Earth has a sister next door.

With the recent discovery of an earth-like planet the odds of life outside the Earth have gone up tremendously. Gliese 581 g in the constellation Libra is only 20 light years (ly) away. That's spitting distance in a galaxy 100,000ly across. It's 1.2-1.4 times the diameter of the Earth and so would be a comfortable place to stand. It's in the "Goldilocks Zone" where it's not to hot and not to cold for liquid water.

20ly is within our reach if we assume Einstein's guess about the speed of light being the fastest possible to be true. It's doable for humans even at half the speed of light.

There is still controversy surrounding that limit. Gravity is the only force that refuses to be included in the unified field theory. And there is evidence that it's speed could be higher than that of light by a factor 200,000. This may seem to be impossible, but simple experiments as well as logical testing imply that this may be so.

One of the experiments often cited in arguments for a faster gravity is the direction of pull versus direction of image paradox. When the sun is observed both visually and gravitationally, either by observing the tides or direct measurement of a mass, the direction of gravity leads the direction of visual observation by just shy of the time it takes light to get from the Sun to the Earth, about 8 minutes or a few degrees when looking up in the sky at the Sun.

The other is logic. Light travels as a wave of probability. In order for any probability to exist, there must first exist a possibility, a framework within which the probability can be computed. This is the space between the masses that represent the observed, the emitter of the wave, and the observer, the receiver of the wave. The logical argument is that gravity is a result of the existence of the two masses, and that this existence establishes the possibilities that are required to have a probability wave of interaction between the two masses. The propagation of the gravity wave must precede the propagation of any light wave that follows.

New observations of very deep space structures that spiral around centers that are trillions of light years across strongly imply the existence of forces that are faster than light. These structures are known to have formed in a shorter time period than the light could travel between their component parts and convey force that forms the regular structure. These structures are way to big to be influenced this way by something as slow as light. They are obviously formed by the same gravitational tides that formed the spiral arms of the galaxies that are the particles in these enormous structures. In short, Gravity must be faster than light to form these shapes at these scales.

So if gravity is faster than light, then faster than light travel is possible.

Given this possibility, there is a whole new frontier opening up before us with the discovery that we have another place nearby to go. At faster than light speed, 20ly is right next door.

The odds of there being more planets around sun-like stars, the most common types, have gone up not just by doubling, now that we know of two, but by several factors because the two we already know of are so nearby. It's not like we've been searching for centuries and finally found another Earth-like planet on the other side of the galaxy. We have two right next to each other. We're on one of them, and the other is right next door. It follows that if another can be found so close, that there must be others we haven't found yet around the billions of other suns like ours that we already know are there.

Since the first extra-solar planet was discovered a few years ago, the number of extra-solar planets known is now up over 400. Granted, most of these are Jupiter sized. But that only adds to the odds of finding similar smaller planets inside the orbits of these giants that are easier to detect at the distances they are being observed.

Put all of this together and you have a recipe for a galaxy teeming with life. What an amazing thought. To look up at the night sky and know that there is likely to be other worlds with life on it makes the heavens seem more inviting than just a collection of rocks, ice, gas, and stars.

With the possibilities of life comes the possibility of intelligent, and technologically advanced life, much like our own, or not. But if the assumption of the speed of gravity is taken for granted, then it is safe to assume that any intelligent life will reach this same conclusion and find a means to take advantage of it, just as we are trying to do with the things we know and understand. If so, then perhaps they already know we are here. I happen to be one of those people on Earth who knows this is so. I have seen the ships they use. One in particular was the one that removed all doubt in my mind.

NASA and others on our planet have recorded a great number of videos and audio proving the point. John Glen had such an experience on his historic flight in Gemini 7. This was before we had space junk to blame it on. He was followed on that flight by someone, we just don't know who, and nobody wanted to talk about it back then, in the middle of the cold war, and in the atmosphere of fear and dread surrounding nuclear détent.

But today, people in high places and low are telling their stories, showing their videos, and seriously considering the presence of our extraterrestrial neighbors. It's not a crazy thought any more. In fact, the evidence is now so strong, that to deny their existence seems less plausible than admitting it. This is a paradigm shift of galactic proportions.

I'm not going to even try to prove they are here. I'm not going to waste my time with that. Google it and any body can find ample evidence and still not be convinced. Too bad for them. Instead, I want to address the possibilities of their intentions. Because we have had such a closed mind socially for so long on the issue, we haven't really seriously considered the obvious, why are they here?

The fearful minded of us speculate that they are here to conquer us. But the evidence for this is sorely lacking. They have disarmed our nukes many times, not just in the U.S. but in all countries with ICBMS. The devices are not destroyed, but just temporarily disabled. Everyone who has experienced this has been able to re-arm the missiles. There is footage of a test of a particle beam weapon fired at a moving UFO target, as seen from higher up, that causes the UFO to stop dead in it's tracks and then accelerate away from the shot just before it reaches the point of impact. They do not shoot back.

We have crop circles. Granted, some of them, even some of the elaborate ones, are made by enterprising hoaxsters. But not all of them. There are records going back hundreds of years about crop circles all over the world. This is a benign form of saying "Hi, we're here".

Some have speculated that they intend to enslave us. What for? They have technology that makes it easier to do work than a bunch of Monkey-men could possible do. Or is it that they need our resources? What for? The solar system we are in is loaded with everything they could want. The moon, the asteroids, the rings of Saturn, contain more resources than Earth by several orders of magnitude. Jupiter's moon Europa has water and warmth, The rings of Saturn contain enough water to fill Earth's oceans several times and not even feel the loss. The asteroids contain all of the same metals and compounds that make up the Earth, with the likelihood of high concentrations of some of those elements being right there on the surfaces, undisturbed and free of oxygen, unlike the ones here on Earth that have already been in and out of the rocks and water many times.

It's also possible that their biology is not suited to an oxygen rich atmosphere either. We got that because our oceans formed photosynthetic life, and changed the chemistry of our air. Most of the atmospheres we can see are Carbon-dioxide, Nitrogen, and Methane.

Trade? Trade what? Food maybe, but again the problem here is that if they can do what they have already done, and traveled long distance, they didn't do it on an empty stomach! Gold? Why? There's probably loads of it in the asteroid belt, and probably even more of it on the planets and moons closer to their own home.

No, I don't think they are here to gain anything from us other than our friendship. If we assume a little more, and consider that all of the solar systems here in our neck of the galaxy are roughly the same age, then our neighbors are roughly the same age as us. If we are just now waking up to the facts of our galactic existence, then so to are they. All of us have evolved a different biology, a different culture, and a different understanding of the world and life in general. What may seem to be important to us, is not necessarily important to them. But one thing is certain, and that is there must be more of us around the corner, in the arm of the Milky Way next to the one that birthed us, and our nearest neighbors.

They could be interested in us just because we are here. They may also be interested in us because we have so many different languages, and yet still manage to communicate. They may be struggling to communicate with each other and understand each other. We may have an ability they don't understand, yet find they need, now that they are bumping in to each other out there.

If they developed in such a way as say ants or bees, where there is only direct communication between individuals, but a hive mind, then they may not have the knowledge or the skills to deal with non-hive oriented intelligence. Yet here on Earth, Humans talk to everything, including hives of bees, and dogs, and dolphins and whales. This may be a very unique trait.

They may not understand internal and external conflict very well. They may not understand diplomacy, though their lack of aggression would suggest that they do at least understand careful approach and non-aggression, at least so far. But here on Earth, we humans have very complicated dances of aggression and peace and diplomacy that have brought us to the brink of our own destruction, and yet, we still manage, in spite of our differing languages, we still manage to keep ourselves from extinction. To them, this ability may be just what they are looking for in friends when it comes time to travel further, and meet new and strange beings from other parts.

Maybe they want us to help them communicate. I can't think of anything else we might have to offer. But if I'm right, then it might be "Star Trek" time for all of us, our neighbors included. It's not so far fetched an idea. As humans, we know how difficult is is for an artist to communicate with a scientist even when they have a common language! Maybe our neighbors have trouble grasping the social concepts needed to understand their other neighbors, and so they have come here to learn how to talk. They already know how to communicate, but maybe they need to learn how to talk. Humans are masters of talking. It's part of our primate heritage. A heritage that is unique to this planet.

The crop circles are the only example of communication that we can point to so far and say, "communication". But this is a highly sophisticated form of mathematical "talk", that is beautiful, but not artistic. Our own hoaxes rival theirs in artistry. We've made circles that are realistic representations of things, where they have spoken to us in numbers. We have art, they have math. No wonder they are here. Circles describing the Fibonacci sequence is not really saying anything except "hi, we're here and we know math!".

They show us their machines, but they don't really "dance" with them. They streak through our airspace or hover over a spot for a while, and then move on, but they don't, or haven't yet, given us an air show. They may be too "Vulcan" and logical for such displays. But displays are a natural to us Earthlings, especially Primates like us Humans.


Abductions have revealed a wide range of communications, but all stories seem to lack compassion, with the exception of the Greys, the little guys we all think of when we think of "Aliens" and Area 51. It was a ship like the one I saw that crashed and it was Greys that died there that day. They are vulnerable, just like us.

Some abductees are forever frightened by the experience. They generally report being experimented on. Like I said earlier, not all of our neighbors will understand things the way we do, even if they are intelligent. They may not know pain, as pain, only an indication of damage. We don't always know when we are "hurting" things either, even though we are very smart. We don't even know sometimes when we are hurting each other, even though we have enough understanding to know for certain.

Military personnel and former abductee reports have brought the total number of neighbor species to around 50. This is a number that seems to jive with the distances and probable number of Earth-like planets in our immediate neighborhood. If we take these reports at face value, then we have a lot of talking to do, as do they. We have an enormous task ahead of us in learning to understand each other.

We have to worry about conflicts of interest as well as conflicts of biology. Some of our neighbors will have developed under similar oxygen rich and sodium-cloride and water type circumstances, and so may have chemistries that are similar enough to co-exist, but not directly interact, such as touching. Just touching a lion fish can kill you. It's conceivable that just touching some alien species, even if they are nice, could harm us or them. Imagine the misunderstanding that would result.

The hive-mind is also a possible sticking point in communication. We have been working with and beside bees and ants for all of our days as Humans, yet we are only just now beginning to understand how they interact and communicate with each other within those hives. We know now that each bee acts individually, but in a way that is pre-programmed to understand the "language" of the hive. Some of our neighbors may be similar in their intelligence, and the development thereof, and may therefore find it difficult to understand their neighbors who are more individualistic, like ourselves. I expect that some of the abductees that were "harmed" when abducted, were not harmed by beings who wanted to do them harm, but rather by hive-mind type beings who did not understand the individuality of the minds they were studying.

It will be very important to us in the coming future for us to recognize the difference between modes of thought and moral and ethical action and behavior. Hive-minds will not find it easy to see us as anything but expendables, like themselves, yet their actions must not be interpreted as malicious. For all of their technological and mathematical advancement, it would be a mistake on our part to equate that with morality and ethics as we know them here on Human Earth.

Every one of these beings is going to be unique. Not just unique because of the unique circumstances of their home planet, but also unique in their own individual way, just as we are. Even the hive-mind species will have some individuals that will act and think differently within their hive-mind and cultures. It will be a major diplomatic challenge to learn how to communicate with them all. It will require of us the bringing together of all sorts of scientific disciplines and understanding to pull this rag-tag collection of beings together. Fortunately for us, we have such skills. They may be unique in our neck of the galaxy and that is why so many of our neighbors are here. They see something in our chaotic dance of culture and scientific achievement that is valuable. We know how to talk. We make friends of different species. We talk to everything.