Summary: A Galactic Federation has been in touch, in fact, has been in contact with the US and Israeli authorities for some time, according to a widely reported article in the Jerusalem Post. Whether this is true or not, it obviously triggered some predictable if amusing posts on Twitter and the like. Many tweeted that if there was a Galactic Federation that had visited, surely Donald Trump would not have been able to stop himself tweeting about it. Mind you, had he announced this apparently mankind changing news, it is more than likely he would have been escorted from the White House in a straitjacket. This, of course, may still happen. Others decided to have a swing at Mark Zuckerberg, saying that he is the messenger for the Federation, under a picture of him and his ‘death stare’, looking particularly, well, alien. Asked why he decided to share this rather important information at this point, Professor Haim Eshed, 87, said that he was now respected enough and had done enough with his life to get the message across without hysteria setting in. Asked why no-one thought to tell us before, he said that because it would cause, um, hysteria. At least, it would if they decided to do a photoshoot on the White House lawn. Also, said Eshed, all they were doing was figuring out the ‘fabric of the Universe’ and didn’t want to interrupt. So. What? How long do we think we will be kept in suspense now the little green man is out of the bag? Months, years, decades? And who decides when we are grown up enough to meet them? The Galactic Federation? The US Government (don’t laugh)? Mr Zuckerberg, their emissary? In any event, it would be nice to get a glimpse of what they look, like anytime now. We have said before, slightly tongue in cheek, that the likelihood is that aliens a) exist and b) are probably in the vicinity. One pointer is that the recent past has seen so many extraordinary steps forward in every area of technology that you have to wonder whether that was achievable by humans alone. Maybe, but it could also be that we have had a little help. Moon missions suddenly back on the agenda, the US announcing a Space Force, missions to Mars, our spaceships breaking free from our solar system and telescopes that can almost see the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. It does all add up to a quite sudden maturing of how we think about our Universe and, according to Eshed, it is pretty much what the Galactic Federation got in touch about anyway. Figuring out the fabric of the Universe. It will be interesting to see how this story develops over the next few months and years. Will it fizzle out as the fantasy of an old, if respected Israeli? Captain Kirk covered by a pile of Tribbles. Image credit Willrow Hood | bigstockphoto.com Or will we gradually be prepared for ‘The Moment’ sometime in the future? Mind you, if we were introduced to them before the end of 2020, most people would probably take it in their stride, with a shrug of their shoulders. Or maybe musicians are about to become the new frontline workers.