I watched this really awful movie, which I will not name at this time because I don’t want to accidentally encourage anyone to watch it.  I was looking for something other than my usual crime drama, true crime or depressing documentaries.  So I went the Sci-Fi route which is always a bit iffy.  Sci-Fi is either really good or really bad.  There is very little in between.  In any case, I watched this really terrible Sci-Fi movie which when not making me cringe made me think about aliens, UFO’s, NASA and other space related items.  Let the nerd flag fly!

I’m not exactly sure when it was decided that anyone believing in UFO’s and aliens were part of the crazies.  My best guess would be when the stories surrounding Roswell and Area 51 came out in 1947.  Wikipedia-Roswell  I don’t not believe in aliens and UFO’s which doesn’t necessarily mean that I do believe in them.  I’m what some might call alien agnostic.  I’m waiting for definitive proof.  And going to the Roswell alien festival is on my bucket list.  There is no way that l can live this close to Roswell and never go to one the festivals.  One of the best jokes my brother and I share is the UFO sighting.  My grandparents lived out in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico which was great for sitting on the patio and star gazing.  Any time we saw a strange light or flash in the sky, my brother would call it a UFO.  Then we would laugh like a little kids.  He still does it.  We can be driving home after a late movie and out of nowhere he looks out the window and shouts, “UFO!”  Idiot that I am, I still look out the window.  I’m pretty sure he really does want to see a UFO.  Jokes aside, I do think it’s possible that life exists elsewhere in the universe.  It would be just a bit arrogant to think there weren’t.

The lack of a confirmed visitation has been used as proof that aliens don’t exist.  The flaw in that argument is that it presumes the human race would be interesting enough to warrant a visit in the first place.  No offense to anyone, but what makes us so special that an alien race would want to take time for a visit?  Think about it.  Were they to come here, we know that they would have to be far superior in space travel and technology.  Any race that advanced is going to look at our shenanigans as mildly amusing at best.  What would we have to offer?  Fried anything on a stick?  One could argue that it would be a cultural exchange.  That doesn’t seem to be overwhelmingly compelling, but that’s just an opinion.  So no, not a huge surprise that we haven’t had an influx of alien visitors.  At least not overtly.

Which brings me to the conspiracy theories and cover-ups.  I love these!  I openly admit to being a huge conspiracy fan.  Area 51, alien autopsies – yes, I’ve watched all the shows.  They make me laugh, if nothing else.  The best part of all of it is that anything that can’t be readily explained is always attributed to aliens.  Crop circles are pictographs created by aliens to try and communicate with us.  Or that crop circles are some part of coordinated code for an alien invasion.  Stonehenge, the pyramids, the Bermuda Triangle, and anything else without an easy explanation has some kind of alien backstory.  I tend to think it’s just people having a little fun with the rest of the world.  Of course we can’t leave out the obligatory government cover-up.  I’m all for a good government conspiracy to hide evidence of aliens from the world as much as the next person.  When I was younger, my dream job was to be a CIA analyst which makes me pretty supportive of government secret plots.  The only problem with this is that regular people are still involved.  And if you use Roswell as a benchmark, which means that for over 70 years not one person has ever blabbed.  Not one person in 70 years has so much as said one word.  Does that really seem possible? Not to me.  I find it very hard to believe that there wasn’t at least one person who bragged about being in the know on proof of aliens.  Human nature cannot be denied.

The best part of not having any confirmation of life not on Earth is that it leaves it to our imagination.  We have a free license to create any form of being and world.  We can create foreign languages.  (Shout out to Klingon!)  Aliens and alien worlds have been used over and over again to explore the human condition.  Good versus evil.  Environmental concerns. Racism.  Oppression.  Nirvana.  We use science fiction to explore everything from the best to the worst that mankind has to offer.  And we do it with the full force of creativity and imagination that we have at our disposal, free from the confines and restrictions of real life.

We dream of space travel and exploring the unknown.  Aliens represent the fear of that unknown.  I’m in no rush to have proof of aliens or UFO’s because that would put a picture on it.  We would forever define our ideas or visions of life on other planets based on that first exposure.  I’d rather have more time discovering what else our collective imaginations can come up with.  Long live UFO’s and alien cover-ups!

Random thought – New Zealand is looking better and better to me.  Not only do they have great internet speeds, but I just discovered that a law firm there tested a four-day work week.  Employees worked 32 hours a week instead of the usual 40 hours with no change in compensation.  It was a win for both employers and employees.  Go Kiwis!  You can read the article here – New York Times article.