Published: Wed 15 Feb 2023, 12:38 PM
Updated: Thu 2 Mar 2023, 12:28 PM
Photo: AFP file
Elon Musk thinks humans are alone in this universe. His comments came during a virtual session with Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, UAE on day 3 of the World Government Summit (WGS).
In response to Al Gergawi pointing out three instances of USA shooting down unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the last week and asking “alien or no alien”, Musk chuckled before answering “I don't think they are aliens.”
He said that he found the question very interesting. “If the universe is really as old as science thinks it is, where are the aliens? If they have been around for 13.8 billion years, shouldn't they be all over the place?”
He said during his research of space technology, he had seen no signs of alien life or alien technology. “With Space X, I don't think anyone knows more about space technology than me,” he said.
However, he admitted that the prospect of aliens not existing troubled him. “What that actually could mean then is that civilisation and consciousness is like a tiny candle in the vast darkness,” he said. “[It is] a very honourable tiny candle that could easily get blown out.”
He also said that this gave humans some added responsibilities. “We should therefore take great care with what may very well be this tiny candle and make sure that it does not go out. And that we send the light of consciousness beyond earth and so everything we can to ensure that this light of consciousness does not go out,” he said.
This isn't the first time the CEO of Twitter, Tesla and Space X has talked about aliens. On Monday, when a Twitter user joked that Musk may be an alien, he replied saying that he hoped one day humans would be the aliens visiting other worlds.
Last week, presumably in response to the US shootings, Musk had tweeted “Don't worry, just some of my [alien emojis] friends of mine stopping by …”
In 2020, Musk had controversially tweeted that he thought Egypt's pyramids were built by aliens, drawing flak from historians and prompting Egyptian ministers to invite him to see the structure up close.
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