When one thinks of extraterrestrials, Japan probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. But Japan is home to compelling and strange stories of unexplained visitors. It has also been the site for a famous account of a USO (Unidentified Submerged Object) and a mysterious passenger. Also, Japan is the home to one of the most unusual monolithic stones we’ve seen as well as pyramids. (Is there anyplace without pyramids?)
On the eastern coast of the Hitachi province in Japan, a strange rounded USO was dragged ashore by fishermen in 1803. Three similar texts described the round “Utsuro-Bune” (hollow ship) and a female occupant found alive inside.
The hollow ship, which was six meters wide and almost four meters high, had metal plates and bars with glass windows on it. It was said to resemble a large incense burner. A hatch opened, and a young woman who appeared 18-20-years old stepped out. In western circles, she is called “The White Princess,” and she was clutching a strange quadratic box.
She spoke an unrecognizable language and wore clothing of fabrics the villagers had never seen. Inside the ‘ship,’ there were strange writing and more unique materials they likened to bedsheets or carpet. Although she was friendly, she spoke an unknown language.
Comparison of the Utsuro-Bune symbols to those from RAF Bentwaters and Roswell via Mysterious Universe
You can listen to a podcast discussing this encounter from Mysterious Universe below:
The woman stood around four feet nine inches tall with pale skin and red hair and eyebrows. Her hair was artificially extended with strands of white fur or fine fabric. However, the drawings of her in the texts showed a woman who didn’t match the descriptions for some unknown reason.
Utsuro-bune via YouTube (see video below)
One historian, Yanagida Kunio, suggested that the woman may have been set out to sea in a round boat, which was not unheard of at the time. The object never flew but merely drifted in the water. The Toen shōsetsu text suggests she may have been daughter of a king in a foreign land. Perhaps she had broken her marriage vows, and the object inside the box was the severed head of her lover.
Although the text noted the cruelty of her situation, the villagers decided to put her back inside the craft and pushed her back out to sea.
“From a humanitarian viewpoint, this treatment is too cruel for her. However, this treatment would be her destiny.”
It’s a disturbing, fascinating, and unexplained story from beginning to end.
Further to the south at Asuka Park, there is an 800-ton monolithic granite carving resembling the description of the Utsuro-Bune. It’s called the Masuda-no-iwafune (the ‘rock ship of Masuda’). The monolith is 36 feet in length, 26 feet in width and over 15 feet in height. Lattice shaped carvings at the base are thought to indicate some unknown process to shape the rock. There are also two three-foot square hole cut into the solid rock.
Ancient Origins suggests the structure might have been created to commemorate the creation of the Masuda Lake, which was later drained.
Other theories are that the monolith was an ancient astronomical observing station or a tomb for a royal family, though no bodies have been found. Where have we heard that one before? *Cough* Egypt.
Ancient Astronaut theorists Takeharu Mikami and Giorgio A. Tsoukalos traveled to visit the site in 2017. They believe Masuda-no-iwafun might represent a Sky Boat told in Japanese mythology. Is this structure meant to represent a UFO or something else? Nobody knows for sure, but the look is undoubtedly otherworldly in appearance.
The Chernobyl catastrophe remains a worst-case scenario for nuclear power. The incident with the Chernobyl-4 reactor in 1986 is still considered both unique and the only instance in the history of nuclear power to feature radiation-related fatalities. And a mysterious black bird might be the key to unlocking the story.
So … what happened?
Chernobyl
Essentially, the only thing that went wrong with Chernobyl was everything. From uncontrolled chain reactions to poor safety management, the set of misfortunes that went into the event is one of the saving graces of nuclear power today. It is unlikely that sequence of events could be repeated to such disastrous effect. However, the consequences from even this one incident were extremely steep:
The accident destroyed the Chernobyl 4 reactor, killing 30 operators and firemen within three months and several further deaths later … Acute radiation syndrome (ARS) was originally diagnosed in 237 people onsite and involved with the clean-up and it was later confirmed in 134 cases. Of these, 28 people died as a result of ARS within a few weeks of the accident.
And Chernobyl’s mysterious black bird might provide an answer to those searching for meaning among the chaos.
Black Bird
The legend of the black bird changes often, but it goes something like this:
Various reports detailed witnessing a black, bird-like creature around the area of the Chernobyl-4 reactor. Details about this surfaced slowly after the nuclear reactor’s meltdown. Apparently, workers who died were among those to witness this creature. Those who saw the black bird were said to experience nightmares in the subsequent weeks. Even more frightening, some reported receiving strange phone calls after the disaster, and believers have attributed it to the black bird.
The exact purpose of the black bird is relatively fluid from retelling to retelling, sometimes serving as a harbinger of doom and sometimes being the cause of it.
Because of the similarities between their descriptions, some have linked the tales of Chernobyl’s black bird to Mothman, a famous half-man, half-monster of lore.
Sadly, the best source of information for this lore would be the workers that may or may not have witnessed it. Without their testimony, we may never know the full truth of what happened at Chernobyl. But its impact lives on — as a haunting coda to an already complex and tragic story.
To see more about the famed creature of the Chernobyl disaster, check out this video below!
“Do the right thing and what’s required by law. Move over so that these first responders can go home safely to their families,” Waupaca Sheriff Timothy Wilz stated
“Every day, if you go out there with the right mindset, you’ll be helping somebody,” retired Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile said “Not every job is like that.”
Here’s a hypothetical for you: You’re given the opportunity to somehow stand before a black hole in space and find out where it might lead. Would you take the leap? And if you did manage to work up your courage, what exactly would happen when you entered that giant void in the universe where even light can’t escape?
Professor Richard Massey of Durham University notes that as much as we do know about the cosmos, we don’t exactly have all of the data when it comes to black holes. So where would you go if you fell into a black hole? Massey notes:
“Who knows? Falling through an event horizon is literally passing beyond the veil — once someone falls past it, nobody could ever send a message back. They’d be ripped to pieces by the enormous gravity, so I doubt anyone falling through would get anywhere.”
Ripped to pieces? That’s not exactly what anyone wants to hear. But it does fit into the facts we have regarding the mystery of black holes.
Back to Einstein
Most physicists agree that Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicted black holes because they link space-time with gravity. That has direct implications for the death of stars, according to Live Science:
“It has been known that black holes result from the death of a massive star leaving behind a small, dense remnant core. Assuming this core has more than roughly three-times the mass of the sun, gravity would overwhelm to such a degree that it would fall in on itself into a single point, or singularity, understood to be the black hole’s infinitely dense core.”
So what does a zero gravity force such as found in a black hole mean for the human body? Nothing good, that’s for sure, Professor Massey says:
“According to Massey, tidal forces would reduce your body into strands of atoms (or ‘spaghettification’, as it is also known) and the object would eventually end up crushed at the singularity. The idea that you could pop out somewhere — perhaps at the other side — seems utterly fantastical.”
So much for traveling at unheard of speed across the universe via a black hole. Back to the drawing board.
Wormhole Anyone?
Let’s abandon our hopes of using a black hole for any productive purpose and focus instead on a wormhole. Would that work?
Some in the scientific community have suggested that black holes could actually be wormholes to other galaxies, and Einstein himself explored the possibility:
“Einstein teamed up with Nathan Rosen to theorise bridges that connect two different points in space-time in 1935. But it gained some fresh ground in the 1980s when physicist Kip Thorne — one of the world’s leading experts on the astrophysical implications of Einstein’s general theory of relativity — raised a discussion about whether objects could physically travel through them.”
“We see no objects in our universe that could become wormholes as they age.”
Black hole/White hole
Maybe black holes lead to white holes. That’s a theory that gained traction in the 1960s when Russian cosmologist Igor Novikov first mentioned it. Here’s how that works:
“Novikov proposed that a black hole links to a white hole that exists in the past. Unlike a black hole, a white hole will allow light and matter to leave, but light and matter will not be able to enter.”
But there are problems with this idea, too. We know that black holes die, but we aren’t sure if they become white holes or if white holes are merely the opposite of a black one.
Going Nowhere Fast
All of this speculation leads us back to where we began in many ways: Black holes don’t lead anywhere, and even if they did, you would never live to see the other side.
Physicists Ahmed Almheiri, Donald Marolf, Joseph Polchinski, and James Sully expanded on work done by Stephen Hawking and came up with a compelling idea:
“They worked on a theory that became known as the AMPS firewall, or the black hole firewall hypothesis. By their calculations, quantum mechanics could feasibly turn the event horizon into a giant wall of fire and anything coming into contact would burn in an instant. In that sense, black holes lead nowhere because nothing could ever get inside. “
But that theory directly violates the general theory of relativity.
There’s really no answer to the question of where you go if you do fall into a black hole, and the black holes in the universe have refused to yield a response, so we’ll just have to keep looking, exploring, and theorizing.
The Milky Way’s black hole is the subject of this video:
The Norse Berserkers were legendary ferocious Viking warriors dating back to ninth-century Scandinavia that seemed immuned to harm in battle. They entered a trance-like state of blood-thirsty rage said to give them increased and unmatched skills in battle.
“… a demoniacal frenzy suddenly took him; he furiously bit and devoured the edges of his shield; he kept gulping down fiery coals; he snatched live embers in his mouth and let them pass down into his entrails; he rushed through the perils of crackling fires; and at last, when he had raved through every sort of madness, he turned his sword with raging hand against the hearts of six of his champions. It is doubtful whether this madness came from thirst for battle or natural ferocity.”
Origins of the Berserkers
The word “berserk” means “out of control; wild or frenzied.” The word may have come from the Norse word for bear, “bjorn” or “berr,” meaning “without armor.”
On the other hand, Ranker notes that the word “berserker” derives from the Old Norse “serkr,” meaning “coat” or “shirt,” and “ber,” the Norse word for “bear.”
The Berserkers were said to go into battle naked, apart from bear or wolfskins and horned headgear. According to the Norse myths, they howled like wild animals as they left a wake of bloody carnage behind them. If they were injured, they would keep fighting, seemingly unaffected. But how is this humanly possible?
See the Berserkers in action from the History Channel below:
Murderous mushrooms
One popular theory to explain this is the use of a beautiful but toxic psychoactive mushroom, Amanita muscaria. The iconic and deadly red mushrooms with white spots are woodland toadstools commonly called Fly agaric or amanita.
The use of these dangerous mushrooms by Siberian shamans is known and if carefully treated the effects are said to induce a state of hallucination, euphoria, flushed red skin, and muscular twitches. These symptoms match closely with symptoms describing the Berserkers.
An elderly shaman, Tatiana Urkachan of the Tungus tribe, discussed the use of the mushrooms below, dressed like an Amanita mushroom no less. She reportedly insisted that she would never take the mushrooms herself because “she was too powerful a shaman to need it.” Urkachan admits the mushroom can quite easily kill you.
Getting into the weeds
Now, Karsten Fatur from the University of Ljubljana has offered another possibility that he believes is more likely, the use of a plant called henbane. Fatur’s doctoral work is based on the examination of the use of hallucinogenic plants in Slovenija.
In the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Fatur suggests that henbane, Hyoscyamus niger, was probably used by Viking berserkers. The effects of taking the plant match the symptoms of Viking berserkers more closely than mushrooms. Plus, henbit is a more common plant in Scandinavia. Keep in mind, this plant is also toxic and dangerous. (Read: Do not try this at home!!)
“According to historical accounts, the condition of these rages began with shivering, teeth chattering and a general chill. Then, face swelling and reddening, followed by an intense rage during which the beserkers could not tell friend from foe. When the rage subsided, the warriors were left weak and feeble, sometimes for several days at a time.
Henbane can cause feelings of delirium, inhibition loss and manic episodes—hence, the excess so often described in accounts of beserkers. It can also trigger visual disturbances, hallucinations, drowsiness and red skin, as well as dull pain—which would explain the apparent invulnerability of the warriors.”
Of course, the use of henbit is still just another guess, though a well-educated one. The traditional explanation for berserker’s power is based on self-provoked hysteria through intense rituals.
“Like all traditional members of shamanic secret societies, berserkers acquired their power through ritualistic practice. These practices included spending periods in extreme isolation, fasting, exposure to extreme heat and cold, and engaging in group weapon dances prior to battle. In the wilderness, berserkers lived like their totem animal, adopting its mannerisms and habits, sustaining themselves by hunting and raiding settlements.
So, yeah, they just ran off into the woods and lived like f*cking bears and wolves because they were goddamn Viking berserkers.”
As you can see, the use of psychoactive weeds alone doesn’t seem to be adequate in describing the Berserkers. So complete was their transformation that they were said to shapeshift into animals, or so say the legends. A group of the warriors called a berserkgang was said to change form collectively, a fearsome force that nobody would want to run into. In fact, the berserkers were eventually outlawed in their own homeland.
Can any plant be responsible for such superhuman carnage? Probably not, but could henbit have been part of the berserk recipe, combined with rituals, plenty of alcohol, an altered mental state, and a touch of insanity?
Explore the story of the berserkers from Mythology and Fiction Explained:
After a traffic stop near Flagstaff, the Cococino County Sheriff’s Office performed a vehicle search; the agency’s K-9 unit uncovered more than 17.5 pounds of suspected fentanyl
Though they were first discovered in a Scottish cave in 1836 by local schoolchildren, they remain a mystery nearly 200 years later, with various theories, myths, and conspiracy theories growing up around them despite their diminutive size.
“Despite the passage of 181 years, researchers are no closer to ascertaining the creator or the purpose of the coffins, each of which contains a tiny, carefully dressed human figure.
“Some say that it is witchcraft. Others claim it is a symbolic burial of men lost at sea. One of the most intriguing theories is that the coffins were made in a kindly attempt to quiet the wandering souls of 17 people who were murdered for the dissection table by the notorious serial killers Burke and Hare.”
Only eight of the tiny coffins survive to this day, and they are on permanent display at the National Museum of Scotland.
Intricate Little Gems
The Scotsmandescribes the little coffins as containing “a miniature figure of the human form cut out in wood, the faces in particular being pretty well executed. They were dressed from head to foot in cotton clothes, and decently laid out with a mimic representation of all the funeral trappings which usually form the last habiliments of the dead.
“The coffins are about three or four inches in length, regularly shaped, and cut out from a single piece of wood, with the exception of the lids, which are nailed down with wire sprigs or common brass pins. The lid and sides of each are profusely studded with ornaments, formed with small pieces of tin, and inserted in the wood with great care and regularity.”
Arthur’s Seat, where the miniature coffins were first found (Via Wikimedia)
Who Made the Wooden Coffins?
Something made with so much care and attention to detail had to be done by someone with incredible skill, and researchers are of the opinion that they were likely made by someone skilled in the trade of shoe making:
“Further research has determined that the figures were most likely made by the same craftsman and the coffins were made by two different people. In addition, “the materials and tools used – wood, iron embellishments, nails, a sharp, hooked knife – indicate the coffins could have been fashioned by a shoemaker”
Here’s where the mystery comes into play. Why would anyone make such things? They weren’t meant to be toys for children (were they?!) and they serve no real purpose, so why even construct such things in the first place?
To answer the linger question, we have to travel back to when the coffins were created and see what was happening at that time in Scotland.
For one thing, Scotland was becoming a center of great medical expertise, and its medical schools were training doctors, which led to a huge increase in enrollment.
Those studying anatomy needed bodies to dissect and examine, and that led to a dramatic increase in grave robbing:
“Among the most devious body snatchers in history were William Burke and William Hare, both Irish immigrants, as well as the famous Edinburgh anatomist and scholar Dr. Robert Knox. As a once-popular children’s rhyme retells, “Up the close and doun the stair/ But and ben wi’ Burke and Hare. Burke’s the butcher, Hare’s the thief/ Knox the boy that buys the beef.”
Portraits of William Burke, William Hare, and Dr. Robert Knox (Public Domain)
But even the graveyards failed to provide enough bodies, and with authorities on close watch to make sure more graves weren’t robbed, Burke and Hare reportedly began dispatching victims via murder so they could continue to make bank by providing fresh bodies to local medical schools:
“And so began a vicious killing spree that lasted 10 months, during which Burke and Hare dispatched at least 16 victims [12 of whom were female] and earned around £150 (roughly £12,000 now – no mean sum).”
Some say the coffins have nothing to do with Burke, Hare, and serial killings. Instead, they maintain, they were created to commemorate those who had been killed in the Radical War of 1820:
“Author and amateur historian Jeff Nisbet believes the miniature coffins were created to keep the ‘flames of rebellion lit’ following the Radical war of 1820. He suggests the coffins were meant to serve as a memorial honoring the Radicals who were killed.”
No matter what theory you subscribe to, there remains no concrete explanation for the creation of these small coffins, and in some ways that makes them even more fascinating than they otherwise would have been.
Ancient texts and stories weave tales of time travel, thousands of years before science fiction movies would popularize the concept in the mainstream. They also tell stories of strange magical beasts that can talk and perform amazing feats. These stories appear in texts followed by millions of people all over the planet today.
One example is from the Sanskrit epics of ancient India dating back to 400 BC. The Mahabharata contains a story of a King who travels to another dimension, the home of the deity, Brahma. He sought a suitable husband for his daughter, Revati.
The King and his daughter were soon shocked to learn about time dilation. During their short visit, thousands of years elapsed on Earth. Everyone they knew back home would be long gone by the time they returned.
Another story about time dilation happens in the Bible recognized by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The story is left out of the mainstream Bible that most Christians know, but one researcher was keenly aware of the story in 4 Baruch, or the “Rest of the Words of Baruch,” or the Paraleipomena Jeremiou.
“Even in the Bible, the prophet Jeremiah was sitting together with a few of his friends, and there was a young boy. His name was Abemolik. And Jeremiah said to Abemolik,
Go out of Jerusalem, there is a hill and collect some figs for us.’ The boy went out and collected the fresh figs. All of a sudden, Abemolik hears some noise and wind in the air, and he becomes unconscious, he had a blackout. After a time he wakes up again, and he saw it was nearly the evening. So when he runs back to the society and the city was full of strange soldiers. And he says, ‘What’s going on here? Where is Jeremiah and all the others?’ And an old man said, ‘That was 62 years ago.’ It’s a time travel story written in the Bible.”
The story sounds very similar to one of America’s most cherished folktales, that of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving.
So why was this story left out of the Bible? Biblical scholars consider it a pseudepigraphical work, meaning they dispute that Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, was the author as well as the date of origin.
One wonders if it was also omitted because it reads like folklore or mythology, similar to other ancient texts like those of ancient Sumeria or Egypt.
Overall, Von Daniken gets the story correct, except the period of years was actually longer: 66. Another Jewish pseudepigraphical text, the Jeremiah Apocryphon or the History of the Babylonian Captivity, records that Abimelech slept for 70 years and was written in Coptic Egyptian, Arabic, and Garshuni manuscripts.
5.1 But Abimelech took the figs in the burning heat; and coming upon a tree, he sat under its shade to rest a bit.
5.2 And leaning his head on the basket of figs, he fell asleep and slept for 66 years; and he was not awakened from his slumber.
5.3 And afterward, when he awoke from his sleep, he said: I slept sweetly for a little while, but my head is heavy because I did not get enough sleep.
5.7 So he got up and took the basket of figs and placed it on his shoulders, and he entered into Jerusalem and did not recognize it—neither his own house nor the place—nor did he find his own family or any of his acquaintances.
5.15 And as he sat, he saw an old man coming from the field; and Abimelech said to him: I say to you, old man, what city is this?
5.16 And he said to him: It is Jerusalem.
5.17 And Abimelech said to him: Where is Jeremiah the priest, and Baruch the secretary, and all the people of this city, for I could not find them?
5.18 And the old man said to him: Are you not from this city, seeing that you remember Jeremiah today, because you are asking about him after such a long time?
5.19 For Jeremiah is in Babylon with the people; for they were taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar, and Jeremiah is with them to preach the good news to them and to teach them the word.
5.29 For behold it is 66 years today since the people were taken captive into Babylon.
As you can see, the story of time dilation is striking, but the story continues to get stranger. Author and skeptic, Jason Colavito discussed what comes next in 4 Baruch as he explained why any notion of time dilation should be discounted.
“If you don’t believe this book is a fantasy, perhaps the rest of the text can make the case: A magic eagle takes the figs to Babylon, where they have gained the supernatural power to raise the dead. Later, Jeremiah dies and is resurrected. During his ‘death’ he becomes convinced of the truth of ‘messiah Jesus, the light of all the ages’ and delivers a prophecy of the coming of Christianity. Then the Jews stone him to death,” wrote Colavito.
That’s right: a talking eagle serves as God’s messenger and resurrects a person who has died. When Abimelech wakes up from his slumber for over half a century, he and a much older Baruch reunite and find the eagle waiting for them.
7.1 And Baruch got up and departed from the tomb and found the eagle sitting outside the tomb.
7.2 And the eagle said to him in a human voice: Hail, Baruch, steward of the faith.
7.3 And Baruch said to him: You who speak are chosen from among all the birds of heaven, for this is clear from the gleam of your eyes; tell me, then, what are you doing here?
7.4 And the eagle said to him: I was sent here so that you might through me send whatever message you want.” The eagle takes a letter and some of the figs to Jeremiah. It finds Jeremiah officiating at a funeral and alights on the corpse, bringing the body back to life.
7.18 And the eagle came down on the corpse, and it revived.
7.19 (Now this took place so that they might believe.)
7.20 And all the people were astounded at what had happened, and said: This is the God who appeared to our fathers in the wilderness through Moses, and now he has appeared to us through the eagle.”
Eagle after the style of ancient Mesopotamia via Pixabay
This story would seem of great importance since it marks the end of the Israelite exile and is a resurrection miracle, but very few people have ever heard of it. There is very little written about it online, almost as if it never existed, but it clearly does. You can read the story in detail here.
The relevance of this story of time dilation and an eagle has been all-but swept away in history. Is it merely a tall tale, made up for dramatic effect? If so, it’s interesting to note that the Book of Baruch, part of the Apocrypha, or “hidden,” made it into the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles.
Stories about humanoid beings with eagle heads and wings are seen commonly in ancient carvings around the world, carrying bags and wearing wristwatches. Did these beings have the power to resurrect the dead? Now, that might sound far-fetched, but now you know that’s a story found in the “Rest of the Words of Baruch.”
Watch biblical scholars talk about why they don’t recognize this story below. No talk of a messenger eagle capable of bringing back the dead or time travel is ever discussed.
More reports than ever before are constantly being filed from people claiming to have seen Unidentified Flying Objects, while alien abduction stories continue to make waves as well. And, even though alien and UFO hunters like Scott Waring may believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are real, science has allegedly yet to prove any alien sightings or communication. And they have yet to confirm the existence of life in the universe other than our own here on Earth.
In spite of this, and because the possibility can’t be ruled out that we’ll eventually find something, whether here in our own backyard or elsewhere in the universe, NASA and scientists around the globe had no choice but to come up with a protocol outlining what we humans would say and do if such an encounter actually happened.
Those who work at SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) Institute have acknowledged the need for a protocol, and they developed one for the occasion. There are two big problems with the protocol, however.
First, they only considered what to do in the event that we receive some kind of communication or signal. It doesn’t outline what we should do if we do in fact find intelligent life within our solar system, or even on our planet.
In fact, it’s because scientists involved in the response protocol think the chance of getting communications from aliens elsewhere in the universe is so remote that they designed it that way. Factoring in the laws of physics as we understand them (and assuming that aliens also cannot travel with light speed), the chances of encountering an alien now, would be remote at best. For example, if a craft from within 1,000 light-years from us decided to travel to us, it would have had to leave about the time of Jesus Christ in order to get to us exactly now. This same logic applies to messages sent. It would take at least 100 years to get to us… And for us to send one back would take another 100 years.
The second problem is that if anyone actually encounters a signal or other communication from an alien source, those responsible for responding apparently don’t know what to say.
According to SETI senior advisor Seth Shostak, anyone who happens to encounter an alien signal needs to do two things. First, they have to let the International Astronomical Union know. Next, they have to let the United Nations know. Once they do that, and the signal or communication confirmed, the person who initially discovered the signal gets exclusive rights to let the world know via the “press conference to end all press conferences.” After holding the presser, however, any data collected would be made available publicly.
According to Brian Walsh, the author of a book that analyzes potential threats to humans called the End Times, there is an exception to the data they will make available. He said:
“The exception would be the actual coordinates of the signal source [would be withheld] to prevent anyone from simply starting up an interstellar conversation on their own.”
He went on to explain that at that time, humanity would need to figure out what to say – and whether or not they should actually respond – an issue that’s been debated for decades.
Should we respond at all? Many scientists believe that we shouldn’t, lest we say the wrong thing, or encounter a species that’s hostile towards us.
Probably the most famous dissenter to the response debate was noted theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who died in 2018. He said that humans should “be wary” of sending a response until “we have developed a bit further.”
He said of potential alien contact that the species we encounter could be stronger than us technologically, and “may not see us as any more valuable than we see bacteria.” He makes a good argument by likening our potential contact with alien life to the time when Christopher Columbus brought Europeans to America, which led to the slaughter of Native Americans.
Other scientists believe that meeting another species in the universe could ultimately be a good thing, but even those who do think that believe that we need to be extremely cautious. We don’t know if they’d be a threat to us or not and as such, we’d be in a better position to communicate if we studied them for a few decades.
Whether you’re on the side that wants to answer or not, simply having a protocol in place is definitely a good idea. But with space-faring technology advancing at a rapid pace, we’d better decide what we want to do soon, as the chances of our finding aliens or getting contacted by alien races get better every day. This is especially true today, as the Navy just confirmed that recently released videos are in fact videos of UFOs… In the strictest sense of the word, anyway. We still don’t know if aliens were flying them.
Deep beneath the surface of distant exoplanets known as super-Earths, oceans of molten rock may be doing something extraordinary: powering magnetic fields strong enough to shield entire planets from dangerous cosmic radiation and other harmful high-energy particles.
Back in the earlier days of the internet, there was a viral video from a creator called Bill Wurtz called “the history of the entire world, i guess” which spawned a number of memorable memes, some of which are still in use to this day. One of those was a clip from the video where Wurtz states, “The sun is a deadly laser.”
