The Ancient Alien Question (5 page)

Instead, it is thought by some, including American physicist Paul LaViolette, that beacons, sometimes referred to as “galactic lighthouses,” would be built, announcing to anyone in the galaxy that they are not alone. John Learned of the University of Hawaii has proposed using the Cepheid variable stars (the brightest of the “variable” category of stars, which change luminosity through time) as a beacon, arguing that by manipulating their pulsation cycles, much like Morse code, the stars could be used to broadcast a message to the universe that would be far more likely to be received by alien civilizations. He has outlined a theoretical model as to how this could be accomplished, and though we currently lack the resources and some of the technology to accomplish this, future generations might advance as far—extraterrestrial civilizations might have advanced as far a long time ago.

The idea of galactic lighthouses was originally proposed by Thomas Gold in June 1968, but has been most popularly
promoted in the last decade by Paul LaViolette. His book,
The Talk of the Galaxy: An ET Message For Us?
, argues that some of the pulsars that we have discovered
have
actually been modified by an extraterrestrial intelligence, and that our radio telescopes are therefore picking up an extraterrestrial message; we just refuse to accept it.

The idea that pulsars could be created by an extraterrestrial intelligence received widespread attention in 1974 with the discovery of PSR 1053+29. Its extraterrestrial origin was proposed because of its strangely constant pulsation rate. The pulsar also betrayed no sign of spinning down, which meant it was not behaving as “normal pulsars” did. Alas, observations of this specific pulsar throughout the following years showed that it was in fact slowing down, though at such a slow rate that it still begs the question of whether it might be an extraterrestrial signal. Since then, more than a dozen other such pulsars have been identified, and scientists continue to question whether these are indeed galactic lighthouses, though most scientists
believe
that, no matter how weird, we are confronted with a totally natural phenomenon.

The best candidate for a galactic lighthouse is PSR 1937+21, one of the fastest pulsars in the sky, flashing 642 times per second, with a very constant pulsation period. In fact, the beacon surpasses the best atomic clocks in its precision. The so-called Millisecond Pulsar is also unique in that it is one of two pulsars known to emit giant pulses, becoming the brightest pulsar in the sky and therefore making it easily identifiable. After all, we have identified it, and the only question we have is whether its period is artificially created or natural, with the usual division between the two camps.

LaViolette, in
The Talk of the Galaxy
, states that, “If extraterrestrial civilizations are attempting to communicate with us and are distinguishing their transmissions by doing ‘something that can’t be done in nature,’ the pulsar signals certainly are the
closest thing known to fit this criterion.” But apart from communication, he also points out that the pulsars are ideal for space navigation, as they provide a means whereby a spacecraft can determine its position through triangulation. In short, pulsars could be the echoes of the imaginary network of space portals that Sagan concocted to allow for interdimensional travel in
Contact
.

Were We Not Alone?

The Ancient Alien Theory proposes that we should not merely be looking into the deep abyss of space, trying to find out whether contact
can
be established, but that contact might have already been established, in the ancient past, and that physical or other traces of this contact are still visible or present here on planet Earth.

The theory of evolution suggests that we are the pinnacle of creation, and science is quick to assume that we are at the pinnacle of civilization. We think of today’s world as unique compared to previous ages, but our everyday existence is only partially so:

The ancient Romans would create one-way traffic in certain streets to cope with peak-hour traffic.

Pompeii had arm-waving traffic policemen to cope with congestion.

Babylon had street signs 2,500 years ago.

At Nineveh, there were “no parking” signs.

Antioch had street lighting.

The Aztecs used a permanent colored strip in the paved road to divide the two lanes of traffic.

By today’s technological standards, the Apollo space capsules of the 1960s were pretty basic, and the computers NASA used to put a man on the moon are far inferior to your average modern laptop. In fact, what the moon landings showed was
how relatively easy—provided we had the correct understanding of astronomy and astrophysics, and a means of escaping the Earth’s gravity—a voyage to the moon was. Isn’t it interesting that, whether we look at the Ancient Egyptian or Mayan civilizations, we always find that these ancient peoples possessed a body of astronomical knowledge far surpassing their requirements—in fact, far surpassing our own requirements?! Immediately we see one of the three basic ingredients of space travel fulfilled by what scientists until a few decades ago considered to be primitive societies.

That these societies were not primitive at all is precisely the message Erich von Däniken beamed into the world in 1968. His medium was not a radio telescope, but a book,
Chariots of the Gods
. Though he popularized the topic, von Däniken did not create the subject. Some of the pioneers of this could-be science were actually Russian. Nicholas Rynin (1877–1942) graduated from the Imperial Institute of Communications of St. Petersburg in 1901. After the Revolution, he wrote a three-volume book called
Interplanetary Contacts
(1928–1932), credited as the first encyclopedia on the history and theory of rocket technology and spaceflight. Less-well-known is that in it he analyzed ancient legends regarding air and space ships, from the Greek legend of Icarus to the Hindu Epic of the Mahabharata. He also tackled Jules Verne’s
From the Earth to the Moon
and found that the novel’s premise was infeasible. But in his opinion, the science of the ancient legends
was
feasible.

Rynin himself was walking in the footsteps of Yakov Perelman, who in 1915 published
Interplanetary Journeys
, the world’s first book on the science and technology of spaceflight. Years ahead of Western Europe, Perelman was popularizing the idea of rocketry and spaceflight for a Russian audience, resulting in the Soviet Union sending the first man into space in 1961.

Most of the rocket pioneers, including the likes of Hermann Oberth and Werner von Braun, all wanted to use their rocket
technology in the hope that it would propel humankind into the depths of the universe, and establish contact with alien life. Instead, their inventions were principally used to fight terrestrial wars.

Constantine Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935) was probably the first person to realize that rocket technology was the means by which to travel into space. Along with Hermann Oberth and Robert Goddard, he is considered to be one of the great theoreticians of spaceflight. In the early 1930s, Dr. Hermann Oberth was not shy in attributing the honor of making people dream of exploring the galaxy to Tsiolkovsky, whom he identified as the father of astronavigation—traveling toward and through the stars.

In 1928, Tsiolkovsky published
Will of the Universe
, in which he wrote, “It is difficult for us to imagine a being superior to earthman. This narrow-minded view prevents us from picturing an intrusion of extraterrestrial entities in terrestrial affairs. Yet a great number of events still remain unexplained because of this attitude. Many curious happenings are recorded in history and literature.” Tsiolkovsky was “only” a teacher in a provincial town, but he is considered to be a prophet of science and his papers were often discussed in the highest echelons of academia. He is considered to be the father of the multi-stage rocket, as well as the word
astronaut
.