Searching for signs

While UFO sightings have been fairly common for decades (UFO doesn’t equal alien, simply, it’s an unidentified flying object), scientists and researchers are now going beyond weird orbs and flashes of light and are keying in on technosignatures. These are signs of technological activity – either past or present – that indicate the existence of an advanced civilization. There are four technosignatures in particular astronomers are looking for, including:

  • Megastructures

Alien mega structure

 

In 1960, Freeman Dyson came up with the hypothetical idea of a megastructure, which he imagined as kind of a hollow shell that a civilization would use to surround its sun and harness its energy. Searches for these “Dyson spheres” have taken place over the last 40 years, and they’ve gotten a lot more precise, says astronomer Jason Wright of the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds at Pennsylvania State University. 

“Today, the Gaia mission by the European Space Agency is measuring precise distances to hundreds of millions of stars, which will greatly improve the efficiency of searches for Dyson spheres in the Milky Way,” Wright said. “No longer will our searches be confused by the millions of quasars and other objects that confuse searches using the WISE survey. We are also honing our detailed models for what the observational characteristics of Dyson spheres would be, which helps us know exactly what to look for.”

  • Pollution

Just as humans pollute the environment, the same may be true of aliens, researchers think. This is why they’re examining the substances that could be present in the atmosphere of other planets. In particular, they are looking for the industrial chemicals, tetrafluoromethane and trichlorofluoromethane, which are refrigerants that would be fairly easy to detect. According to astrophysicist, Professor Avi Loeb, both should be detectable within a couple of days after observing them, using the new James Webb Space Telescope.  

  • Light sails

UFOs at night

 

Researchers speculate that when aliens travel in their spaceships – like our own ships – they would require a substantial amount of fuel. To solve this problem (or perhaps because the aliens are just conscientious about protecting their planets), Robert Forward of Hughes Research Laboratories proposed the idea in 1984 that they would use a laser-pushed light sail. This would involve attaching a thin sail made of reflective material to a ship, which would then be pushed by a solar-powered laser. If they do use this type of device, we would (theoretically) be able to see flashes of light when the lasers were turned on and off. 

  • Wormholes

While a common plot point in a lot of sci-fi material, wormholes – which were actually first proposed by Albert Einstein – have never been detected, and most scientists believe that they don’t exist. This hasn’t, however, stopped people from looking for them. In terms of technosignatures, some researchers believe that alien civilizations may be advanced enough to create wormholes that would enable them to take these shortcuts through space and time. And if this were to happen, due to gravitational microlensing – which happens when the gravity of a distant star gets magnified – in theory, a wormhole could be detected.  

“If the wormholes have throat radii between 100 and 10 million kilometers, are bound to our galaxy, and are as common as ordinary stars, detection might be achieved by reanalyzing past data,” says Professor Fumio Abe of Nagoya University in Japan. 

So, has anything been found yet?

The search for these technosignatures is relatively new, so as of yet, researchers haven’t been able to find any conclusive evidence. Recently, researchers in Australia spent hours listening for technosignatures from 144 planets and billions of stars outside of our solar system but didn’t hear anything unusual. Thanks to the continuing advancement of technology and what we know about space, however, it may not be long before some form of alien life is spotted. 

Do you believe that alien life is out there? And if we actually find proof of it, what do you think we should do? Comment below and share this article with other extraterrestrial enthusiasts!

5 comments on “4 Signs That Could Tell Us Aliens Might Actually Exist

  1. Sharon Lovell on

    I tend to and still believe that the UFO phenomenon is our military and government and other nations around the world that have this technology and can spend billions of dollars on it but always have been keeping these high tech top secret so called flying objects in secrecy by using the name UFOs is a cover up by governments. Though I have been on both sides of the fence as a believer and a non- believer myself over the years and even saw something I can’t explain back in the late 70’s but it still did not convince me that what I saw was from another world unless and until there is solid proof otherwise. My opinions and beliefs come from being a Christian and believing that God created the universe with all it’s possible inhabitants like our earth we inhabit. So even if there was extraterrestrial life I don’t believe that we would be in any danger from them besides we are now in the last days of earth as we know it. The book of Revelations in the Bible tells us how everything will happen and end here for us all on earth and a new civilization will be governed by our Lord Jesus Christ. No other outside forces are spoken of.

    Reply
  2. Ray Lebel on

    I would lean towards not making contact, if we could avoid it. It’s possible that many of the alien life form’s medical advances would not work on humans, and like Hawking said, their could be alien forms of disease that we humans would have limited ability to fight off. Kind of like when Europeans came to the American continent, up to 90% of the existing population died off from disease (nobody has an accurate number). Anyway, I’m not a fear monger, but it could end badly for us. On the other hand, the trajectory of future human existence could put us in a position of “what have we got to lose?”, and it would be very exciting.

    Reply
  3. Daniel Short on

    if they are far more technologically advanced than us then they would get our water without making contact (communication) . but if we could communicate with them then maybe we could strike a deal…. some of our water for more life extending cures…. 🙂 just a thought

    Reply
  4. Bonnie Prickett on

    Aren’t they already here? It seems to me that the drip, drip, of information and the lack of any real coverups means that the powers that be want us to get used to the idea that alien life forms exist. Then, once we accept it,
    revelations will follow and hopefully most of us will be be able to tolerate the knowledge without jumping off the first cliff we find. Just another major challenge for the human race. I suspect how we deal with it will be the real issue. Either it will be a major leap of consciousness for us or the beginning of the end. Personally, I hope it’s the former. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if we really did learn how to love one another and to live united in peace. Anything is possible.

    Reply
  5. Owen on

    Yes I believe in alien life and if we find it we should not make contact. Do we need to jump our civilisation hundreds of years ahead. Medical advancement would be the only plus I could see and then do you want to save thousands of old people. What if they were hostile and wanted all earths water?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *