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| Personal background |
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B. Craig Johnson, a 4th generation native of Daytona Beach, FL, is better known as the retired country music entertainer "Dusty Miller". After 33 years in the radio and television broadcasting arena and the nightclub and entertainment industries, "Dusty" retired to a quieter life not too far from his hometown. His 6 1/2 acre home, located about half-way between Daytona Beach and Orlando, is nestled among the gently rolling countryside on a dirt road near the St. Johns River and is surrounded by tall pine trees and small lakes. Nearby, in the top of one of those pine tree whose top was been broken off sometime in the past is a bald eagle nest. "Dusty" and his faithful companion "Sunni" (an AKC registered Cocker Spaniel show dog) spend a little time every day watching the eagles as they float over the nearby lake on thermal currents of air.
Always interested in space and technology, one of his favorite pastimes used to be visiting Kennedy Space Center until in recent years the space center added a rather pricey admission similar to those imposed at the "tourist parks" of the Orlando area. Still, "Dusty" and his wife, line dance choreographer Gloria Johnson, enjoy watching the shuttle lift offs from the west side of the Banana River in Titusville. One day, they hope to get permission to watch a lift-off from a closer position, or even from the VIP area. Besides hobbies including country music, video production, and gardening, "Dusty" enjoys golf and watching movies, one of his favorite being Contact starring Jodie Foster which spotlighted the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
To learn more about "Dusty" and his wife Gloria, visit their web site at www.country-time.com |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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Do I think extraterrestrial life exists? Someone would either have to be damn foolish or have their head buried firmly in the sand not to believe in that possibility. Let them admit at the very least to the possibility of that existence, and leave the probability of the existence to those who believe the glass of water is half full, not half empty. Just look at the numbers of stars, it's in the billions and how many planets revolve around those stars? How many of those planets support life of some type, and how many support intelligent life? The numbers are staggering even if you are conservative.
How will humans discover that life? I doubt that we will. I believe that some of that intelligent life out there is much farther advanced than we are, and that they either already know about us, or some day will find us. There are many benefits to be associated with such a discovery, and there are many dangers. However you must remember that there are benefits and dangers associated with such mundane human activities as crossing the street or driving to work. So, let us take our heads out of the sand and continue to search, and cross the bridge of dangers and benefits when we get to it.
Should we build a beacon for others to find? Humans don't have to construct a "beacon", not really. This planet's inhabitants are already sending out wave after wave of radio, television, and other energy (visible and non-visible) into space. It takes years for that energy to reach nearby star systems even at the speed of light. It may very well take even longer to reach a planet with intelligent life who might be listening to the right frequency at the right time. And how long before they can mount a mission to search for that signal's origin... I would hazard a guess that "contact" with another intelligent life form from another planet may not happen even in my grandchild's life time, but happen it will... sometime in the future when we are least expecting it. |
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