by Avi Loeb’s scientific approach, including the Times Square billboards, would be a perfect fit for a story by Arthur C Clarke (The alien hunter: has Harvard’s Avi Loeb found proof of extraterrestrial life?, 29 November ). Clarke, who predicted the use of satellites for communication and co-created Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, had a fondness for eccentric scientists who found the money for their interplanetary exploration beyond the confines of the ivory tower. .
The unpredictable 2020s have so far given us plenty of plot points that we are familiar with from hard science fiction stories by the likes of Clarke or Greg Bear. Wars, artificial intelligence, tension between power blocs, super-rich people investing in immortality while building their own starships – it’s all there. In Clarke’s 1973 book Rendezvous with Rama, an Oumuamua-like object is discovered passing through the solar system. Humanity is able to send a ship to the interstellar visitor, and contact is made for the first time with an alien spacecraft. The people of Earth in 2023 could use a friendly partner in the universe, as Loeb points out.
The wars in Gaza and Ukraine would not end overnight if another civilization was found outside of Earth, but the impact on society as a whole would be mind-blowing. A spacefaring culture, technologically capable of reaching another solar system, should be inspiration enough for the human race to unite. Imagine that the planet was scouring the atmosphere, while burning oil and gas through fusion technology. I hope Avi Loeb finds the button on an extraterrestrial gadget he’s been looking for, and pushes it.
Thorsten Wulff
Berlin, Germany
• If we are looking for intelligent aliens to find a partner to alleviate our loneliness, as Avi Loeb suggests, there is another way. We have a very different intelligence from the intelligences we have around us on Earth. Each arm of an octopus functions as an independent “brain”, ant colonies stretch thousands of miles and behave as one, fungi communicate underground with various plants and animals, elephants mourn their dead, dolphins give names each other, insects can recognize. faces, and so on.
If we listened to the non-human intelligence of our fellow Earth inhabitants, we would treat other creatures and plants with respect, and as partners in caring for all life. And we wouldn’t be facing the catastrophic Anthropocene mass extinction we now face. Unfortunately, we haven’t stopped befriending other Earth species, or engaging in real dialogue with other Earth species, and have instead gone looking for aliens in space. A terrible tragic mistake.
Anne Geraghty
Kirn, Argyll and Bute
• While it’s nice to see you profile a prominent figure in the snowballing research on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UNP), it’s quite alarming that you haven’t paid any attention to Chuck Schumer’s legislation, the NUP Disclosure Act, which to be an amendment to. the Defense Authorization Act of 2024. The Senate majority leader, with the tacit support of the US president, advances legislation that refers to non-human information several times, and sets a time frame for private aerospace companies to hand over their non-human information . techno. The response from the mainstream media? Nothing. Meanwhile, Dr James Lacatski, the head of the $22m Pentagon research program referred to in the piece about Avi Loeb, admitted that the team had gained access to a “craft of unknown origin”. Why are you not on this?
Dr Aideen Carty
Dublin, Ireland
• What drives mavericks like Avi Loeb is always fascinating. I have no idea if there is any truth to his claims, but his own opinion is telling, not just about him but about the general obsession with the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. He says: “So finding a partner somewhere in the form of another civilization that can teach us things that we can emulate, that we can aspire to, will give us meaning in our cosmic life. The universe will no longer be useless.”
So what we’re really looking for, it seems, is God. Historically, the rise of the idea of alien intelligence is almost exactly due to the decline of belief in God.
Matthew Johnson
East Barnet, London
• I think that any article about evidence of extraterrestrial life is bound to arouse the interest of curious people. However, I fear that Avi Loeb’s critics are right about him and his wild assumptions. Especially when he bases his theories about interstellar spaceships on the possible discovery of “screws” and “buttons” as evidence. Are these extraterrestrials getting the parts for their spacecraft from our local hardware stores? A possible flaw, I suspect.
Dr Ged Ryan
University of Huddersfield
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