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As a species we are fascinated by life. For centuries we have
travelled the globe looking for new forms of life in dense jungles,
in the depths of the ocean, beneath the ice, and even deep in the
earth's crust.
We are technologically capable of building primitive spacecraft
and have successfully put men on the moon. It is only natural to
look to the stars in our search for life. We are now starting to
search for life beyond Earth, and are especially fascinated with
the possibility of alien intelligence. Astronomers have been
actively looking for intelligent life in space since 1960. The Seti
(Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Institute in California
searches the cosmos for signs of intelligent alien life.
If intelligent alien life really does exist, it is likely that
they may be equally curious. We don't make ourselves very hard to
find - we practically broadcast our existence to the universe.
Radio waves from Earth - from TV and radio broadcasts and from
powerful intercontinental military radars - are constantly leaking
out into space. Many believe they could be easily detected.
...and many believe that they have been, and that we have not
gone unnoticed. Maybe there is "somebody" out there already
watching us? Are "they" observing without letting us observing
"them"? Are "they" already here camouflaged in who knows what?
The answer is, of course, yes! But why are "they" only observing
and not introducing themselves? Natually they would have to wait
until humans, as a species, are mature & intelligent enough to
join their interstellar community. In order to better judge when
"the time is right”, these aliens often test human beings in
subtle, non-intrusive ways.
A relatively recent sport - "Geocaching" - seems to have caught
their attention (after all, they have access to the internet, too!)
Apparently they're having difficulty in understanding why
individual members of an up-and-coming intelligent species would
endeavor to use multi-million dollar satellites and expensive
position triangulating devices to hide, and then later find,
tupperware containers (filled with dollar store items) that have
been hidden in the woods.
In order to help them understand this seemingly bizarre sport,
and therefore better understand humans and gauge their
intelligence, they have decided to create a geocache of their
own.
Let's show those aliens how smart we can be! Using all
three pictures below, decipher the coordinates of the cache
hidden by our alien friend Popogon.
Cache is a nano and contains only a log sheet. Bring your own
writing stick. GPS Accuracy was 3m when placed.
Congratulations to Team BikeFast and
TheRetiredHiker&SpruceGum for FTF! |