8 ms·

If I was an alien spaceship I'd try to stay just outside the current identification range on purpose.

oldstrangers 3y ago
Also a reasonable take. If you're sufficiently advanced to cover interstellar distances, avoiding detection (for the most part) is probably trivial in comparison.
- roywiggins 3y ago
  Why don't they just stay totally outside detection range, instead?
  - tomohelix 3y ago
    The same reason why petting zoos exist. The thrill and experience of getting so close to something exotic.
    - nomel 3y ago
      For some earthly evidence, the smarter the animal, the more it will exhibit “play” behavior. I suspect it’s an unavoidable quirk of evolved intelligence.
  - throwaway60607 3y ago
    To see as much detail as possible without confirming they are here. Sensors aren't unlimited, aliens would be constrained by the same physics as we are.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- throwaway60607 3y ago
  You don't need to be much more advanced than we are. You only need time - perhaps the alien civilization is millions of years older than ours. That would allow them to use peer-level technology to travel here.
  - krapp 3y ago
    That would mean they use rockets and jet engines. Which, if we're accepting (for the sake of argument) UFO sightings as evidence, they obviously do not. Naively, and as described, they demonstrate traits which strongly suggest technology far in advance of our own, to the point of harnessing physics we don't even understand. It would also be very easy to see them coming, because there is no stealth in space and they would need to be burning fuel and giving off heat, and doing so for tens of thousands of years or more.
George83728 3y ago
Why? Teaser theory from H2G2? Just tease people with your presence without giving them any firm proof of what they saw?
- throwaway60607 3y ago
  To be able to observe their reaction to unknown without confirming I am there. And maybe I don't have unlimited sensors - so I want to see as much detail as possible.

Also a reasonable take. If you're sufficiently advanced to cover interstellar distances, avoiding detection (for the most part) is probably trivial in comparison.

roywiggins 3y ago
Why don't they just stay totally outside detection range, instead?
- tomohelix 3y ago
  The same reason why petting zoos exist. The thrill and experience of getting so close to something exotic.
  - nomel 3y ago
    For some earthly evidence, the smarter the animal, the more it will exhibit “play” behavior. I suspect it’s an unavoidable quirk of evolved intelligence.
- throwaway60607 3y ago
  To see as much detail as possible without confirming they are here. Sensors aren't unlimited, aliens would be constrained by the same physics as we are.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
throwaway60607 3y ago
You don't need to be much more advanced than we are. You only need time - perhaps the alien civilization is millions of years older than ours. That would allow them to use peer-level technology to travel here.
- krapp 3y ago
  That would mean they use rockets and jet engines. Which, if we're accepting (for the sake of argument) UFO sightings as evidence, they obviously do not. Naively, and as described, they demonstrate traits which strongly suggest technology far in advance of our own, to the point of harnessing physics we don't even understand. It would also be very easy to see them coming, because there is no stealth in space and they would need to be burning fuel and giving off heat, and doing so for tens of thousands of years or more.

George83728 3y ago

Why? Teaser theory from H2G2? Just tease people with your presence without giving them any firm proof of what they saw?

throwaway60607 3y ago
To be able to observe their reaction to unknown without confirming I am there. And maybe I don't have unlimited sensors - so I want to see as much detail as possible.