Archive for Thursday 23rd January 2003 - The 10 World's greatest mysteries...
No. 2 The mystery of intelligent life in space

A mystery that grows more interesting every year is, Are we alone? Or do other intelligent beings exist elsewhere in the universe?

The ancients believed that stars and planets are inhabited - not by human types but by gods and demons, who sometimes communicate with us. The moon was said to be a resting place for spirits in the cycle of death and rebirth. Modern space exploration has opened a new prospect - of actual, physical aliens. This brings up the bad news. If they exist, some of them are bound to be more advanced than us. In that case, we had better not attract their attention. We know from the history of colonialism what 'advanced' people can do to others.

That sounds reasonable, but it is paranoid thinking. My own views have been changing recently, partly because of the amazing crop circles in the last two years. There is something more than human art behind them. I think it is quite likely that we are on the verge of contact with a higher and wiser culture than our own.

That seems to have happened in the past. The world's oldest records tell of interventions by great beings from the sky. They gave us the knowledge behind all civilisations, and then they left. We, of course, let everything run down. But at the end of every cycle the gods return and teach us the old lessons again.

That is the traditional view of extra-terrestrials, and I have come to agree with it.

John Michell