S.E.T.I. is a waste of time, money

Dear Editor:

On the evening of Thursday, Oct. 19, I attended a lecture by Dr. Paul Shuch, an aerospace engineer associated with S.E.T.I., the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, which was held in the Inco Cavern at Science North.

Originally, I was going there to ask him the following question: "Why does SETI believe that a more advanced alien race would resort to such primitive technology as radio waves to contact us, if they have the ability to travel here from their home planet(s)?"

After listening to him for a while, I decided to ask instead if: "Any members of SETI had ever bothered to look at the physical evidence that exists for the reality of UFOs, or do they still claim that such evidence does not exist?"

I was surprised by his answer. He quickly replied by saying that he was involved in one discipline and that UFO researchers were involved in another. But that both disciplines deserved careful study.

I expected him to reply in the same manner as Jill Tarter, a well-known SETI proponent, who has been quoted as saying that evidence of alien visits to this planet does not exist, and if aliens were to visit this planet, astrophysicists and aerospace engineers would be among the first people the aliens would likely make contact with.

But instead of dismissing UFOs, he simply said he did not know anything about it and that UFO research was not his field of study.

During the question period, a little girl in the audience asked Dr. Shuch: "When was the first sighting of an alien?"

Shuch, of course, could not answer the question. He even went on to say it was very unlikely that alien beings would look anything like us.

Given the opportunity, I would have been able to give her the answer. If she or her parents read this, they may contact me at the number below to get the answer their daughter was looking for.

I must say that, as interesting as the lecture might have been to most people there, I already knew most of the information provided by Dr. Shuch, including the total number of planetary systems NASA has detected so far, which is 50.

I also noticed the number of people who did show up for the lecture, but I got the impression that most of them were astronomy buffs anyway, and weren't there to ask questions about UFOs.

My personal opinion is that SETI is a waste of time, energy and money.

While they are sitting there in front of their monitors looking - or listening - for radio signals from outer space, waiting for the answer to the question, "Are We Alone?", those of us who have been involved in UFO research for many years have seen the phenomena for ourselves and have gathered evidence and data for the past 50 years or more, already know the answer.

If the readers truly want to learn about UFOs, don't talk to S.E.T.I. members.

Instead, help me to get Science North to sponsor the following world-renowned experts on the subject: Stanton T. Friedman (bachelor and masters of Science); Linda Moulton Howe (masters of communication); John F. Schuessler (masters of science in studies of the future and technology forecasting); and Dr. Richard F. Haines (bachelor and masters of arts, and PhD).

If you or anyone you know wants more information, please contact me at 670-2759 or e-mail ufoman@ican.net.

MICHEL M. DESCHAMPS
Sudbury

The Sudbury Star - November 18, 2000