I READ with fascinating interest that famous Professor Hawkins is now joining SETI – The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.

A laudable effort, as I firmly believe that we, on our beautiful but hellish blue planet, cannot be the only (semi) intelligent life in the universe.

Just look at and examine the sky on a clear night where there isn’t any light pollution.

Having done so, to think otherwise, is extremely narrow-minded and defies all logic!

Discovery:- In the RAF and at the RAF College, Cranwell, at midnight on New Year's Eve, (1951 into 1952, age 20) while on duty, I walked out alone into the middle of the airfield, a very frosty night, too.

I lay down flat on my back and looked at the heavens for an hour near enough – until I was almost frozen – the stars, planets, meteorites etc it was all there and so very clear – no light pollution to interfere.

My mind turned to all those who would be partying, but they would never experience what I did that night…that’s when I finally decided that the heavens/space/galaxies etc were not an accident, but a definite design by the Great Celestial Engineer (God?).

I have never forgotten that experience and never will.

I do not need priests and parsons to tell me anything – I just know.

Now at my age, as my “time” must be approaching sooner or later, – I await to find out if I am correct!

However, I’ve just read some reports about the probability of 'Earth-type planets' elsewhere in the universe found by the Hubble space telescope.'

One is stated to be, apparently, 146 trillion miles from us.

Therefore, the light we see has been travelling from its source for 24,874 Earth years, being that light travels at 186,000 miles per second (it takes the light from our sun about eight minutes to reach us), so a space vehicle with people travelling at the same speed would, my computer calculates, take the travellers the same time!

Such a vehicle, then, would need to be self-environmentally sufficient, enabling the breeding of all the future generations required.

If the average healthy life span became say 110 years, the arrivals would be 226 generations forwards from the original people who set out!

Lee Prescott

Stonehouse