Basic HTML Version
ThereIsLife
Out
There!
by
Ronald D. Kelly
Mi ll ions are being spent in an attempt to contact other life
in the universe. What
will
be found?
W
E LOOK
up into a
b lack sky, dotted
w ith mil l io ns of
stars, and we won–
der- is there life out there?
Are there other creatures
similar to life on earth? Are
there life forms totally d iffer–
ent from ours?
Or is there no life at a ll in
outer space? l s planet Earth
unique?
These questions have puzzled
mankind for centuries. Even mod–
ero men are bewi ldered about mys–
terious places such as Nazca in
Peru and thc Bermuda Triangle.
Science fiction writers have capi–
talized on our natural curiosity and
have produced hundreds of books,
magazine articles and movies on
the subject of life in tbe universe.
Throngs see such movies as
E. T. - The Extraterrestrial.
Peoplc are intrigued by futurist
22
movies and wonder if someday
there will indeed be
Star Wars
with beings from other planets.
From Fantasy t o Seri ous Business
But man has now moved from fiction
toan earnest search for life in outer
space.
1f
there is life out there, per–
haps- some scientists reason- they
are t rying to contact us.
The California Institute of Tech–
nology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(J PL) and NASA's Ames Research
Center have launched a program to
searcb the universe for radio signals
from intelligent extraterrestrial civi–
lizations. A spectrum analyzer now
being built and tested will monitor
nearly 70,000 separate microwave
channels and examine them for signs
of intelligent signals.
A unit being designcd at Stan–
ford University in California will
be able, in the future, to examine
microwave signals and split them
into nearly 1
O
mi Ilion channels.
T he theory is, if there is life in
outer space, perhaps they will be
broadcasting on one of those mil–
lions of frequencies. And scientists
want to be ready to receive their
messages.
On the othcr hand, our own
modern technologies have made
possible satellite telecommunica–
tions that could be intercepted or
received by other life forms- if
such life existed in other locations
in the universe.
There is a plaque attached to
one of our space probe vehicles.
Engraved on the plaque is the
genetic code for human life and stick
drawings of aman and woman. Just
in case the spacecraft would be inter–
cepted, captured or crash into anoth–
er planet on which life exists, scien–
tists would like them to know the
makeup of our life.
What Has Bee n Discovered
So Fa r ?
Efforts to contact life beyond our
planet have, up to now, yielded
The
PLAIN TRUTH