We’ve all seen cartoons about aliens landing on Earth in their spaceships, but are they real?
The universe is a vast place with over billions of galaxies and stars. Aliens existing is a debatable topic. One might say that in these billions of galaxies, life must exist somewhere. The other may say that aliens are just a bunch of fictional characters created for kids.
Its important to note that finding aliens, especially intelligent ones is an incredibly complex and challenging task. The vastness of the universe and limitations in our technologies make it difficult to predict when or how such discovery might occur. However, there are a few avenues that scientists are exploring in their quest to find the aliens.
Oumuamua
On 19th October 2017, scientists noticed a strange “cigar” shaped object passing through our solar system around 33 million kms away from the Earth, travelling 87 km/s. Discovered by Robert Weryk using a telescope in Hawaii, it was named Oumuamua which means “a messenger from afar arriving first”. Initial analysis revealed that it is an interstellar object which was exhibiting strange behaviours such as sheer speed & quick change in direction, causing it to be different from asteroids. Many scientists speculate that it may be an alien space craft. Research is still being done using the James Webb Telescope to identify the true nature of this interstellar object.
Voyager 1 and 2
NASA launched unmanned space crafts in 1977 which was sent with the intention to find extraterrestrial life forms outside solar system. They have currently reached interstellar space. They are carrying “Golden records” which contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.
It is worth noting that the discovery of extraterrestrial life is uncertain and may require significant advancements in technology and scientific understanding. Nevertheless, scientists are actively searching and exploring various avenues to increase our chances of finding signs of life beyond Earth.
