In a Universe as large as the one we occupy, can we really be the only intelligent life form?

I do not intend to use this page to put forward any particular point of view regarding the existence or non-existence of alien life forms but rather to argue the case for the exploration of space.

We have all seen the TV and Movie industry ideas of space and alien intelligence. Mostly they depict aliens as vastly different from us in appearance and almost inevitably hostile and warlike. Again, they are normally much more intelligent than we are and come from a race that is far older and more scientifically advanced. Often they are the remnants of a dying race whose world has exploded and who are now seeking to take over our lush, green planet.

Why should this be so?

Before I start to talk about the aliens themselves I have to ask the question; 'Should we be spending money looking for them anyway?'

I have in front of me a well-known book of records. One item of interest to me is that the oldest known offensive weapon is a broken wooden spear believed to have been used over 200,000 years ago. Not far off a quarter of a million years ago! The very size of the number staggers the imagination. It is hard enough to imagine the time that has passed since the Crusades in the Holy Lands when the Knights of King Richard of England went off to fight the Saracen hordes in the English Middle Ages. To try to grasp the concept of a quarter of a million years is difficult in the extreme.

And yet, we are aware that it is a long time. A very long time indeed. And now, here almost at the end of the 20th Century all those years later, we are still fighting, using weapons and killing our fellow man in every corner of the globe. A race of madmen, surely?

What was that first spear used for? To defend a tiny piece of sandy ground that one man claimed was his but that another man wanted? Probably, for is that not what wars are always about? Here in England we have seen centuries of conflict on our own lands. The Danes invaded from the European mainland. Other Scandinavian races came, conquered, settled and were assimilated into the culture. Conquering Danes became native Britons and Celts. The Romans came and the story repeated itself. Later came the Normans from France. History repeated itself once more. And so it goes on. And in every country in the world it has always been the same.

The Vikings in the North American Continent, the Spanish in the South. The Portuguese in both. The French, the English, the Dutch, all invaded at some time and were assimilated. In the Ancient World of Greece and Rome nation invaded nation and were counter-invaded century after century. And always with the same end result. Many thousands of people killed but in the end no changes at all. The same sort of people ended up living on the same bit of land doing the same sort of thing. Namely, scratching a living from the soil in an attempt to look after a family and to bring more people into the world.

How many times in the Middle East has blood been spilled in a dispute over the same bit of sand? Who really cares who owns it? And what do we mean by 'owns' anyway? Whoever the figurehead is at the top of the pile, at the bottom the same farmer is trying to look after his family and that is all he really wants from life.

And how much has all this cost?

Can anyone begin to estimate the cost, in real money terms, of all those weapons, uniforms, horses, tents, flags, drums, maps, food, medicines and all the rest of war's paraphernalia over all those centuries?

Countless billions upon billions of Dollars, Pounds, Yen, Rand, Shekel and what have you.

All that money and it has achieved nothing!

And yet we are told that the exploration of space is too expensive!

But is it.....................................................