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| Personal background |
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I am originally from New Jersey, and now New York (USA). An IT Systems professional for over 35 years (as of 2015), with a background in Electronics Engineering and Computer Science.
Although I have strong [Christian] beliefs, which are, at times, in conflict with my scientific interests and endeavors, I feel there is some truth in the quote from CONTACT, "The universe is a pretty big place. It's bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. And, if it is just us, it seems that would be an awful waste of space".
I run SETI@Home to be part of a community that believe we are not alone in the universe. I originally started with SETI@Home in September of 1999, had trouble with my client software, and was unable to connect reliably, or log into my account. I re-registered on 02-02-2000 because I thought that would be a cool day to "start again".
I have been profoundly impacted by a number of things during my (nearly) 57 years on planet Earth, including but not limited to, several "encounters" with unusual lights in the sky.
One incident involved a bright ring of light which appeared to be hovering above a ridge line off Rt.94 near Vernon, NJ. There is a small parking area for trail hikers near the road at the base of the ridge. My [then] 9 year old daughter and I were on our way home that night from a weekend of camping. We noticed the hovering object above the ridge line and pulled into the trail head parking area to watch as others did the same. We could make out the profiles of people higher up the trail watching as we were watching from below. Everyone was fascinated, some afraid and running for their cars. We watched as the object disappeared behind the ridge.
During another nighttime sighting, my daughter (same one as before, but then approximately 12) and I viewed green glowing "globs" of light moving rapidly in a southerly direction as we were driving south on Rt.23 near Franklin, NJ. They were moving roughly parallel to us just above the tree tops, but at an incredible rate of speed. The "globs" suddenly changed to a westerly direction and disappeared. We pulled over when I saw a police cruiser and I asked the officer if there were any unusual reports of sightings in the sky that night. He acknowledged he saw what we did, but had no explanation. He said he could not talk more about it at that moment as the radio was jammed with chatter from other officers regarding this sighting. Then he sped off to investigate. Meteorites do not change direction as these objects did. These objects demonstrated controlled flight as the police officer himself pointed out.
Both encounters were fascinating. There was never any official statement or explanation regarding either of these sightings.
As long ago as my junior year in high school, I was interested in radio astronomy, building my first 12-foot mesh dish in metal shop. We have a Meade six-inch reflector, and have used it to explore the wonders above on many cool Summer and Fall nights from the valleys of New Jersey, to the mountains of New York State.
I am an avid hiker and camper, having section-hiked the Appalachian Trail, as well as many local (NJ/NY) trails. I plan more hiking and camping excursions when time, life and body permit. Nature is an awesome thing. Take time to look at the wonders around us. Turn your eyes skyward and look with wonder at the blue sky and the clouds during the day, and the stars, planets and constellations on a clear night. Remember when you were in awe of those views as a child. Make time to experience and enjoy them once again and often, sharing them with others as I have with my wonderful daughters, who I am so very proud of. |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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| I believe we are not alone in the universe. I support SETI, have participated in SETI@Home since its early testing days, and continue participating. Because of SETI@Home's success in proving "network [personal] computing" is not only possible, but practical, BONIC was launched, and many more network computing initiatives were made possible. |
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