[extropy-chat] The NSA's disclosures on UFOs

[Samantha Atkins]

On Apr 25, 2006, at 10:56 PM, The Avantguardian wrote:

>
>
> --- "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" <sentience at pobox.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Considering how easy it would be, for any aliens
>> capable of traveling
>> here in the first place, to snoop around with UFOs
>> the size of a
>> bacterium, the prior probability for flying saucers
>> is so low... well,
>
> Huh? How would they fit in bacterium sized craft? If
> they just wanted to send an "unmanned" probe then
> maybe. But if they are out there it's not like they
> are just now figuring ot we are here. How would
> bacterium sized probes generate enough wattage to
> contact "Houston control" from many LY? How would it
> generate enough thrust to swim upsteram of the solar
> wind?

Such a probe would not need to send a signal many LY itself.  Such a  
device would likely be using MNT and capable of reconfiguring itself  
or growing other devices if needed.   The communication power need  
depends on the means of communication.   If some type of entangled  
particle means turn out to be possible then there is no power  
requirement proportional to distance.   The point is of course that  
clunky biological creature carrying craft are very unlikely to be  
sent from very far "out there".   Our assumptions based on what we  
can currently build are very unlikely to apply to any real ET  
checkout of our little planet.   If we are being visited by such  
craft then they either did not come from very far and aren't that  
much more advanced than we are or they went to considerable trouble  
to show up in a form we were likely to notice and more easily deal  
with.     Of course an advanced alien species could simply have its  
probes interject whatever sightings and UFO experiences it wanted us  
to have and then observe the effects.   This would be economical with  
reasonably advanced technology.

- samantha