Skip to content

The quest for life

Carl Sagan, Frank Drake, Enrico Fermi, Donald Brownlee and Peter Ward.

Carl Sagan, Frank Drake, Enrico Fermi, Donald Brownlee and Peter Ward. What do those names have in common? They are among the many scientists who have delved into the cosmic question: Are we alone? Sagan, Drake and Fermi are perhaps among the most well-known names behind the pro-alien hypothesis. Together, Drake and Fermi’s theories try to quantify the presumably high probability that life exists beyond Earth, while explaining the lack of observable evidence. While both concepts require entire books to explain, in a nutshell, Drake presumes, based on an equation of his devising, that due to the sheer number of solar systems that even if the likelihood of Earth-like planets is low, the number of civilizations would still be considerable. Fermi helps by explaining away the lack of evidence. He suggests civilizations similar in advancement to ours would be the most common and therefore contact would be extremely unlikely. Brownlee and Ward on the other hand believe that intelligent life outside of our solar system would be extremely uncommon, due to a hypothesis they dubbed the Rare Earth Theory. Again, in a nutshell, Rare Earth argues that the combination of factors required to create an environment such as Earth’s as well as multi-cell reproducing organisms is so improbable to make the possibility of alien life extremely rare. The search for alien life, whether it is by amateurs star gazing or by the technologically advanced not-for-profit Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, continues to capture our imaginations. A search on YouTube for UFO sightings brings up 1.5 million results. The Canadian UFO Survey has documented around 20,000 sightings over 29 years across the country – and those are just the ones reported. While many of those reports likely have mundane explanations or were faked, there are some that leave people scratching their heads and looking skyward with wonder. Accounts like those made by Cochranite Liam Billard, who said he has had a close encounter of both the first and second kind, which are defined respectfully as a sighting of a UFO and experiencing interference as a result of a UFO. Billard, who didn’t report his encounters, adds to the more than 40 people who have reported sightings in the region. One such incident was in 1994 by a flight instructor at the Springbank Airport. With some seemingly credible reports of UFOs, one has to wonder if extraterrestrial life really does exist and whether they have visited our tiny planet. What do you think?

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks