Earth-like exoplanet raises discovery vs disclosure scenario of extraterrestrial life

On Thursday, NASA announced the discovery an exoplanet that is similar to Earth in terms of size, solar orbit, and the size of its sun. This has sparked news reports that exoplanet Kepler 452 may host extraterrestrial life. The Guardian released a story titled “Is Kepler 452b humanity’s best chance to find alien life?” while RT News ran the story, “We are not alone? NASA’s Kepler telescope finds first planet similar to Earth.” Dr Seth Shosta from the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program believes the discovery of Kepler 452 will help scientists figure out “what fraction of stars have a world that could support life”.

While there have been other earth sized exoplanets discovered in the habitable region of their suns, they orbited much smaller suns. The sun of Kepler 452 is however similar to the Earth’s in terms of diameter.  Its age of six billion years means that it is more likely that life could have evolved over extended periods of geological time. Kepler 452 is estimated to be 60% bigger than Earth, has a similar orbital distance from, and orbit (385 days) around, its sun. It is also thought to be a rocky planet that could host large oceans where life could evolve.

The discovery of Kepler 452 follows soon after it was announced on July 20 that Stephen Hawking was backing a new SETI related initiative to find extraterrestrial life. The project will be backed by a Russian billionaire who is donating $100 million.

Fortune is smiling on SETI related programs with renewed private funding and a new set of exoplanet targets for finding signs of extraterrestrial life. It now appears inevitable that either SETI will detect radio signals from a distant alien civilization or that astronomers will develop techniques for identifying bio-signatures in an exoplanet’s atmosphere. Either way will lead to a major scientific announcement about the discovery of extraterrestrial life, and a new era as humanity adjusts to the reality that we are not alone. There is however a big problem with this unfolding scenario. It’s a lie.

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