The American public has a deep fascination with aliens, and former Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch testified before Congress in July 2023 that hidden evidence exists of extraterrestrials.
Whether we’re alone in the universe is the focus of season two of Laura Krantz’s podcast Wild Thing. And now she’s out with a new young adult book: Is There Anybody Out There? The Search for Extraterrestrial Life, from Amoebas to Aliens (Oct. 3, 2023).
“What I want these kids to do is wonder. … And to be open-minded, to think about all the possibilities, to think about aliens when everyone else is thinking about rocks. … It's getting out there, asking questions, thinking about things logically, and then using science to make smart, rational ideas about what might actually be happening in the world around you,” Krantz tells KCRW.
She adds, “I do think that there are probably aliens out there somewhere in the universe, and whether they are microbial or big-brained, we have yet to find out.”
Meanwhile, the government is likely keeping a secret about all this, Krantz says. They’ve had two programs studying unidentified flying objects: Project Blue Book during the Cold War, and more recently, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.
“What came out of those investigations is that there needs to be a process for reporting these kinds of things, as pilots see them in the skies, as both military and civilians come across the sorts of things that make them scratch their heads and wonder what is going on. … That being said, they haven't really come out with a lot of information about anything really unusual,” Krantz says.
Scientists’ observations
In Is There Anybody Out There?, readers learn about Dr. Robert Weryk, who was working at an observatory on Maui in October 2017 and noticed something repeatedly showing up in telescope photos.
“This thing was moving super, super fast, which means that it wasn't bound by the sun's gravity, it wasn't stuck in an orbit around the sun, which then meant that it was coming from outside our solar system,” explains Krantz. “And that was huge.”
Another scientist, Dr. Avi Loeb, looked at the same thing and suggested it was alien-made — based on its unusual trajectory and speed. He said it was possibly using a light sail, which relies on photons to propel the vessel forward, like how a ship uses wind.
“It was moving really fast. … Then it was getting dim and bright, and dim and bright over and over again — in a way that suggested that the size of this object was pretty big, and also irregular compared to other objects we've seen moving in space,” Krantz explains. “Then there was this question of whether it was a comet. And comets usually have a tail of dust and gas behind them as they get close to … the sun or another star. … But they didn't see anything behind this object. … The other thing was: As they were trying to plot the trajectory of it, it kept slightly moving off of the mathematically-plotted line that they had it on. … So Dr. Loeb suggested, ‘Hey, maybe we should consider the possibility that this might be alien technology.’”
The significance of Roswell
Krantz’s book has one chapter devoted to Roswell, New Mexico.
She says that was where the first big UFO story unfolded. In 1947, a supposed crash happened in the desert outside Roswell. Metal, wood, and other materials scattered across a long field, which military officers in the area inspected. They used a press statement saying they captured a UFO, then the next day said it was actually a weather balloon. Americans believed it — until 30 years later.
“People started to really question this story … in part because of what was going on at the time. You've got things like Vietnam … Watergate … all these questions about whether the government is telling us the truth.”
Then in the 1990s, the military said it was part of the clandestine Project Mogul, which was spying on the Soviets’ nuclear capabilities.
“So everyone's like, ‘Man, you guys are just liars.’ So then I think that this conspiracy theory … bubbles up and it gets bigger and bigger. … People are just fascinated by the possibility,” Krantz says.
What are earthlings most likely to find in space?
Krantz says that in our lifetimes, Americans will most likely find something single-celled, which we’re already seeking on Mars. Missions are also planned for the moons around Jupiter and Saturn to see if live exists on those planets.
She continues, “When you start thinking further away, you have to think about the time that goes into that. So Alpha Centauri, which is the next star system over, is 4.2 light years away. … With our current technology, it's gonna take us thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of years to even get a probe there. So to know whether there's something there — it’s getting a little harder.”