In a move that is sure to create controversy in the scientific establishment and derision among the general public, two researchers at Arizona State University (ASU), Professor Paul Davies and research technician Robert Wagner, have proposed that the University solicit help from both the general public and scientific community in an effort to examine photos of the Moon in order to look for artifacts left behind by any visiting alien civilization.
The idea behind the search: if aliens were to do any in-depth examination of earth, the Moon could serve as an ideal base, much as is NASA's current idea about possibly using an asteroid as a stepping stone to Mars.
In the abstract of the paper, Wagner comments that “there is only a tiny probability that alien technology would have left traces on the Moon,” he goes on to say that, up to now, the science-based Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has only operated on the basis that alien civilizations will be discovered by way of radio messages, ignoring all other means, such as a close visual examination of other worlds, such as he proposes doing with the Moon.
One thing going for Davies, Wagner, and anyone who helps take up the search: NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has beamed back some truly stunning pictures of the lunar surface, including the Apollo landing sites. So, if the LRO cameras are good enough to capture astronauts' footprints, they should be good enough to capture any alien artifacts, should there be any at all, on camera, too
Want to help out? Unfortunately, this whole plan to scour the LRO images for alien artifacts is still in the planning stages, so there's no concrete info on how to participate just yet. However, check back here for updates as they become available.
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