Now on the BBC

I can’t help but think that whoever wrote this article had their tongue firmly planted in their cheek. It’s the picture captions that really do it for me. “A flying saucer” succinctly describes a very obviously computer-rendered scene (including the obligatory Photoshop lens flare), and “UFO over house” underscores a picture of something that looks impressively similar to the Goodyear blimp.

Regardless, it is clear that interviewee Mr. Timothy Good believes in aliens visiting Earth, and even claims that they have their own terrestrial bases and are in contact with governments around the world. Also, western militaries have classified “advanced technology” to deal with some unspecified alien “threat”. I’m not so naive to think that the military doesn’t conduct top secret research into futuristic weapons systems, but it seems a bit far-fetched to imagine that the enemy is not of this world (cynical note: we seem to have plenty of use for weapons right here against other members of our own species; why drag aliens into it too). I must also say that if there are aliens who for some reason are hostile towards humans, there is nothing we could do that would prevent a civilization with technology for interstellar travel from destroying us completely. It would be like cavemen with sticks and rocks trying to fend off a modern army.

My response is still the same to all believers: where is the proof? Extraordinary claims and all that.

SETI@Home status: still running…