Aliens? We must talk - how does July 2503 sound for you?

The Australian ^ | July 22, 2003 | Seth Shostak

[Conspiracy Guy]

What a stupid story. All the Greys I hang out with like beer and women just like I do. All that probe stuff is a load of crap perpetrated by a bunch of loonies.

[dark_lord]

Only hollywood types (high school dropouts) and government bureaucraps believe that (a) anyone will try to communicate across interstellar distances with radio, and (b) will try to travel across interstellar distances with rockets.

[MEGoody]

"After all, any extraterrestrials we detect are likely to be far in advance of us"

We can't be sure of this. They may actually be behind us in technology, with their weak radio signals being picked up and boosted by natural phenomena, then eventually received by us. (That is, if anyone else is out there at all.)

[Billthedrill]

Enough of this, Commander Zongbar. The Earthlings are getting suspicious...

[Dead Corpse]

Been there. Done that.

[Semper Paratus]

The aliens won't come visiting.

Those aliens 35 light years away are picking up such gems as the "Beverly Hillbillies" "The 3 Stooges", and "My favorite Martian".

No it won't be worth the trip.

[Tijeras_Slim]

how does July 2503 sound for you?

I've got a doctors appointment that day.... HMO's suck.

[presidio9]

Maybe they're also watching the Honeymooners. Won't they be disappointed when they discover that Jackie Gleason was one of a kind?

[Semper Paratus]

Won't they be disappointed when they discover that Jackie Gleason was one of a kind?

They may want to know more about how he could get his wife to the moon.

[presidio9]

They may wonder if Earthlings will mistake them for pinball machines.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I find it highly presumptive to think that Extraterrestrials would come to Earth. Perhaps they are also waiting for Extraterrestrials to come to their planet, from Earth.

[SengirV]

And given the fact that the galaxy is roughly three times the age of Earth, it's possible that we might discover intelligence that is literally billions of years beyond our own.

Good luck with that. The first generation of stars/planents did not have very many elements higher up than five on the periodic table. I will stake my reputation that there were no intelligent beings in the Milky Way 12-15 billion years ago.

[AntiGuv]

Ping!

[presidio9]

I will stake my reputation that there were no intelligent beings in the Milky Way 12-15 billion years ago.

And what, pray tell, is that reputation based on?

[Indrid Cold]

Cool, then we can kill 'em and colonize their planets.

[new cruelty]

Hmmm... this means something...

[Hatteras]

"I will stake my reputation that there were no intelligent beings in the Milky Way 12-15 billion years ago."

That's pretty bold. You know you risk alienating your family from the neighborhood social scene if you lose, don't you?

[ASA Vet]

there were no intelligent beings in the Milky Way 12-15 billion years ago

You're assuming native beings, how about colonists from older galaxies?

[FourtySeven]

I wish to become a member........but only on my home computer....hence this cryptic reply.......< raises an eyebrow...contorts face...preforms other acts to look nepharious >