Out of this world: Thoughts on outer space 

There’s currently a comet hurling through our galaxy that has the scientific world all a-buzz and the internet in a tizzy. Though it doesn’t take much to stir folks up via the world wide web these days, things happening in outer space really get a lot of attention, for good or ill. 

Comet 31/Atlas was first discovered earlier this year, captured on camera by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on July 21 about 277 million miles away from Earth. The icy ball of dust and gas, which is also a great way to describe several people I know, poses no threat to the dirt ball we call home; the closest it will get to the sun based on the math by the good, gentle nerds of the American space agency is about 170 million miles, give or take a mile or two, which is as close to Earth as the planet Mars. That will happen specifically in Oct. 30. 

I’m going to have to take their word on it, because I’m not that good at math. That’s why I work in the papers. 

Rumor and conspiracy abound with this discovery, only the third thing to ever cross into our known galaxy from whatever lies beyond the Milky Way, which we know very little about in the grand scheme of things. Alleged “leaked documents” say the object is leaving a trail of gas and metal (also a sound comparison to many acquaintances) and a sound like an engine. Therefore, the comet is no comet at all but the spacecraft of some intergalactic traveler. A Harvard astrophysicist is to thank for that theory, apparently, the good folk of the internet did the rest, as they are wont to do.  

Space, though beautiful to observe in the darkness of my own backyard, has never interested me. And while traveling to other worlds has captured the minds and imaginations of several generations now, I never want to leave my home world, even if all the great minds say we’ll eventually have to. Why would I want to leave? All my stuff is here. 

Moving across the state a couple of times was bad enough, but to another planet? Forget about it. Besides, I just had my driver’s license renewed this year.     

Extraterrestrials have fascinated people since the Roswell incident. Maybe there are aliens out there and perhaps our government is covering it up, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why an interstellar vacationer would want to come here. And what if they are just vacationers? We always assume an alien is going to be a violent conqueror, probably because that’s what we’d be if we could make it past the moon. 

What if Comet 31/Atlas, if it’s not a comet, is just an other-worldly family on vacation and they made a wrong turn and ended up in a bad neighborhood? The kids are complaining, the dad is frustrated and the mom is fussing because he won’t pull over and get directions but there’s nowhere to stop. Oh, and there is no service for their space phones. 

That’s something I can understand.