- Alien missions to moon likely to have been long ago
- Moon would preserve traces for millions of years
- Easier to find alien debris than radio signals
- Nasa's Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter may have captured pictures of 'footprints' of ancient aliens
By Rob Waugh
Last updated at 4:10 PM on 28th December 2011
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - SETI - project looks for alien life in a one, main specific way - scanning for radio signals deliberately beamed towards earth from distant stars.
But two astronomers suggest that we may be missing evidence much closer to home.
Two scientists at Arizona State University have suggested that alien life may have 'left traces on the moon in the form of an artifact or surface modification of lunar features' - and that alien 'footprints' on the moon would last far longer than radio signals.
The detailed moon maps created by Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter may be the best place to look for alien life, say scientists - evidence such as trails or debris would remain there for millions of years, and be easier to 'catch' than radio signals
'Evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence could come from any signatures of non-human technology,' say the scientists in a paper published in Acta Astronautica.
The scientists say that any alien mission to our solar system is liable to have occurred long ago - but that the surface of the moon could preserve the signs for millions of years.
The photographs already captured by Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - currently mapping the moon's surface to 0.5m resolution - provides an easy, cheap way to look for these signs.
'Although there is only a tiny probability that alien technology would have left traces on the moon in the form of an artifact or surface modification of lunar features, it has the virtue of being close, and of preserving traces for an immense duration.'
Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is mapping the moon to 0.5m resolution - the scientists suggest that the huge number of images from the orbiter could be a good starting place for a search for alien life
'The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) would have a high impact if successful,' say the scientists, in a paper published in Acta Astronautica.
'Therefore it makes sense to widen the search as much as possible. To date, SETI has been dominated by seeking deliberately beamed radio messages.'
Mike, Somewhere: I think the problem is the idea that UFO = extraterrestrial spaceship. Just because there are unidentified (and probably unknown) luminous phenomena in the atmosphere does not mean the aliens are here. On the other hand, there is virtually no doubt that UFOs in the stricter sense (Unidentified Flying Objects) exist. And there's no doubt at all for me, because I saw one at relatively close range (about 400 ft) in 1968. I saw no evidence that it was of a technological nature, just a big orange luminous egg.
- Alien, Paris, 28/12/2011 18:04
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