OMNI

Magazine Overview

This issue of OMNI magazine features an article titled "ALIEN LANDING" by Owen Davies, accompanied by paintings by Tim White. The article details the results of an OMNI contest that asked readers to determine the most likely landing site for extraterrestrials in the United States and the reasons behind their choices.

The Contest and Reader Submissions

Over 4,000 readers participated in the contest, with men outnumbering women approximately five to one. The submissions were evaluated based on the chosen location and the reasoning provided, with the winner selected based on matching the choice of a panel of experts. The most popular reader choices for alien landing sites included:

• Cape Canaveral: Seen as a place to observe the space shuttle.
• Edwards Air Force Base: A logical follow-up to observing space activities.
• Winslow, Arizona: Specifically, the giant meteor crater.
• Washington, D.C.: A distant fourth in popularity.

Other frequently suggested locations included:

• North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) near Leadville, Colorado: To neutralize potential threats.
• Rugby, North Dakota: The geographic center of the continent.
• Devil's Tower, Wyoming: For a close encounter.
• Nuclear facilities: Such as Alamogordo, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Three Mile Island.
• Atlanta: Chosen for its home to the Atlanta Language Research Center and the Centers for Disease Control.
• White Mountains, New Hampshire: The site of the alleged Betty and Barney Hill abduction.
• Escondido, California: Home to the Nobel sperm bank, for potential genetic improvement.

Imaginative suggestions included John Sprung's "Big Band theory" of aliens landing in New Orleans to hear jazz.

Expert Panel Selections

The magazine also assembled a distinguished panel of ufologists, science-fiction writers, and other experts to provide their own answers. Their selections and reasoning are as follows:

• Isaac Asimov: Chose New York City (F-27), believing aliens would be land-dwelling carnivores seeking intelligent life to learn from and teach, attracted by artificial illumination indicating high technology.
• Ben Bova: Also selected New York City (F-27), reasoning that aliens might be seeking art, new forms of entertainment, or intending to convert humanity.
• Ray Bradbury: Foresee a landing in the American Southwest (between K-4 and H-11), suggesting a connection to Native American culture and potentially a serene residence in places like Montezuma's Castle.
• Frank Drake: Chose Disneyland (J-2), arguing it represents a microcosm of humanity, encompassing past, future, fantasy, belief in progress, love of fun, and diversity.
• Edward Regis: Selected a desert near Las Vegas (H-4), believing aliens would explore rather than plunder, seeking to avoid detection while remaining near a city with the lowest electromagnetic emissions.
• Stanton Friedman: Cited New Mexico (J-10), suggesting that any starfaring civilization would monitor Earth's technological advancements, particularly nuclear tests and radar signals, making the site of the first atom-bomb tests a logical choice.
• Bruce Maccabee: Selected the Southwest (J-9), believing alien craft would concentrate activities there to observe advanced weapons technologies, specifically the outskirts of Albuquerque, New Mexico, or El Paso, Texas.
• Marvin Minsky: Suggested New Brunswick, New Jersey (F-27), humorously positing that aliens, having observed Earth's broadcasts, might fear our civilization and be on a discreet mission to rescue survivors of the Orson Welles Martian expedition, or perhaps be deterred by the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).
• James E. Oberg: Chose NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida (M-25/N-26), reasoning that extraterrestrial visitors would likely choose a site where embryonic spacefaring is already occurring to establish common ground.
• Marcello Truzzi: Proposed the ballpark on the opening day of the 1986 World Series, citing the large landing field, extensive media coverage, and the presence of important political figures, offering a scenario for clear, friendly, and incontrovertible contact.

Contest Winner and Prizes

After a second round of polling, the experts narrowed down their choices. The anti-war faction prevailed, leading to a consensus that aliens would likely land in New York City. This choice was supported by 129 readers, many citing the United Nations as a destination for communication, diplomacy, or even enforcement of peace.

• First Prize: A seven-day Caribbean cruise for two was awarded to Betty L. Riddle of Kansas City, Kansas, for her argument that New York City is a global hub for communication and trade, making it an ideal landing site for exploration-focused aliens.
• Second Prize: $350 in cash went to Russell Bullman of East Alton, Illinois, who highlighted New York City's role as a center for the U.N., its extensive news coverage, and its potential for contact with world governments and diverse populations.
• Third Prize: $100 was awarded to Patty Brown of Monroe, Louisiana, for similar reasons, emphasizing New York's status as a center of population, culture, communication, and the United Nations.

The magazine concludes by acknowledging the imaginative entries and expressing anticipation for future contests, while playfully questioning if the editors themselves are spending more time looking out the windows.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring theme throughout the article is the exploration of humanity's place in the cosmos and the potential for extraterrestrial contact. The editorial stance, as demonstrated by the contest and the expert panel's deliberations, leans towards a rational, reasoned approach to speculation about alien intelligence. While acknowledging the possibility of alien visitation, the magazine emphasizes the importance of logic, observation, and diverse perspectives in forming hypotheses. The article highlights the contrast between fearful, security-oriented reasons for landing (e.g., near weapons sites) and those focused on communication, cultural exchange, and scientific exploration. The ultimate consensus favors New York City as a landing site, reflecting a belief in its global significance and its potential as a nexus for interspecies interaction. The magazine appears to encourage critical thinking and imaginative speculation within a framework of scientific inquiry.

Conclusions

The "Conclusions" section, attributed to The Logos Foundation, discusses the limitations of physical existence and the human tendency to take the material world for granted. It posits that science, while powerful, is confined to the material universe and cannot address questions of ultimate fate or what lies beyond. Religion is seen as potentially capable of providing answers if true to itself, but often misguided. Atheism is dismissed for lacking wonder. Philosophy is presented as the most capable discipline for sorting through these questions, capable of deliberating from within or without the physical realm and potentially reconciling religion with ultimate truths. The section calls for a commitment to seeking incontrovertible facts and truths to free the spirit from error and distortion, aiming to understand the true nature of all things.

The Logos Foundation

The Logos Foundation is described as a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable/educational organization dedicated to furthering fundamental philosophical thought and inquiry. Its goal is to seek and define cosmic reason and the rational principle and ultimate perspective in the universe. The organization is based in Carson City, Nevada, and this article is presented as the fifth in a series defining issues of being and existence.