The Genesis Illusion

Chapter 1

Alien beings have never visited earth and never will. Paul Jacobs rehearsed his conference presentation in his mind.

The Milky Way galaxy is very large, almost 100,000 light years in diameter. It contains over 300 billion stars. And the closest star is 4.2 light years away. It is unlikely that an alien would just happen upon earth while exploring the billions of possible star systems.

New York's Columbia University campus is beautiful in the fall. Paul walked to the campus along 115th St. and entered after traversing Morningside Park. Older Greco-Roman buildings and mature trees adorned in fall colors of red and orange lined the walkways and green areas along the way.

International Conference on World Demographic Statistics

Columbia University Department of Statistics

United Nations Statistics Division

CONFERENCE PRESENTATION PROGRAM

9:00 Opening Ceremony- Dr. Samuel Goodwin, Dean of the Department of Statistics, Columbia University

9:30 Keynote- Dr. Victor L. MacGregor, Professor, NYU                                                                        Statistics Using Big Data: The Next Breakthrough

10:30 Dr. Margret Folcanwalden, Professor, Heidelberg University                                                  Population Demographics Around the World

11:00 Franklin J. Wilson, Senior Statistician UN Statistics Division                                                   Patents as an Indicator of Intelligence

11:30 Paul R. Jacobs, Senior Statistician UN Statistics Division                                                     Statistical Impossibility of Alien Astronauts

12:00 Lunch (on your own)

Next to the main gate to the University, the Johnson Theater fronting Broadway served as the conference center. Although the School of Music used this theater mainly for recitals and small ensembles, they sometimes rented it out for other events. The acoustics were excellent for an auditorium of this size and the #1 uptown subway line 116th Street/Columbia University station entrance steps descended near the theater entrance. It had an orchestra seating level and a balcony with a combined capacity of just under seven hundred. Slightly more than five hundred registered for the statistics conference so it was a good fit.

Paul grabbed a program after picking up his registration packet in the lobby. It listed the presenters and the title of their papers. His employer, the UN Statistics Division, cosponsored the conference, so several professionals from his office planned to attend. None of them, however, had arrived before him.

He wore a standard blue business suit tailored for his thin 6'2'' frame. A white shirt and striped red tie completed his inconspicuous outfit. Although he wasn't athletic, he was a fit, thirty-three year-old, expert in his field.

Planets capable of supporting intelligent life are rare but among the billions of star systems perhaps thousands are within a few hundred light years of earth. Even if an alien traveled at near the speed of light this trip would take hundreds or even thousands of years. The resources needed to sustain a living being for that long would be impossible to imagine.

It is true, beings traveling at the speed of light do not age and the trip from their perspective would be very short. The space ship, nevertheless, would require provisions to support a much longer voyage. No, I should leave that out. It's confusing.