Are We Alone in the Universe? Part 1

As you can no doubt tell from this picture of me in one of my favorite t-shirts, I am not only a science nerd, but

I am also a science fiction fanatic which is why I also love to write sci-fi stories. It also accounts for why The Big Bang Theory is one of my all-time favorite TVsitcoms. Luckily my wife is also a science fiction nerd as well as my daughter and son-in-law are avid fans of the genre.

So, today, let’s start to explore a question I think most of us science nerds have asked and especially those of us who love science fiction.

Are we alone in the Universe?

A quick Google search will reveal how obsessed we are with this question with dozens of books on the subject including such classics as H. G. Wells’ 1898 War of the Worlds and Arthur C. Clarke’s 1953 Childhood’s End to the more recent 2016 The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. Then there are a wealth of SF movies on the subject including some of my personal favorites, Ender’s Game (also a great book), Contact, and Arrival to mention just a few.

If you ask us Americans this question, we’re pretty certain that the answer is “No, we’re not alone.” As recently as July of 2021, the question arose in the national media with the release of a U.S. Intelligence Report on unidentified flying objects that stirred up excitement across the country. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, approximately 65% of Americans believe extraterrestrials exist, and about 52% say that UFO sightings reported by members of the U. S. military represent visits from intelligent aliens (or at least we SF nerds hope that is the case).

So, now it’s your turn

How about sharing your thoughts on the subject by responding to these questions in the comment section:

What are your all-time favorite SF movies that in some way touch on the question: Are we alone in the Universe?
What are your favorite books that explore the question in some way?
Do you believe that at least some of the reports of UFOs are of aliens visiting our planet?

Next time, I’ll reveal where I bought the t-shirt and what that location has to do with the question of whether or not we’re alone in the Universe.

In the meantime, here’s another picture from my time in the rainforest