Alien contact, cat shaving

• Re ‘Wanting to Believe ‘[ FT414:30]: I agree that recent discoveries of exoplanets do

strongly suggest the presence of intelligent life out there, and we may well be close enough, from the aliens’ point of view, to make monitoring us a practical proposition, should they be sufficiently interested. Decades ago, our level of technology was such that it would have seemed necessary for alien craft to have to fly through our atmosphere to make observations. With the advent of satellite technology, it can be seen that this need not be the case. Via freely available websites, I can view an image of the globe, and zoom in with such accuracy that I can see my house, and even my car in the drive (at least, I hope it’s my car). I believe that the military versions of this software are even more accurate. I think it is safe to assume that any observing aliens would have at least equal technology in this area, so would simply have to observe us from a carefully camouflaged satellite. They would not even need to be physically present. If they felt the need to get some ground-level observations, they could simply send down some insect-sized drones, which could broadcast back to the satellite and then self-destruct.

• Regarding the Phantom Cat Shaver piece [ FT414:4], it’s worth pointing out that shaving can be beneficial. A close relative has a long-haired cat which was having

difficulty maintaining itself, and brushing wasn’t doing enough, so he had the cat professionally shaved, mainly the body and tail, so it looked much like a lion, with a “mane’ and a tuft on the end of its tail. As soon as it came back home, the cat’s attitude was totally different. It went from being stand-offish and elusive to showing a lot of affection towards the family. I’m assuming it really was the same cat!

Dave Miles

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