At least, that’s what the scientists are saying. Arizona State University’s professor Paul Davis — a theoretical physicist and cosmologist now working on astrobiology — and Robert Wagner — Research Technician at the School of Earth & Space Exploration — have published a scientific paper calling for the search of alien artifacts on the Moon..
I know. I find this insanely awesome too. And it actually makes some sense.
In their paper they argue that, while the search for extraterrestrial intelligence “has a low probability of success”, the potential impact of finding proof requires to “widen the search” as much as possible. Instead of just looking for radio messages, we should probably search for traces of alien explorers in the celestial bodies of our solar system. These are the highlights of the paper:
- Alien civilisations may have sent probes to our region of the galaxy.
- Any mission to the solar system would probably have occurred a very long time ago. The lunar environment could preserve artifacts for millions of years.
- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter provides a photographic database to search for artifacts.
- Searching the LRO database would make an excellent educational project.
Their idea is to use photographs from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter — 340,000 images now, one million in the future — in computer-based and crowd-sourced analysis. The cost is very low, they say and the gains are good anyway. Either we find signs of aliens or people learn a lot about the Moon in the process. It’s a win-win proposition.
Davis and Wagner believe that, if there’s something, it will be perfectly preserved because there’s very little activity on the lunar surface. They think that, if aliens actually were there, they may have left a beacon on a place like the Tycho crater or perhaps in one of the many lava caves that populate our silver satellite, which may be where the alien explorers installed their bases. Space exploration experts also believe that, if humans are to set up a colony on the Moon, these lava holes would be the best place.
Can you imagine encountering alien artifacts on our back door? [Acta Astronautica via The Guardian]
Titsnass
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 9:56 AMOk, they put a light bulb on the head of the King of RocknRoll,… That’s not cool man! :)
Taiwo
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 6:03 PMI cant believe d science dat says alliens are on d moon.
olearymo
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 9:44 AMI can’t believe you’re able to be understood by other people.
The Alien Ambassadore
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 7:07 PMWell they are on the dark side of the moon.
The Alien Ambassadore
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 7:04 PMI’m all shook up!
Phil
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 10:20 AMWhy would aliens visit the moon when they have this magnificent blue and white planet beckoning to them?
angryofmayfair
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 12:03 PM*Why would aliens visit the moon when they have this magnificent blue and white planet beckoning to them?*
Did you never read 2001?
The Aliens are far smarter than us – when we eventually are smart enough (?) to get in touch with them we will have found the clues to their existence and a beacon to where they are by searching the moon…
Brilliant concept eh? Thanks to Arthur C Clarke.
Brian
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 12:18 PMPhil, their motives would be, by definition, alien.
The Alien Ambassadore
Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at 7:29 PMBecause people inhabit Earth.
Pete
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 10:32 AMOf course, if the US government had ever found anything of this sort in the first place they would have never hidden it from us, right?
Thom
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 11:24 AMBut we already found evidence of alien life on the moon 10 years ago! I saw it in that documentary, “2001: A Space Odyssey”!
Truther
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 11:26 AMThere are artifacts on the Moon.
I cannot answer why this discovery has been kept secret for so very long.
The truth is kept strangely enough, by private Business outfits such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin as they are exempted from Freedom of information audits/requests. The Govts can truthfully claim they hold no evidence because of this fact.
Marsyas
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 11:50 AMBut we already know that aliens have visited the moon. Americans!
samjesse
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 12:13 PMSearch for solutions to the many problems we have on earth first, prioritize the use of our resources to minimize their waste.
How many are starving of hunger or living below the poverty line who can be feed with the money spent on searching for aliens? it feels like such decisions to search for aliens on the moon are made by aliens of our own.
Commander Shepard
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 2:29 PMOk so i was going to jump in with the whole “this could lead to blah blah blah”
Then thought how funny it would be if we fixed all the above issues and then aliens popped down and said “Ok, you are ready”
No intelligent being would risk visiting us if they knew what was good for them
The Speaker
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 12:50 PMFinally, the governments wont to release there knowledge of the alien bases on the dark side of the moon. Nasa already has evidence of objects moving on the surface and structures that look like bases, just google it.
Pete of Adelaide
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 12:54 PMI find this quite funny really. I have a casual interest in astronomy and I have learned a few things one of which is that our solar system is in the middle of nowhere in relation to cosmic events where we resemble an oasis in the middle of the Sahara. I believe that in all probability there is life in the Universe but due to our remote location, our average star the sun, that there is very little chance of us ever seeing visitors or ever of having seen them in the past. We are on a small planet towards the outskirts of our galaxy roughly in the middle of a couple of spiral arms so far away from any potentially inhabited regions that even if they knew we were here and wanted to visit, by the time they got here we would be extinct.
Andy
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 1:19 PMsamjesse: How many millions have been saved by hurricane readiness due to satellites? Most “pure” science and research is seen as a waste, yet it is the single most valuable enterprise humans do. Why don’t you rail against the banking system which sucks 30% of our GPD without contributing any wealth whatsoever? What about the US military industrial complex?
Earth is our cradle and may not remain safe for long…it is pretty smart to get out of the cradle and learn to walk in our neighborhood. Actually I’d say it is pretty stupid and shortsighted not to! Wait for the next dino-killer asteroid or Deccan Traps volcanic episode…”fixing things at home” won’t seem such a smart move then!
Thongie
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 7:06 PMlike!!
pitas
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 6:53 PMSamjesse: Truly they are priorities in every area of ourlives and as the priorities rises so the attention is provided.I will say lets concetrate on the health sector…talk about the taminal diseases takin lives HIV,CANCER and…etc the Govnmnt should turn towards that direction plsss.
Olawale Mohammed
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 7:01 PMThe existing of alien somewhere else is of no use to explore but rather ways out of an era of confrontation between cultures and continents from which neither the West nor the East world ever recovered.
brossey
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 7:57 PMhow will u guyz react if their is anythn like alien