Do you really believe that if a civilization did exist out there that they had a 100,000 year lead over us on the technology curve that they would be worried about a mere 4.5 light years?
There is only one thing faster than the speed of light,the speed of thought. This is not an appropriate thread for here,maybe ten years from now.
Dr. Michael Sala has a great book out Secret Space programs,read it and weep.
Which means there's nothing out there.
If we were traveling 1% of the speed of light it would take us 450 years to get to the closest star. And 1% of the speed of light is more than 100 times faster than the fastest satellite we’ve ever put up. Why would any civilization waste its resources on such a thing even if it were possible? I am not at all convinced that technology can overcome any obstacle if you give it time.
Many years ago I read an article in Scientific American. The article proposed a trip to Alpha Centauri, the closest star. The author calculated that if we could get a spaceship that would accelerate to maybe 15% of the speed of light, then it would take roughly 50 years to get there. When it arrived it would be going so fast that you would not be able to slow it down. You’d zip thru the star system in just a few hours. Then the author talked about what that spaceship might look like. He proposed a massive balloon made of aluminum that was filled with hydrogen to fuel a nuclear powered rocket engine. He assumed we’d invent the technology. When he said “massive” he meant about 10 miles in diameter. The payload of this rocket would be a camera. There would be no capacity to carry anything more.