From Here to There
Sheryl Gottschall ©

A subject that strangely doesn't get much light of day in the UFO arena is how humanity might respond to open contact with an extraterrestrial race. Interestingly, many in the UFO community throw sharp barbs at the SETI program and the statements by its scientists, yet it is this group who attempt to ask the hard questions. It is indeed SETI scientists who are willing to explore issues surrounding the existence of ETs, how we might communicate with them and how the human race might deal with the fallout of such communication, and eventually how humanity might approach open contact. These people are asking our questions, or at least the questions that we need to be asking if Ufology is ever going to make any headway.

The UFO community needs to be discussing the larger issues at hand rather than continuing to go round in circles collecting the "ultimate proof". Realistically, the concept of "ultimate proof" is an urban legend, one that has been allowed to distract researchers from dealing with the harder questions in Ufology. Ultimate proof just doesn't exist, but if by some almighty power we could wield a magic wand and create the elusive "ultimate proof" that would thoroughly and totally convince every single person on this planet that ETs exist, we are then faced with the question – what are we going to do with it?

If we were to collect a multitude of sighting and close encounter reports, crashed craft and even alien bodies we are still left with the question of how this might further our understanding of the ETs? Does it tell us anything about them like who they are, why they are here, what motivates them, what they value and believe? Collecting evidence has become a bit of a hobby for many and that is fine, there's nothing wrong with that. We need this to create a foundation for the hypothesis that the UFO phenomenon is a real and tangible subject and well worth the general publics’ attention. Although a valid endeavour this is only one part of the UFO phenomenon, and only the beginning at that.

But for those who want to evolve beyond this point we need to create a willingness within us to ask the harder questions, to explore all possible approaches to the UFO issue and the deeper questions that might arise from those enquiries. We may not get answers for a while, or even in our lifetime for that matter, but we need to get the ball rolling. We also need to create a space in our minds for the answers to our questions to reside, a space for new concepts and discoveries to take hold. How well we might come to understand an extraterrestrial society may very well depend on how flexible our minds can be right now.

The world of the future is going to be a very different world from the one we have experienced. Our task is to ask questions and not be afraid to acknowledge that we may not receive answers. The important thing is that we keep the questions alive. This task is big enough to give meaning and purpose to all our lives and well worth the effort.

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