testimony. Let us suppose that
these creatures were very much like we expect to be in five hundred
years. They have come from some other star system in a ship whose
principle of operation is as yet unknown to us. We can assume that it
was a rather large ship, being that there were five beings on board at
once, and we can presume that enough of a crew remained aboard to
return it home in case something happened to the explorers. How would
we proceed in such a case?

It is not likely that such a large ship would be brought down to the
surface of the earth. After arriving in the neighborhood of the earth,
it would be put into orbit, and the surface of the earth would be
studied through telescopes for days or weeks. The entire radio
spectrum would be scanned to determine if there were inhabitants
below, capable of operating electrical equipment. A small--manned or
unmanned--flyer would be sent down into the upper atmosphere to
determine the level of radioactivity, air components, spore and
bacteria count and radio signals incapable of penetrating the
atmosphere. From the ship the land areas would be mapped and studied.
Any large object on the ground that appeared to be of an artificial
nature would be given particular attention. During the night-time
hours below, these objects and areas would be very carefully observed
for signs of light.

In the case of our visitors of twenty-six centuries ago, this is what
they would have found: Quite a few artificial works could be seen.
Cultivated fields and large buildings would be easily visible in many
places around the eastern end of the Mediterranean. The Pyramids were
old even then. (The Great Wall in China probably had not been
started.) There would be no radio sounds, except for an occasional
lightning click. We do not know how well their cities were lighted at
night, but they were probably too dim to see. Tiny orange pinpoints of
light from outdoor bonfires could probably be seen around the globe,
but there would be more of them around the Mediterranean and in the
East and Near East than anywhere else. The radioactivity level would
be low. Our visitors would conclude that the inhabitants were either
in the early stages of civilization, or were once highly civilized and
now sunk back to a primitive stage. They would know that this was due
to something other than atomic war.

We have to conclude that these were moral beings. If the conditions
below were as they seemed to be,