Naked Science

Close Encounters (2x12)

Air date: Dec 17, 2005

Why do so many people claim to have been visited or abducted by aliens? Are these sightings mere hallucinations or something more? Experts interviewed consider most to have been concocted by the brain operating in a culture awash in UFO images and folklore. Studies show that dreams can be triggered by something as simple as electromagnetic waves. But if aliens want to contact us, how can they do this? One way is through radio waves. SETI investigators scan the skies searching for a signal from intelligent life form. Perhaps beings more advanced have discovered how to manipulate time and space to find shortcuts to overcome the barrier of distance between locations in the universe. Or maybe they have sent tiny robots to investigate our planet.