. That stands for "messages to extraterrestrial intelligence," as opposed to SETI, or the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. In an essay titled "Shouting at the Cosmos," written for the Lifeboat Foundation, Brin said the idea of sending high-powered messages to E.T. represented a worrisome turn in the SETI search:

"If aliens are so advanced and altruistic ... and yet are choosing to remain silent ... should we not consider following their example and doing likewise? At least for a little while? Is it possible that they are silent because they know something we don't know?"

Here's a link to another IMO excellent book on this subject:

book link



[edit on 7/15/2008 by centurion1211]

there are many threads on ATS disscussing just this particular topic...one of the more recent ones being here www.abovetopsecret.com...' just use the search tool it should be helpful in the future

Good Day
Skept!cal

reply to post by skept!cal


after seeing when you first joined ATS you already know this im presuming...so sorry if i gave you info which you already have ... just trying to help

Good Day
Skept!cal

Originally posted by skept!cal
there are many threads on ATS disscussing just this particular topic...one of the more recent ones being here www.abovetopsecret.com...' just use the search tool it should be helpful in the future

Good Day
Skept!cal

Are we having fun playing mod today?

Turns out I did search for a thread based on this particular article and found none.

And now about this subject. Did you check out the book link?

reply to post by centurion1211


no need for quip remarks...as you can see im not a mod..so smugness isnt nesscary...i was simply trying to help..if you would of read my second post you would of understand so....so much for helping others

Skept!cal

[edit on 15-7-2008 by skept!cal]

[edit on 15-7-2008 by skept!cal]

Originally posted by skept!cal
reply to post by centurion1211

 

no need for quip remarks...as you can see im not a mod..so smugness isnt nesscary...i was simply trying to help if you..if you would of read my second post you would of understand so....so much for helping others

Skep!cal

You assume way too much that any of us need your help. But "thanks"
for the attempt anyway. Feel better now?



But seriously, check out the book link. It's about real scientists contemplating what would happen if aliens were hostile and what we might be able to do for a planetary defense. An eye-opening read IMO.

Originally posted by centurion1211
But what if all the hopeful people are just as wrong about the aliens, and they turn out to be hostile?

What if there's more than one species of extraterrestrials, and they come in hostile and friendly?

Let's face it, we need help on this planet. Maybe we should ask? Maybe that's all they're waiting for? What do we have to lose that we're not going to anyway?


[edit on 15/7/08 by NuclearPaul]

Dont say that! if we ask for help this would show humanity itself is incapable of looking after themselves and are weak! and besides if humans do attract unwanted attention humans tend to have a hobby of "starting a war" or "starting riots" and never giving up until we achieve our objective, humans just love andrenaline pumped action

I'm amazed at such an assanine assumption from a scientist.
Alien civilizations could literally be beaming messages from the rooftops, from all over the Universe, yet he claims to infer they are deliberately silent.

Such signals could either:
1. still be on their way here
2. have arrived and ceased prior to man
3. could be in a form we cannot yet detect (i.e. like radio waves before we had the radio, etc.)

Either of these 3 are far more likely scenarios than a deliberate silence.

However, a genuine risk surely exists, but the alternative is simply remaining "alone"... thing is though, we've been broadcasting for ages, and those messages are still going, so it's kind of too late anyhow to stop now....

What about the recent launch of the Doritos commercial into space?

Did they go through with that?

I think given the data, it's fairly obvious that they have already found us. Although if one does not accept such a premise, I think David Brin has a valid point. It's a dog-eat-dog world. Why should we assume the universe is any different? If aliens are able to travel here, then they are obviously superior... History shows us what happens to societies who come into contact with a more advanced civilization.

The funny thing is how we started playing with radiowaves long before most people even considered the possibility of aliens.

could some one explain what the "Radio signals" is??
does it say "hey guys, come down earth" or some sort of high tech signal, if so please explain.. and how do we know that they are going to understand it?

Well, we're searching for any kind of "intelligent" radio code, i.e. has enough characteristics to be determined as artificial...

It can get fairly technical, but look at the "Wow" signal, for what's being looked for:

en.wikipedia.org...

There are many ways to phone ets, though. Meditation, and attempts to just communicate as they most likely have all our thoughts already mapped. One of my sitings involved initially a telepathic messaged, based on my thoughts at the time. I then went outside to have a smoke and there was the craft that hovered for at least 5 minutes, long enough for my 4 children to run amok, and yell "we come in peace." One of them climbed the shed and was waving his exuberant greeting.

Most activity is rather stealthy so far isn't it. Of course, disclosures show they have already met and negotiated with governments, and in fact many of their crafts are shot down. I think they must be exhibiting extreme patience with us, as so far, they have not crashed and burned our planet, and have not retaliated at all.

Since they read our thoughts, we can just go out and talk to them, at night when the sun's radiation has cooled off. Even if they don't answer back, we can still be a force for diplomacy.

David Brin is debating this subject today on Larry King Live. Line up includes Seth Shostak, and maybe Dan Akyroid.

phone home, phone home: E.T

Originally posted by NuclearPaul

Originally posted by centurion1211
But what if all the hopeful people are just as wrong about the aliens, and they turn out to be hostile?

What if there's more than one species of extraterrestrials, and they come in hostile and friendly?

Let's face it, we need help on this planet. Maybe we should ask? Maybe that's all they're waiting for? What do we have to lose that we're not going to anyway?


[edit on 15/7/08 by NuclearPaul]

This guy has being doing his research, according to a discloure project witness there are more than 1 specie of ET visiting us.

So his post has got my credibility for that reason, not only that, i also beleive this is the case aswell.

Just look at our human race and you'll find there are nice people and complete bastards, so who knows what aliens are like? No one does so the best thing to say is... Maybe...Maybe not .