Looking the right Way, Redux

 "EXTRATERRESTRIAL: Fist Signs of Intelligent Life Outside of Earth", a recently published book by a Harvard astronomer, is the perfect antidote for two equal and opposite intellectual illnesses: stuffy, staid, stagnant sanctimonious science, and far fetched, unconfirmed, unverified fantasy, fashioned irresponsibly into factual falsehood.Too little open mindedness, or too much. Four years ago an object was spotted zipping through the solar system which, based on measurements of its size, shape, and velocity, looked suspiciously like something artificial, of intelligent design. The author indeed believes that it was, possibly a deep space probe launched by some intelligent species heaven only know how long ago or far away from us. Its happened before. Many years ago NASA made a video of a bright point of light which approached the Earth, then suddenly made a perfect U turn and headed back into space, in defiance of gravity or any other natural force.  And that's about it, about all we have, so far. Out of all the noise, all the sensational claims and stories emanating from the UFO and new age cosmic paradigm community over the decades, all the accounts of supposed UFO abductions and so forth, we are left, for actual evidence, with two far flung objects.Like so many other components of contemporary culture, science often vacillates between extremes extremes of thought; between excessive skepticism and an unwillingness to consider possibilities on the one hand, and a rampant flight into fantasy and speculation, substituting fantasy for fact on the other hand. In our twenty first century world we are awash in science, surrounded by it, and we reap the abundant benefits of scientific progress constantly. You might almost expect that science would by now have replaced religion and all other forms of superstition in our advanced cultures. And yet, the persistence of pseudo science, of science denial, of paranormal investigations which lead nowhere other than farther and farther from the truth, is alarming. Perhaps science education, or the lack thereof, is to blame. Maybe if people understood science and the wondrous ways in which mainstream, empirical science explains the world and give us the ability to use natural phenomena for our own benefit, for medicines, computers, transportation, communication, for a millions marvelous, miraculous benefits, they would understand that science is really the only game in town, and the only game anyone needs to understand reality and to learn to revere the natural world and their place in it. Somewhere in the middle, between fact and fancy, maybe the twain can meet.The universe is amazing enough as it is; that has long been evident. we needn't adorn it with added layers of false facts. When a Harvard scientist expresses his belief that we now have strong evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial life from objects passing through through the solar system, we can be assured that mainstream science is not on the sidelines, ignoring wondrous phenomena, stuck in the mud.