Aliens. Do you believe aliens exist? I do. The universe is mind-bogglingly large. How could Earth possibly be the only planet on which life began? I think there are aliens out there. What I’m less sure of is if they’ve ever visited Earth?

The SETI Institute is a great site to start with if you want to learn more about the search for extraterrestrial life. It could be that aliens are out there and traces of their presence visible to us, but we’re blinded by our own preconceptions (https://www.seti.org/what-can-fake-gorilla-teach-us-about-search-space-aliens).

Or it could be that aliens are like us and simply can’t escape their own planets/solar systems – yet.

Then, again, maybe aliens are visiting us. Roswell is one of the most well-known of possible UFO sightings. A guy I met years ago reckoned he’d seen aliens as he crossed the Australian Nullarbor. Given that I knew he’d enjoyed some “chemical enhancements” in his time, I disregarded his experience, but others have also reported close encounters of the alien kind in Australia’s remote places http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-23/curious-adelaide-ufo-sightings-across-australia/9466950

I’m a self-confessed coward. I’d probably close my eyes if confronted with a UFO zipping past. Like a toddler: if I can’t see you, you can’t see me. Still, the idea of aliens and the form they might take fascinates me.

In The Ceph Sector I explored the complexity of living in a multi-sentient-species galaxy. How do you understand and trust each other? What happens to the balance of power when a new player is introduced into galactic politics? How would humanity cope with such otherness?

There are mysteries in our world, both on Earth and in the wider cosmos, and they keep us wide-eyed and capable of the wonder of childhood. If we had all the answers, life would be boring.

Have you ever seen a UFO or anything as mysterious?