Alien Art & The Loss of a Sci-Fi Hero

Earlier this month, amateur pilot Matthew Williams captured images of a freshly-made crop circle in a British wheat field. The pattern is an endless knot that represents the wisdom of the Buddha, and I have to say, I think it's quite a lovely design.

Of course, crop circles themselves are considered a bit of a mystery. Some people believe they are the creations of extraterrestrials, while others throw them in the grab bag of hoaxes and pranks. Either way, I would say the general idea is all about communication, from above or below.

Crop circles naturally bring to mind the Nazca lines in southern Peru. Similar theories have been attributed to these ancient geoglyphs. A popular guess is that they were made by the Nazca culture to be seen by their gods in the sky. But there are a few who think these images are markers for alien runways, although considering there are hundreds of them, it would have to have been a very busy landing site, heh.

So, are we sending messages towards the heavens, or are the watchers above giving us clues to the universe? I’d like to think it’s both.

Last Friday, Marilyn reminded us that stargazing can be a great way to be inspired, and the night sky can offer the promise of endless imagination. Even more amazing is that we can turn that around and make our mark on the stars in turn.

Heroes like Neil Armstrong, who passed away on Saturday, are a real live source of inspiration for the billions of people here on Earth. We may dream of alien possibilities and epic space sagas, but he lived that dream. More than that, he kicked-ass at that dream.

When their mission to the moon was over, Armstrong and Aldrin sealed themselves into their lunar module and prepared for liftoff, only to discover they had broken the ignition switch. They activated the launch sequence that brought them home by fudging the circuit breaker with a pen. Tell me that’s not worthy of science fiction hero ingenuity.

RIP Neil.