US government recently declassified information about “Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program” (AATI).
This has revived long subdued interests in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO) and Alien life-forms.
What is AATI program?
Humanity has always been fascinated by the possibility of extraterrestrial life through unverified word-of-mouth spotting of aliens.
Most governments have largely been diligent in suppressing all evidences that could possibly fuel such speculative thoughts.
But the recent declassification of information about the AATI program and videos related to it has given good impetus for rejuvenated interest in aliens.
AATI was an investigative program into UFOs, that was operational between 2007 and 2012, which had documented various suspected alien movement.
Notably, a retired military officer who headed AATI has also come on record, stressing the need to continue investigating UFOs.
How has conspiracy theories fared?
Unsubstantiated conspiracy theorists are currently apleantly and overwhelmingly support the existence of aliens and their visit to the Earth.
UFOs got significant attention for the 1st time during the 2nd world war, when many military pilots reported sighting of saucer shaped objects.
Subsequently, the number of such claims increased and came from all sorts of people – even alien abduction theories were flouted.
Notably, “Area 51” - a remote part of the Nevada desert in the US, that houses an Air Force base, is a darling for conspiracy mongers due to its secretiveness.
Most conspiracy theorists believe that the Air Base is actually a cover-up for a facility to research into aliens that have either – died on Earth, been captured alive, or have come as ambassadors.
What were some government initiated programs?
During the Cold War era, air forces worldwide were on an eternally alert mode for the fare of possible missile attacks.
The alertness provided for ample sighting of flying objects, most of which were eventually identified but some does remain as yet unidentified.
While the western governents were more worried about Russians than about alien life, they nevertheless initiatited investigations on UFOs
Notable, US Air Force initiated “Project Blue Book” which began UFO investigations in 1947 and reviewed over 12,000 sightings till 1969.
While most sightings were concluded as stars, oddly-shaped clouds other terrestrial objects, about 701 of them remain unexplained.
Similarly, Britain convened the “Flying Saucer Working Party”, which also investigated UFOs and arrived at conclusions akin to the US project.
What are some significant scientific works in this field?
The famous astronomer Frank Drake through his “Drake Equation” guesses that there could be considerable number of alien civilisations.
In 1961, he listed the variables for determining the number of alien civilisations capable of using radio signals in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Drake estimated the:
rate of formation of suitable stars
number of such stars with planets in orbit
possible number of inhabitable planets
He postulated that life might exist or emerge in future in a small fraction of such inhabitable planets.
Further, he stressed that the possibility of emergence of intelligent civilisations capable of radio communication was an even smaller fraction of those plantes.
While his was essentially a guess work by extrapolation of data, advancements in telescopes has helped considerably to improvise space research.
Notably, a large number of exo-planets perceivably condusive for life has been spotted to be orbiting stars but we’re still guessing about the other variables.
What are the speculations?
Considering the vastness of the cosmos, alien life is indeed very much possible and it might even be humanoid and carbon-based.
As thousands of exo-planets have already been identified by Kepler Space Observatory, Earth-like conditions may exist in some of these.
Notably, comets have been found to possess amino acids, that are key for the evolution carbon based life forms.
However, people like Nobel winning physist Enrico Fermi has been critical of such hypothesis, as there is no conclusive proof of their existence.
While there is a possibility that aliens don’t exist, there is also a possibility that they’ve not developed intelligence or that they’re consciously lying low.
Also, considering the interstellar distances, if a civilisation 1000 light years away had discovered radio waves at the time we did, then their first signal would reach us around 3000 AD.
