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Can E.T. Really Phone Home?
Sure we've all seen movies and read books about extraterrestrial beings landing on the Earth and conquering the human race. And on Sunday nights at 9:00PM millions of us tune into TV shows like "The X-files" and "Third Rock From the Sun." These forms of popular culture share a common thread -- extraterrestrial life. Yet the underlying question is, does the mass media take extraterrestrialism seriously? Or do they mock it? Or do they simply exaggerate its credibility? In the majority of these cases, the mass media not only takes on the third mode of exaggeration, it shifts focus from more important and serious issues such as extraterrestrial life at the cellular level. Sure, the media loves to play with the minds of viewers, making them believe in something which realistically is probably untrue.
The early history of extraterrestrial life traces back to the 1940s and 1950s. Stories of alien abduction sprang up everywhere becoming a general trend. At the time, alien abduction was defined as the forced removal of a person from his /her physical location to another place. It may include an altered state of awareness for the purpose of physical, surgical or psychological procedures performed by non-humans. After the abduction, the person is returned to his or her physical location and frequently has little or no recollection of the experience.
Where did this all begin?
It began in 1898 when H.G. Welles published his book The War of The Worlds. The time period was one of huge tension and military armament. This was a marker that World War I was going to break out. Welles novel addressed that very dread. The aliens were from the future and were perceived as an evil threat to mankind. But books like these and TV shows like "The X-Files" are always a projection of what we feel ourselves to be now, of where we think we're headed now. Science fiction is not, to use the dismissive academic phrase "escape literature." It's more like no escape, no way out literature. It's about the future only in the sense that your life is about the future, when you wake up in the morning. (Commonweal).
Two of the first people to have been the victims of UFO abduction by aliens besides the famous contactees of the 1940s and 1950s was a couple Betty and Barney Hill. Apparently, during a drive from a holiday in Canada through the White Mountains, the couple spotted a light that seemed to be following them. They presumed it was an airplane or a helicopter. After driving for a while, they stopped the car for the light had come closer. Mr. Hill got out of the car to get a better look with the aid of binoculars and described the object as banana-shaped with pointed tips and windows.
Mr. Hill started to walk slowly towards the craft. Mrs. Hill screamed frantically for him. He returned to the car, stunned. He said that he saw aliens through the window. Deciding to leave it alone, they drove on. But they noticed something eerily strange. More than an hour of time was lost and the car had strange blotches on it. Mrs. Hill notified the Pease Air Force Base who confirmed that they indeed tracked an unknown unidentifiable object in the proximity of that same location and time.
Soon afterward, Mrs. Hill began to have nightmares about "aliens." She consulted several doctors who suggested hypnosis by a Dr. Benjamin Simon who was astonished by what the couple was independently revealing. They said that they were kidnapped by a UFO and had "medical" tests performed on them.
Mrs. Hill also claimed that the aliens showed her a "star map" of the aliens' home planet. Subsequent hypnotic sessions helped the doctors re-create the star map which turned out to be very close to a known star system. The exact planet the aliens showed Betty circled the star Zeta Reticulli.
This case was later made into a made-for-TV movie called, "The UFO Incident."
This is a prime example of the way the mass media has exploited extraterrestrial life. The broadcast of the case as a made-for-TV movie suggests that this was a great way to attract viewers with these new fantastical claims. For the TV networks, the Barney and Betty Hill case was an excellent way to get the ratings up. And what happened? The ratings sky-rocketed! Millions of viewers tuned in, eyes glued to the tv gobbling up the farcical story the Hills had to tell.
Furthermore, alien abductions are rather ludicrous stories. There is even a web site called "Contactlab," a project to publish real life accounts of UFO experiences and research alien abductions and abductees themselves, paranormal visitations, hauntings, unusual phenomena and the communities around these subjects.
The idea of this site is to gather the anecdotal histories of as many other people as possible who have been involved in the UFO phenomenon and display them all side by side in a format that allows studies of these people's stories. Yet there are many skeptics of the abduction phenomenon. Several researchers have tried to refute the theory of alien abduction through empirical means, yet debunkers argue strongly against the rationale of accepting testimonies from abductees as fact. Few have given a methodology to account for consistencies within material gathered from abductees in substantiation of their theories.
The web site notes that the editor of contact lab cannot verify the truthfulness of the accounts presented here. The writers of these stories of alien abduction believe anything they present as fact is sincere. Aha! The editor cannot verify this information yet it is still published! This weighs heavily on the credibility of the site. If the editor is doubtful, then why should we be trustful? With the modern technology of the Internet and the World Wide Web, subscribers can simply click into the Contactlab homepage and shower themselves with the absurdities of alien abductions. Why not focus on all the new discoveries of cellular life on Mars or the appearance of life-containing elements on other planets?
Tracing back to popular culture's perception of extraterrestrial life, it is very difficult to flip through the channels of prime time TV without coming across an invasion from outerspace. In the late 1970s-early 80s, Robin Williams charmed us with his "Nanoo-nanoo!" shrieks on Mork and Mindy. And on May 4th on NBC, they will air the premiere of Robin Cook's Home Invasion . Of course, the alien vs. human stories have fascinated the world throughout the century and has become obsessive/compulsive. Thus, it will become even more difficult as we head towards the new millennium.
The most significant event of the summer of 1996 was the blockbuster hit, Independence Day., a medium budget, high tech, bad space guys vs. good earthlings epic. ID4, as it is affectionately called, is one of the few movies to grace the covers of Time and Newsweek magazines before its premiere.
Is this just hype? Of course! It is highly probable that ID4, was made purely for entertainment, but we should not underestimate hype as an index of the national psyche. The trick lies in the advertising by the media. The media doesn't tell the public what they should like but tell them it is ok to like what they already do like.1 And ID4 is a premonition of what lies ahead. Hollywood has already scheduled a whole slew of invader films including Mars Attack , directed by the ever-so wacky Tim Burton. But invader shows are not restricted to the silver screen. On TV, for the past 4 seasons "The X-files" has been broadcasted by Fox. The storyline is essentially that aliens have landed and the government is covering it up. Simple, yet spellbinding. And it boosts up the ratings for Fox.
Nonetheless, Fox and three other major networks are focusing on the alien-invader theme, including anew series called Dark Skies. It has the same story line: aliens land and earthlings scurry about the planet, scared out of their wits end.
Why do these aliens come? Do they rescue us or condemn us? Are they our enemies or our friends? Whatever they may be, they are capturing the terror of the unsuspecting public. Fear pervades as the alien invades.
We think the mass media has gone to the extreme when we find a prime time news show develop UFO folklore. On January 1, 1997 Inside Edition did a ten minute segment of a 75-minute UFO sighting. The significant part of the program, surprisingly, was not only the showing of a high quality UFO sighting but the objective reporting that they gave it. Inside Edition not only showed the digital analysis but demonstrated the work done by scientist Jim Deletosa, which states that the UFO is a real solid object approximately half a mile long and 75,000 feet in the air. They found a second opinion, John Deturo, a computer scientist at the U.S. Military Academy, who uncovered several UFO hoaxes. His conclusions after analysis was, "It appears to be an object flying in the sky. The object either emanates light or reflects light. The craft moves at incredible speed. This Inside Edition report was objective for it told cold hard facts. It neither evoked favor or nonsense. This objective style of reporting manipulates the viewer. The viewer will believe that the reporters are confident in what they are saying and it would be reasonable to accept these facts. But no matter how convincing they seem, it is just sensationalist journalism.
More recently and more importantly, the Center for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI) held Washington D.C. briefings on April 7-11. CSETI founded Project Starlight to identify the best scientific evidence related to UFOs and Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Of significance, is the identification of bona fide military, intelligence, government, contractor and other government agency employees with direct first-hand knowledge of the UFO/ET subject.
The goal of the CSETI Project Starlight initiative is to present the best available evidence and witness testimony in a manner which would constitute a definitive disclosure regarding the reality of the UFO/ET subject. This is to be done in a scientific non-sensational and hopeful manner, diligently avoiding an alarmist tone or emphasis.
Since 1993, Dr. Steven Greer CSETI director, and other CSETI Project Starlight team members have provided preliminary briefings for White House Staff, a sitting director of Central Intelligence, senior military leaders, senior United Nations leadership, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, international leaders and leaders in foreign governments, among others.
"It has always been our intent to effect this disclosure in cooperation with the USA and other governments, if possible," Greer said. "We are acutely aware of the vast and profound implication of this matter and for this reason have meticulously included key government officers in our deliberations and plans. From the start, it was made clear that while we desired a cooperative effort leading towards disclosure, the matter would be disclosed through a civilian-led initiative should the government choose to be uninvolved.
"Through thorough and repeated private briefings with various government leaders, we learned that this subject was being managed in a way which did not inform the majority of our constitutional leadership about the subject. It became obvious that we should collect the best evidence and witnesses and provide unmistakable and unambiguous information to these leaders so that they could make a decision on how to proceed. Clearly, unless the leadership was informed, there could be no chance of their disclosing any information to the public or of even convening an open hearing and inquiry."
On November 15, 1996, a letter was sent to all pertinent offices of the United States Government asking for a determination on the validity of national security oaths related to the UFO/ET subject. In this letter, which is available on the CSETI website it was stated that "our assessment that these oaths and restrictions were null and void, since their overview of the projects related to this subject was improper, illegal and extraconstitutional.
Furthermore, the letter stated that unless otherwise directed by January 1,1997 we would regard all military, intelligence and other government related witnesses to UFO/ET projects and events as free to speak openly about what they know concerning this topic.
During the week of of April 7, the CSETI Project Starlight team convened a gathering of nearly 20 first hand government witnesses to UFO/ET events. These events principally took place at the Westin Hotel in Washington D.C. although separate briefings took place at the Pentagon and elsewhere in the Washington area.
All of the U.S. government witnesses were present signed a statement that they are willing to testify under oath before an open hearing in the U.S. Congress concerning the UFO/ET projects and events which they personally and directly witnessed. These government UFO witnesses ranged from the early 1950s to the 1990s and represented events and or projects observed while these witnesses were in the Air Force, army, navy, NASA private industry and intelligence operations.
Most of these witnesses had "access" to top secret clearances and were testifying regarding events which took place while they had those clearances. It should be noted that the witnesses which were assembled during the week of April 7 are the courageous tip of a much larger iceberg. There are 107 such first hand government UFO witnesses who have been identified to date and should be subpoenaed by the Congress to testify in open hearings.
On April 10, 1997 at 7:30 PM the Media Background briefings began. Present were VPI, The Boston Globe, NBC, ABC, the BBC and others. Seven first hand witnesses provided statements to the media and a general oversight of the project was provided by Dr. Greer. After the briefing, a question and answer period took place and the media all had insightful inquiries. It should be noted that this meeting was a background press briefing not a press conference. The purpose of the meeting was to provide scientific background materials and to introduce the invited media to the concept of open congressional hearings on the subject. The CSETI media team felt that such a meeting would be an important step towards preparing the mainstream media for a future disclosure and would encourage them to cover the subject in an informed and serious manner.
The CSETI Project Starlight initiative has now identified several former and current military, intelligence and defense contractor related witnesses to UFO/ET events and projects. As set out in a number of documents and briefings, it is their intention to have these important witnesses provide open public testimony on this matter in the very near future.
All of this commentary reveals something new. The world is actually panicked about the thought of extraterrestrial intelligence. The rush to rearm and protect the earth seems to have gotten out of hand. The government seems to take extraterrestrial life very seriously and the media seems to take advantage of the government's naivete. The CSETI even said they would encourage the media to cover the matter in a "serious" manner. Yet they used the conditional tense, suggesting that there is some doubt that the media would not take the subject very seriously. Additionally, these well respected periodicals have as counterparts, sleazy tabloids who are hyperbolic in their so-called reporting. These "newspapers" may go overboard and make a mockery of the nation's national security. But shouldn't the government spend more money on researching extraterrestrial life at the cellular level, an important issue? The government should seriously reconsider its priorities. Wasting precious funds on myths and illusions is not the correct path for the economy nor the government.
With NBC incessenty advertising Robin Cook's Home Invasion, and other popular culture hype, the mass media is shifting focus from the more pertinent issues concerning extraterrestrial life at the cellular level. Because we have yet to find solid evidence of alien intelligence, two eminent scientists, Ernst Mayr and Carl Sagan strongly argue over the "uniqueness hypothesis," which suggests that the Earth is the only technical civilization in our galaxy.
The first question that the first of these two prominent scientists addresses is, how probable is it that life exists somewhere else in the universe? Mayr says that "molecules that are necessary for the origin of life such as amino acids and nucleic acids have been identified in cosmic dust, together with other macromolecules." Thus, it is possible that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Of course the only place one can expect to find is on other planets. But the question of whether these planets can support life is highly debatable. For life to exist on other planets there has to be a favorable average temperature; the seasonal variation should not be too extreme; the planet must have a suitable distance from the sun. The planet must also have the appropriate mass so that it's gravity can hold an atmosphere. This atmosphere must have the right chemical composition to support early life. The planet must also have the necessary consistency to protect the new life against ultraviolet and other harmful radiations. And finally, last but not least, there must be water on the planet.
A question that still arises and links the cellular with the intelligent is, what percentage of planets on which life has originated will produce intelligent life? Mayr answers, "physicists on the whole, will give a different answer to this question than biologists. Physicists still tend to think more deterministically than biologists. They tend to say that if life has originated somewhere, it will also develop intelligence in due time." Here, Mayr implies that there is a biological hierarchy, with a foundation of the cellular building up to the intelligent level. Therefore for the intelligent to exist, we must have the cellular.
Carl Sagan, on the other hand, is more optimistic with finding evidence of intelligent life yet he also stresses cellular before the intelligent. In his article, "The Search for Intelligent Life," he discusses this issue at the microorganismic level.
Sagan approaches this topic with a very simple question: What is life? The definition Sagan likes best is, "life is any system capable of reproduction, mutation and reproduction of its mutations." Here, Sagan suggests that the conditions of life on other planets must be similar to the conditions of life on Earth. A prime example would be the planet Mars.
Mars is the closest planet whose surface we can see. It has an atmosphere, polar ice caps, seasonal changes and a 24-hour day. Generations of scientists, writers and the public at large have thought that Mars is the planet most likely to sustain extraterrestrial life. In 1976, Nasa conducted a series of experiments where two Viking landers were equipped with instruments sensitive enough to detect life even in deserts and wastelands on earth.
Sagan performed an experiment where he measured the gases exchanged between Martian surface samples and the local atmosphere in the presence of organic nutrients carried from the earth. He then did another experiment where he brought a broad variety of organic foodstuff marked by a radioactive tracer, to see if there were life-forms in the Martian soil that ate the food and oxidized it, giving it radioactive carbon dioxide. Sagan the conducted a third experiment where he exposed the Martian soil to radioactive carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide to determine if any of it was taken up by microbes.
Surprisingly, each of the three Viking experiments gave what at first seemed to be positive results. Gases were exchanged; organic matter was oxidized; carbon dioxide was incorporated into the soil. However, there are reasons why these solid results do not provide a convincing argument for life on Mars. The apparent life-detection experiments on the two spacecrafts are now generally attributed to chemicals that oxidize the soil. These chemicals form when solar ultraviolet light irradiates The Martian atmosphere. Scientists do not deny the presence of of ultraviolet generated oxidants, but they emphasize that no one has yet been able to explicate the results of these three experiments on the basis of oxidants alone. There have been claims that organic matter is in a class of meteorites that are thought to be bits of the Martian surface blasted into space during ancient impacts. More likely, the organic material consists of contaminants that entered the meteorite after its arrival in our world.
All of Sagan's experiments and assertions suggest that despite tantalizing initial results, Mars is a lifeless world. Yet the research will not end here. The search for fossils of organisms that have lived billions of years ago, when Mars was wetter and warmer, will continue in the future.
The perception of extraterrestrial life by the mass media is an important issue concerning society today. The way the media manipulates the public with its gratuitous exaggeration is detrimental to other extraterrestrial issues such as life at the cellular level. The media lures the public into believing that something fantastical exists out in a universe unknown to them. Tax dollars should be spent on more concrete and serious research, not on what could be out there, lurking in outerspace. In the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the main character says, "We're not alone." Although, he may be right, the search for extraterrestrial life mystifies us all.
1 "Expecting Visitors?" Frank McConnell,Commonweal Volume 123 #20 Nov.22, 1996
