Ancient Alien Visitations: Show Me the Garbage

In an earlier post I asked myself what might convince me that aliens had visited Earth in ancient times. I think I have an answer to that now.

Back in May 2015, I wrote a post about what evidence we'd find if aliens had visited Earth in ancient times.

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/if-there-really-were-ancient-astronauts-what-kind-of-evidence-would-we-find/ In that post I asked what kind of evidence would convince me that aliens had visited Earth.

Much of the evidence presented to support the ancient alien visitation hypothesis, is also used to support the advanced prehistoric civilization hypothesis. My discussion below would therefore also apply to that hypothesis.

Am I a Denier or a Sceptic?

So far, none of the evidence presented by advocates of the ancient alien visitation hypothesis has convinced me that there was any truth to the hypothesis.  The difference between a denier and a sceptic is that a sceptic can say what kind of evidence would cause them to change their mind. When I wrote the last post, I couldn't think of what might convince me, but I have thought about it several times since then.

Evidence: Show Me the Garbage

Recently I read an article on the Internet that reminded me that archaeologists find the study of  people's garbage dumps very useful in their research. What struck me was that the evidence proposed to support the ancient alien visitation hypotheses is by and large stone constructions. These can be explained in other ways.

If aliens had visited Earth and spent some considerable time here, surely they would have left some kind of garbage. If there had been a large scale presence of aliens in ancient times, we would find garbage that reflected a more advanced level of technology almost everywhere. These large accumulations of garbage would leave little doubt that aliens had visited. This kind of discovery of garbage would convince me of the reality of alien visitations.

For example, in recent times, modern humans have created vast amounts of garbage. You can find plastic garbage just about everywhere. It will take centuries for these plastics to biodegrade, and even then, they would leave evidence that could be detected thousands of years in the future.

I don't think any of the advocates of alien visitation have explicitly looked for garbage. There have been several finds that might be classed as garbage, but none that convince me.

Counter Argument: The Aliens Were Neat Freaks

If we do not find any ancient alien garbage, does that prove they didn't visit? You could argue that the reason we don't find garbage is that they were very advanced and did not create any garbage. Maybe they picked up everything before they left.

I think this is a possible explanation. Certainly many people today want to reduce the amount of garbage we produce. A more advanced society could have successfully reduced the volume of their garbage to the point that it is undetectable.

That isn't my concern here though. I did not set out to convince others that alien's did not visit. I wanted to find an example of the kind of evidence that would convince me that I was wrong about ancient alien visitation. Large volumes of alien garbage found in many parts of the world would be that kind of evidence.

Other related blog posts:

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/a-brief-thought-about-the-fermi-paradox/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/why-would-ancient-astronauts-visit-earth/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/do-ancient-alien-probes-watch-earth/

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First Draft of “Felix” Done

I finished the first draft of my story Felix. It is a science fiction story set on Mars. I based it on a Lovecraft story. I added 3,100 words this week and the first draft came in a little over 8,000 words.

It really needs a rewrite though. I’ll do at least one more draft, maybe two, before I start to look for some volunteer beta readers. I’ll leave it for a few weeks before I start on a rewrite. That will let me work on my other science fiction story, Heat Wave.

I resubmitted my short story Pete’s Plan to another science fiction magazine. This is the fourth submission now. I didn’t rewrite it again as I did after the first couple of submissions.

Someone sent me a link to a website that lists a whole bunch of places to submit science fiction stories: ralan.com. It listed 42 professional magazines, and over 100 semi-pro and amateur magazines. I hope that at least one of them will want my story.

By the way, if you would like to help me and volunteer to be a beta reader, please get in touch with me. Thanks.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Back to “Felix”

I got back to work on “Felix” this week. It is the story of two astronauts on Mars and their search for a robot rover that got lost many years earlier.

I’d left it nearly two months. I added almost 2,000 words this week. I also deleted almost 600 words. The story is now about 5,300 words long. I think the first draft will end up about 7,000 words, so I’m about 80% done. That is shorter than I wanted. Possibly, when I rewrite, I can enhance it and make it longer.

I adopted an approach that H. P. Lovecraft recommended. In the final story, I will tell much of the story in flashback. What H. P. suggested was that you write the story in chronological order, and then restructure it to the final order later.

So far, I think that approach has worked well for me. I do see some problems that will come up later. I wrote as if the final version would still be in chronological order. At the start I reveal some introductory information that needs to be at the start of the final story, but in this draft, the section that will be first, comes later in the story. It shouldn’t be too difficult to fix, but I need to remember I’ll need to deal with it.

I got another rejection for “Pete’s Plan” this week. I was a disappointed. I started with the higher paying SF magazines, so the competition would be stiffer. I may do better with some of the other ones. 

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog