Where do "aliens" come from? Confirmation from the most official sources (and which could be more official than NASA?) that there is some form of liquid water on Mars has reignited speculation about the existence of extraterrestrial beings that supposedly once inhabited this barren planet. Since this "once" was long ago, such speculation grants these beings a kind of genealogical superiority, suggesting they were technologically advanced enough to abandon the planet and relocate to some unknown destination. An attractive extension of this theory is that, at some point during their galactic travels, they somehow created (presumably through biotechnology...) our species. And they haven't forgotten us. They regularly visit us (with a particular, unexplained preference for America), via their "unidentified flying objects."
Regardless of whether "other forms of advanced life" exist anywhere in the vast universe, aliens and their "stories" are a creation of our own planet. They haven't always existed in the form of technologically superior beings as they developed during the 20th century. They existed (as creations of human minds and human social relationships) in other forms, certainly of a higher order. As gods, demons, "spirits"... The construction of a "divine" Other, with powers and abilities far beyond human (whatever those might have been in various historical periods), is an ancient tale. And let there be no doubt: these supernatural beings existed, as there were always enough people to confirm their existence! They existed in a much more socially and ideologically defined way (at least for their "believers") than the current fun speculation about traces of alien visits from Mars. No photographs were even needed! These supernatural beings existed because their existence was (and still is) a matter of interpretation: interpretation of experiences, senses, perceptions...
Aliens are, without any doubt, the evolution of Christian angels and demons (who, in turn, were the evolution of the "spirits" of various other cultures). The transition from the idea of angels and demons to the idea of extraterrestrials was not abrupt. During the 19th century, certain technological developments, most notably the improvement in optical capabilities and magnification of telescopes, along with changes in shaping public opinion (at least among the literate) through the widespread circulation of newspapers, books, and even propaganda pamphlets, played a significant role in demystifying space. As the planets of the solar system, first the moon and then the closer ones, seemed to "approach" Earth -in images, descriptions, research, and studies - the empty space of the cosmos emptied of divine and satanic beings and began to fill with human interest, observations, discussions, estimates, hypotheses - and imagination.
In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli turned his telescope toward Mars and began systematically studying its surface. He saw furrows, which he named "canals." Canals? For the public's imagination, this raised questions. How did "canals" end up on Mars? Someone must have built them... Suspicion about "Martians" was thus born - simply, very simply.
Four years later, in 1881, the English newspaper London Truth published a story about a "Martian invasion" that ended in a war of Earthlings against them. The story made a strong impression. In 1892, amateur astronomers began reporting that they had seen flashes on the surface of Mars. Flashes? After the canals? It became increasingly clear that "Martians" existed...
Meanwhile, French author Jules Verne had become extremely popular not only in France but throughout Europe with his "extraordinary stories." Verne closely followed the scientific theories and technological developments of the second half of the 19th century and imaginatively extended their possibilities in all directions of "world exploration." "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," "Journey to the Center of the Earth," and, of course, "From the Earth to the Moon"... Literature (and its illustrations) was reshaping the world, with planet Earth as the living and civilized center, if not of the universe, certainly of the solar system.
As time passed, the universe shrank in accordance with improvements in terrestrial telescopic capabilities. Everything came closer—not physically, but ideologically. And since everything was coming closer, aliens could inhabit places much farther than Mars. The increasingly detailed observations of its surface showed no signs of high (technological) beings there. So what now? If not there, then somewhere else—somewhere beyond the reach of telescopic vision, leaving ample room for mythologies. Mythologies that could even take on a "national" character - you know, those space Greeks...
Just like gods, angels, demons, and spirits, their successors, the aliens, cannot be proven to exist or not to exist. Unless they kindly inform us personally, not through imaginative observers or... the secrets (within or beyond quotation marks) of the American military!
Until that happens, their existence remains a matter of faith. Just as it was with their predecessors in the imagination of various societies and cultures. Depending on the type of culture, faith produces documents - those considered as evidence, those that, according to beliefs, can act persuasively. Sometimes dreams, sometimes visions, sometimes photographs meticulously studied.
But now there are more official proofs. Water (surely? perhaps?) on Mars. Expensive robotic space missions (whose technologies will find military applications) will bring back Martian soil in a few years, and perhaps even discover strange little microbes. Those left behind by the aliens. Or even some of their waste.
Martian microbes? So we're not alone after all!!!
Ziggy Stardust
