Saturday, May 17, 2008

How do you prove it?

The biggest challenge in a proposed extraterrestrial First Contact situation is disproving the hoax। We have simply been subjected to far too much crazy speculation over the years. Any First Contact would be met with understandable skepticism. Overcoming this would take proof. There are several ways in which this could be done. Perhaps the most effective would be to combine a visit with a message or messages sent from the home location of the extraterrestrial visitors. The technology to achieve this would have to be far beyond our comprehension. Simple radio waves travel so slowly that an extraterrestrial civilization would have to send a conventional message thousands of years in advance. Assuming that they do have more sophisticated communication technology would we be able to receive such a signal? If all of these assumptions proved true you could announce exact locations where radio telescopes here on earth should be pointed and let the earth scientists chime in from there.

A spaceship could also send a signal from inside our solar system. This could be an effective way to make an introduction. You set up in an area that would be impossible for humans to duplicate and would dispel notions of a false signal or mirage of some sort. However, messages sent from far away would be rather cold and mysterious. It would give rise to great speculation and perhaps fear. For that reason the best scenario would be to combine a signal sent from inside our solar system with direct contact here on Earth.

Showing off technology here on Earth would provide another way of disproving the hoax। It has an additional benefit if it is done is such a way as to be a welcome to the world. One way to achieve this would be to have the visiting space craft travel around the globe. This idea is dependent on one big question: can the visiting spacecraft operate in a way that is technologically superior to human made aircraft? It would have to be substantially superior in technology if it is to be used as proof. Just because an extraterrestrial civilization has the technology that allows it to travel across space, doesn’t necessarily mean that they would have a craft that is substantially superior in the earth atmosphere. After all, it is our atmosphere and we’ve been developing aircraft in it for many decades.

Let us assume for a moment that the visiting civilization does have a craft that is substantially technologically superior to ours and can prove it in flight। This would be a good way to disprove the hoax. A trip across the world could be organized to show off the craft and allow people all over the planet to see for themselves. However, it would be important to have the craft travel to places where experts could study the movements. The craft would have to put on a display of sorts at each stop and allow scientists to evaluate speed, ascent, descent, stopping, acceleration and any aspects of flight that would show off significant technological superiority. The craft must show itself to be clearly and unmistakably not of this Earth. I have researched some places that might be beneficial for the observation of such a craft. Universities with outstanding aeronautics programs were chosen, as well as space command centers for various countries. The combination of the two should provide enough scientific discussion to disprove the hoax, and of course, prove the operators of the craft to be extraterrestrial.

Here is a possible flight plan. It would be important to time the flights so that each stop occurred in daylight for better observation. Many different countries and continents have been chosen to make this truly a welcome for all the people of planet Earth.

United States
Houston, Texas: NASA, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
College Station, Texas: Texas A & M University
Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Boston University

Germany
Bonn-Oberkassel: DLR German Space Agency
Darmstadt (just south of Frankfurt): Technische Universitat Darmstadt

Russia
Korolev (just north of Moscow): ISS Command Center
Moscow: M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University

India
Bangalore: India Space Research Organization HQ
Chennai: IIT-Indian Institutes of Technology, Anna University

China
Beijing: Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center, TsingHua University

Australia
Woomera: Space Command Tracking Center
Melbourne: Melbourne University

Brazil
Sao Paulo: Universidade de Sao Paulo

French Guiana
Kourou: European Space Agency Spaceport

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