Back in the fall of 1993, I was home on a Friday night (which, unfortunately, was not that uncommon for me). I'd just finished watching this new show that Fox was all excited about (The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.), when another new show started. I knew nothing about it but decided to check it out. It starts out with a teenage girl, in her nightgown, running through the woods of Oregon. She soon finds herself in a small ravine where a young man is standing over her. Suddenly, there is a bright light, the leaves start swirling around them, and then they are gone. The next morning, the young woman's body is found with puncture marks on her back. The police have seen this before. Fade to black and then an eery, but catchy, theme song starts. By the time that pilot episode of The X-Files was over, I was hooked. I had never seen a show like it. And while some shows have come close (i.e. Fringe), nothing will ever take the place of The X-Files as my favorite show.
While I was already very interested in science fiction, either in books or on screen, The X Files dealt with stories and ideas I hadn't really thought a lot about. The main theme of the show is whether there is a government conspiracy to cover up the fact that we are not alone. Special Agent Fox Mulder, played by David Duchovny, believes that his sister was abducted as a child and that the government knows what happened to her and where she is. Special Agent Dana Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, has been brought in by the FBI to keep an eye on Mulder. This leads to investigations of all things strange and unusual, including the search for Mulder's sister and the truth.
So, in honor of the birthdays of the two stars (Duchovny: August 7 and Anderson: August 9) and the recent landing of The Curiosity on Mars, I'm going to take a look at the idea of whether there is life on other planets and, if there is, if there is a government conspiracy to cover it up.
The Very Large Array (VLA), New Mexico
People have been wondering, probably since the beginning of time, whether there was life on other planets and if there were other universes. Of course, for thousands of years, people who asked these questions either didn't have the technology to find out or were considered heretics. By the early 20th century, humans finally were developing methods of communication that could reach beyond our world, not just to your neighbor across the street. Radio signals, and eventually television signals, began going out into the cosmos whether we wanted them to or not.
By the mid 20th century, formal attempts to reach other intelligent life began when Frank Drake began searching for signals using an 85 foot antennae at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, WV. Thus began the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). By the 1970s, the United States Government was supporting this search at a variety of facilities, including the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. From this location, the Arecibo Interstellar Message was sent on November 16, 1974. The message consisted of information about our planet, our people, and how the message was transmitted. Messages have also been sent on interstellar craft, starting with Pioneer 10 (1972), Pioneer 11 (1973) and Voyager 1 and 2 (both launched in 1977).
Major Jesse Marcel with pieces of a "weather balloon"
Of course, there are many that believe that we have already been visited by "little green men." The most well-known case is that of the alleged UFO crash near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. In July of that year, debris was found on a farm where Mac Brazel worked. He reported his findings to the sheriff, who then contacted the local airbase. On July 8, the Roswell Army Air Field press officer issued a statement saying that they had recovered a "flying disk" in the dessert. The next day it was reported that Commanding General Ramey had actually reported that a radar-tracking balloon was recovered, not a flying disc. The following day a photo op was given with Major Jesse Marcel posing with the pieces of what has become known as a "weather balloon".
This seemed to be the end of it for about 30 years, until Stanton Friedman, physicist and ufologist, interviewed Jesse Marcel and found that Marcel believed that the military had covered up the recovery of an alien spacecraft. This story eventually was published in the National Enquirer in 1980. Eventually more witnesses started coming forward, with stories of debris being found at a variety of locations and that there had also been autopsies performed on alien beings. By the mid 1990s, the General Accounting Office conducted an inquiry into these reports. Their findings were that the debris was most likely part of a top secret project and the reports of alien bodies being found were just confused memories of air force personnel injured in training exercises. These reports, of course, just increased the belief in a government cover up.
Warning Sign near Area 51, Nevada
Which leads us to another topic of government coverup -- Area 51. This is a government site in southern Nevada where many people believe some of the aliens recovered in Roswell were taken. There are also some who believe that the moon landing, in 1969, was actually filmed at Area 51. What drives people's suspicions is that Area 51 does not appear on any map, and what goes on there is very top secret. For some, that's more than enough to come up with conspiracy theories.
While I'm not always sure whether we are alone in the universe or not, the subject has fascinated me for years and probably will continue to do so until an alien race contacts us -- or I leave this earth for a better place! And it all started with a television show.
To read more about Area 51, click here -- and for more about Roswell, click here.
And to find out more about attempts to find life on other planets, click here.
-- Post by Tracy
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