In the wake of the chaotic American elections and a global pandemic, many people have joked that it’s probably about time aliens landed on Earth. Chris Impey is a Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona and has penned eight popular science books, and he has even taught cosmology to Tibetan monks.
He told
Modern media - including hit movies such as
ET and
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - drew on Biblical stories and director Stephen Spielberg was a clever film-maker who tapped into a need, Professor Impey said.
"We have elevated aliens to this high status of a modern religion and we've invested them as a repository of our hopes and our fears and our dreams and our longings.