Life 124 light-years away and they are not planning to attack Earth! (How boring)

At last, the wait is over!

Centuries of speculation and fantasising about life out there in the vast universe have culminated with the recent telescopic sighting of what scientists are calling possible signs of living organisms in a planet, currently called K2-18 b.

Want to build a spacecraft and try to see for yourself! Er, well, it’s not right across the street by the way.

A little further down, say about 124 light years away!

With the most advanced craft available at the moment, the time needed to reach this planet will be 194 thousand years.

Not your Barir Kache Arshi Nagar!

However, if any of your friends has access to a craft capable of warp dives then go right ahead.

Or, perhaps you might want to write a letter to the highly secured United States Air Force facility, Area 51, with the subject line saying: urgently need one of those alien space ships which crashed on Earth and has been restored by you!

PLANET WITH AN OCEAN

From what we have been told, the planet has a large ocean, which may house organisms.

I know, the image of hydra-headed monsters comes to mind.

How about moss-like organisms with a very short life span!

Does not sound that exciting enough, right?

The problem is, human imagination, with about a hundred years of relentless science fiction material, has influenced us in such a way that the word alien immediately conjures up sequences with spacecraft, hideous looking creatures, strange language and evil designs to conquer Earth.

Instead, think this: a cold, isolated distant planet with microbial life forms and nothing else?

Reality is far more banal, although we may not want to accept it.

The planet, which is now under spotlight, may not have any other signs of life but that is hardly a fact to stifle our imagination.

If there is an ocean and some life then it is just possible billions of years ago, some life form existed there.

Perhaps, this was once used as an outpost by an alien civilisation!

The possibilities are countless!

One sci fi enthusiast I know comes up with this delicious theory: “The current life form was deliberately shown by some alien intelligence either to divert our attention or just as a prank! After all, we can’t get to it anytime soon.”

True that, a bit like: Parle Amare Dhor, or catch me if you can!

An alien life two hundred thousand years away sends a message to Earth about a missing craft, which crash landed here one billion years ago, carrying a fascinating cargo – now that could be the premise for a Hollywood blockbuster.

Do not have the cash for a film? Write a short story instead.

WHY IS LIFE ON ANOTHER PLANET SO IMPORTANT?

From the buzz this latest discovery has created, one may very well think that finding life far away has a significant impact on our existence now.

If this had been the height of the cold war, we could have accepted that rationale because in the fierce clash between two separate ideologies, it was imperative to use scientific achievement as a means to demand legitimacy or glorification for a specific doctrine.

The moon landing was celebrated as a feat for mankind with Capitalist technology triumphing over the Communist one.

By the way, one conspiracy theory suggests the 1969 moon landing was a hoax and done in a studio, just to one up the Russians.

Watch Capricorn One, the 1977 film, using this idea as the premise.

While the West still focuses a lot on space exploration with talks about Mars landing gaining traction under the new US government, the cold war time competition to reach for the skies has diminished.

While no one is looking for unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or vast alien civilisations, at the back of our heads, most thinking humans do find time to reflect on the question: what if, just what if, there is something out there, no matter how far!

It is just our curiosity and the desire to discover something new that drives the unending quest to find something amazing out there.

Today, landing humans on Mars still seems like a tall order, two thousand years later, man could be having the World Cup football on the red planet.

The apt tagline could be: the biggest sporting event which is out of this world!

THE ‘ANCIENT ALIEN’ THEORY

In the 70s, in the hugely popular book called Chariots of the Gods, writer and researcher Erich Von Daniken claimed — using artefacts and OOPARTs (Out of Place Artefacts) — that highly advanced extra terrestrials visited Earth when this planet was still a savage place, roamed by mighty creatures.

His book suggests these aliens were worshipped by primitive humans as Gods, who then sketched them on cave walls and pyramid-like structures.

One school of thought theorises that the notion of Greek and Roman Gods originated from early human perception of aliens who used spacecraft, fought with laser-powered guns and lived on a heavenly abode called Olympus, which was not a mountain but a large space ship made to look like a mountain.

True or not, the ancient alien theory was used as a premise for the hugely acclaimed 2012 film Prometheus.

Since documents of human civilisation of the ancient period are scarce, the mere idea that life from other planets came here to live for a few thousand years only to leave when human civilisation became intelligent, often appears intriguing.

This concept further speculates that aliens left Earth and went to live somewhere else.

Could the new planet so far away provide any clue to add credibility to such a concept?

Point is, even if extra terrestrials had visited Earth then they have managed to stay elusive so far and there is no reason why they should reveal themselves now.

Thinking a little deeply, I come to this conclusion: that mankind should keep on searching for aliens and never find a true intelligent race elsewhere is perhaps for our own good.

We will find a tantalising glimpse of some very primitive life form and nothing more.

Otherwise, the great mystery of life may just be solved!

Scientists contend that solid proof of some life form on K2-18 b will be found in two years.

By the way, that name is so unoriginal!

Since it is supposed to have an ocean, “Poseidon K2” can be a better option.

In the meantime, the science fiction juggernaut will keep on rolling out countless fascinating possibilities.

Enough said, time to watch Planet of the Vampires – the 1965 cult film where female astronauts don the 60s daring leather jumpsuits and fight demons on a doomed planet.

[Towheed Feroze is a former journalist and a sci-fi film enthusiast!]