NASA has made a cryptic announcement about a press conference being held on December 2 to reveal a discovery “that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life.”
Have you ever wondered how real “first contact” would be made? Hollywood likes the idea of city-sized ships turning up in orbit, usually with ill intent, or sometimes a stealthier approach involving body-doubles and a similar degree of sinister. But the truth is that the whole process will probably be a lot more mundane: an exchange of radio signals followed by bureaucratic deliberations about whether or not it’s worth the hassle of trying to make some kind of intergalactic hook-up, and then finally, a press conference.
And a press conference is exactly what we’re going to get on Thursday afternoon, according to a rather thin, enigmatic release put out today by the big brains at NASA. “NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life,” the U.S. space agency said. “Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.”
We’ll have to wait until Thursday to find out what sort of horrific fate awaits us at the hands of our new alien overlords who I, for one, welcome, but unless it involves some combination of giant fighting robots, disguised lizard-people, cookbooks, cool sunglasses and imminent annihilation, I’m going to be disappointed. Whatever it is, the big news will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed online at www.nasa.gov.
