It seems the American government has decided to rename UFOs; now they are called UAPs. Instead of Unidentified Flying Objects, we have Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.
What we do not have is an explanation for what all those UAPs actually are.
While most turn out to be stray weather balloons, weird-looking but totally terrestrial aircraft (look up a photo of the Vought V-173 “Flying Pancake”), and unusual weather phenomena, there are a few that defy explanation.
Even acknowledging that foreign powers sometimes do launch thingies with spy cameras on them into our airspace, and sometimes adventurous drunks do manage to launch themselves with a few dozen helium balloons tied to a lawn chair, there are still a few UAPs that have question marks.
So… did some college kids put together a large kite powered by a lawnmower engine, or did tourists from a nice little planet in the vicinity of Alpha Centauri come visiting the other night?
A quick scan (not that kind of scan!) of internet articles indicates quite a few of us are at least willing to consider the latter possibility.
Perhaps it is boredom. There is something about homo sapiens that not only likes a challenge, but needs it. There is a reason why over-indulgent parents whose children are self-entitled jerks suffering from “affluenza” have become the joke of the new millennium.
Without a challenge, there can be no sense of accomplishment, no human dignity. We are not descended from happy, satisfied ape-like creatures, but the unsatisfied ones who were always looking around corners, up trees and across lakes, wondering, calculating, questioning.
Perhaps the interest in UAPs is nothing more than an expression of a need for something new and interesting. We are fortunate that we live at a time when a cruise to Antarctica, a visit to Mount Everest, or a chance to take selfies with any creature we can name, is well within the reach of most of us – at least in this country.
The fact is, we have explored most of the strange, exotic places on this planet. There are still a few caves to venture into, and risk life and limb – and the lives and limbs of any rescuers whose assistance might be required.
Antarctica might still have a few surprises in store for us. And maybe there is a secret room filled with ancient manuscripts under the Sphinx. But Mount Everest, once the ultimate in inaccessible places, has garbage on it. Enough said. We have started gazing at the stars.
Actually, we have always studied the skies and the wonderous objects in them. Ancient travellers looked to the stars to help them set a course and reach distant destinations. Stonehenge, the pyramids of Egypt, and many other such ancient structures played a role that was as much about what we would call astronomy as religion. To the ancients, there was not the dividing line between the two there is in today’s supposedly enlightened world.
There is another possibility for our interest in visitors from other worlds. We could be hoping for help in fixing the mess we have made of our home planet.
There are too many unknowns with this one to waste time and resources on it. There is no guarantee the Alpha Centauri tourists would be interested in helping us, or even could, assuming they are out there.
There is, however, a guarantee of what will happen if we stay on our present course of destruction.
If we are looking for a challenge, we have one, and that is to ensure our children, and grandchildren, have clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and a world of wonders to enjoy and care for – no garbage on Mount Everest, no massive raft of plastic floating on the Pacific, and no need to sit around waiting for something with tentacles and 14 eyes to decide we are worth helping.
Time to take down the happy face “welcome, space visitors” poster from the roof, and get to work.
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Pauline Kerr is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter working for Midwestern Newspapers. She can be reached at pkerr@midwesternnewspapers.com.
