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By the middle of the 21st century Man was forced to realise that the great void of space held more intelligent life than had ever been considered likely. More astonishing still is the fact that all the evidence we now have indicates not only that such beings appear to be physiologically quite similar to us, but also that they are likely to share a comparable degree of technological development.

Why this should be the case is probably one of the most widely debated issues of our time, several theories having been advanced. Most of these fall into one of two camps: the most popular hypothesis is that Man's ancestors originated on one planet somewhere in deep space and spread throughout the Galaxy if not the Universe, gradually colonising all habitable planets. In the case of Earth it is suggested that the colonisation took place sometime in her pre-history. However, this view does not explain the startling similarity between the previously isolated technologies.

The second view attempts to explain both phenomena by suggesting that similar worlds experienced similar evolutionary patterns in similar environments with a common starting point. In explaining the comparable levels of development, it is argued that the evolutionary time-scales for such planets could have shared a mutual starting point when conditions stabilised after the 'Big Bang' which created the Universe.

Whatever the explanation, the fact remains that we have already encountered two life forms closely allied to ours in the Proxima and Alpha Centauri systems.

In addition there is unrefutable evidence that there are others. This much is indicated for instance by the object found by an Alpha survey team on a small planet in the Barnard's Star group. It is a complete ship and appears to be undamaged, though there is no sign of any crew it might have had.

Although visually clearly defined in every detail it is semi-transparent and solid objects can pass through it. Instruments indicate that the precise space that the object occupies is measurably denser than the surrounding atmosphere, unlike a holographic projection. There also appears to be a variety of radio emissions emanating from it, but attempts to identify the signals have been unsuccesful. The image is constant in all atmospheric conditions and has remained unchanged since its discovery over seventy years ago.

It was closely guarded for many years while attempts to study it were in progress but it is now open to public view and features on many tour operators' itineraries.