Monday, August 11, 2008

The Search for Extraterrestrials


This past week I attended a lecture given to an Astronomy Club by Dr. Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute at Mountain View, California. SETI, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence was founded by astronomer, astrophysicist, Frank Drake.

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, funded the SETI Allen Telescope Array in Hat Creek, Northern California near Lassen National Park, and 290 miles north of San Francisco. Construction began in 2005 and in 2007 had completed phase one and installed forty-two working antennas. At completion of the third phase there will be three hundred fifty antennas. ATA is a joint effort of the SETI Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, Radio Astronomy Laboratory. ATA is dedicated to cutting-edge astronomical research and a simultaneous search for signals of intelligent, extraterrestrial origins.

Dr. Shostak gave an interesting and informative talk laced with humor. He had made the statement that eighty percent of Americans believe we are being visited by extraterrestrials. And it was about that percentage of the attendees of the lecture that fell into that number. But...near the end of his talk, Dr. Shostak told the audience he was not among the eighty percent, and was very skeptical that we have ever been visited and even that we might be. Nor does he believe there is any government cover-up. He does believe there could be radio contact within the next twenty years. HUH? With who?

It was so interesting that his comments changed the body language of many in the room, myself, included, and even though I had won the door prize—a DVD of the movie Contact. Any of us who have had UFO credible sightings know we are not alone and are being visited, and also may believe that earth has been visited by extraterrestrials for centuries. And for most, it is very apparent that our government has and does cover-up. Shostak added there is no evidence of extraterrestrial visits. Well, obviously as a scientist with an apparent case of denial one wonders why he sits watching a computer monitor, with radio signals moving up and down and across. Maybe one of these days when he is driving between Mountain View and Mount Lassen, he will discover extraterrestrial intelligence beyond his wildest dreams...or denials...right there in front of him. That can make a believer, even out of a scientist.

A recent appearance and skeptical comments made on a Larry King Show by Dr. Shostak apparently irritated a lot of viewers of the show and he mentioned he received a lot of feedback, calling it hate mail. I’m not surprised as he really did put down UFO witnesses, denied any cover-up by the government, and really attacked the intelligence of people on the show and even at his lecture by making the sort of comments he makes. His humor seems to lose value when his skepticism comes into play, and what I found, was that his skepticism didn’t seem sincere.

“This isn't a person-to-person call. You can't possibly think that a civilization sending this kind of message would intend it just for Americans.” -Jodie Foster as Dr. Ellie Arroway, Contact

~ Linda

9 comments:

Atrueoriginall said...

Excellent post. We needed this right now with the bantering going on between Seth and Ufology ever since the Larry King Live program with Seth, Bill Nye and the UFO researchers - not to mention the piece Seth wrote last week.
UFOs: Flying Emotions

Just this morning Adam Korbitz wrote a little bit about the problem as well.
Response To Shostak - Adam Korbitz

UFO researchers do not contend well with skeptics since they (Seth and others)do not tend to follow the rules of skepticism and do any of their own research on the topic of UFO sightings. Instead, they always expect the UFO researchers to do it for them and then they just shoot it down with whatever comes to mind without studying it.

I am now anxious to hear Seth's comments on the following.
First radio signal detected from beyond solar system – Durban University of Technology – June 28, 2008

A little side note here. I happen to have two sisters and their names are Nancy and Linda.

Thanks again, Eileen
(aka:Atrueoriginall)

Anonymous said...

Having seen a huge, silent triangular object fly over Sedona, AZ, about six weeks before the famous Phoenix sightings of April 1997, I would conclude that there is at the very least a government cover-up. Dr. Shostak should seek to find an explanation before discrediting UFO witnesses.

What me and my friends witnessed was solid, slow moving, silent and huge. It came from the north and turned to the west as it passed over Sedona. We all sat there with our mouths open, awe struck. We have no idea what it was. It certainly wasn't anything that the government has made known to the general public.

I love the SETI project and had my computer signed up to decipher information for the project for about a year. Now I am concerned that, if these astronomers have the same attitude as Dr. Seth Shostak, they won't see the evidence if it slaps them right in the face. A broader view is essential for anyone seeking evidence of outside intelligence in the universe. It is very sad to find out that this program is being lead by someone with narrow lenses.

Atrueoriginall said...

Ricky, you can always look at it this way. You and I and hundreds of thousands of others know something that Seth Shostak doesn't. lol

Think about it. We know for a fact that the aliens are here and he doesn't believe that they could ever begin to even reach planet earth.

I've never seen a UFO from the outside, only the inside. I'm an abductee so I don't just think I know, I KNOW. Consequently, I KNOW that someday Seth Shostak and others just like him will be eating crow and will sit there and remember the countless hours that they spent trying to find a signal of some kind only to realize that ET was here all along. Then they'll probably think that the aliens didn't want to talk to them. And maybe that's because their minds are too closed.

I just hope that crow eatin feast is in my lifetime is all.

Linda Pendleton said...

Eileen,

Thank you for your comments and the links to the articles.

I'm afraid that Shostak has asked for the criticism he is receiving. He had a patronizing attitude which he tried to mask with humor, and people tend not to like their intelligence put down.

Your Alien Casebook blog is great and I like how up to date you have it. I have bookmarked it, http://www.aliencasebook.blogspot.com

Thanks for sharing...

My ufo sightings articles can be found at:
http://www.todancewithangels.com
under Articles by Linda Pendleton link.

My best, Linda

Linda Pendleton said...

Ricky,

How well I recall your description of your sighting, along with your neighbors--the three of you had quite a sighting. And beings I only lived two blocks away, I was sorry I was not sitting out on the balcony with you that evening!

It was exciting--and having had my own experience, along with Don, of encountering a huge triangular craft in the late '80s in Southern CA, I know how awesome it is.

Linda

Atrueoriginall said...

OH MY, those are beautiful. I love nice looking websites. Leave it to the women, right?

I'm going to grab the links for channeled truths and UFO phenomena and add them to my daily lists. I update it about 5 times a day and it gets pretty good hits. Actually, it gets great hits.

They'll be in the following address in a few.
Alien UFO Paranormal activity August 11th
I'll have time later today after my blog settles down to go through the rest of your links in there.

Meanwhile, see what I do for The Spirit Guide - Danielle Lee and let me know. It's free ink and it works well for her. My readers love what she writes. Here are some samples.

The Spirit Guide - Danielle Lee

Linda Pendleton said...

Eileen,

Thanks for the links to my articles. I thought earlier I'd add your blog to my Favorite Links--so plan to do so soon. I really like how you keep it updated daily or so. Very good.

Interesting articles from Danielle Lee.

You might want to link to this article by my friend, Athena Demetrios, another abductee.

http://www.intheomzone.com/ufo.php


Linda

Atrueoriginall said...

I have a daughter who is enthralled with your web pages. All of it represents a step she is taking right now so I see a bit of synchronicity there.

She is an indigo child, well not a child certainly because she's 16. Actually, 16 going on 40.

Re: 'Sophia Larsen" She said, "It was November of 1989, I was living in the desert at the time, it was late at night the house was still and quiet and I was sitting on the couch staring at the vastness of the universe."

Change the year to 1987 and leave everything else in that article and that's an experience of mine, almost identical. I lived in the high desert (Apple Valley, CA) at the time that it occurred.
Very interesting.

Anonymous said...

Contactee,
I regularly view videos from the website TED and find that science, religion, physics and philosophy and ufoology are getting closer and closer together. I think you will live to see Seth eat his words. This world is turning out to be enormously complex, increasingly dimensional and infinitely exciting. We are not alone, in more ways than one.