After mentioning this organization in a previous post, I thought I would look a little further at its work. The Galileo Project was set up for one purpose:
…to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations (ETCs) from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends to the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research. This project is complementary to traditional SETI, in that it searches for physical objects, and not electromagnetic signals, associated with extraterrestrial technological equipment.
I do not see the acronym ETC very often, but maybe like SETI it will become commonly known someday. It certainly sounds more sophisticated than terms such as UFO or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) as it looks for “technological equipment,” aka spacecraft. The ‘Oumuamua interstellar object is the first potential ETC that helped to stimulate this group.
The Project’s three areas of activity are:
- Obtain High-resolution, Multi-detector UAP Images, Discover their Nature;
- Search for and In-Depth Research on ‘Oumuamua-like Interstellar Objects; and
- Search for Potential ETC Satellites.
For instance, the third area of activity discusses using telescopes to discover “…potential 1 meter-scale or smaller satellites that may be exploring Earth, e.g., in polar orbits a few hundred km above Earth…”
We are no longer talking about listening for signals from another planet or monitoring distant objects rolling through our solar system, but instead searching for Earth-focused intelligence gathering by a distant civilization. Where is the Jodie Foster movie for this one?
Our Awesome Universe 