Hi James,
 (Re: yours of 04-Mar-1998, "Abductees (b).")
JR> -=> Quoting Laurie Appleton to Jack Sargeant <=-
 > FA>          Hubble has picked up on stars with other planets.
 > FA> Not that long ago if memory serves correct.....
 LA>   You are probably right about that, but isn't the important
 > thing whether such "planets", even if they happened to be
 > suitable for life at all, are within a distance that would
 > make it possible to reach the earth at all in perhaps a few
 > million years or so?
 LA>    So what can you tell me about that sort of thing?
JR>      The distances are not that great, and a star with
JR> planets around it, if at 25 light years distance would be
JR> accessable in a little over 25 years of Earth time, if the
JR> space ship employed was capable of travelling at close to
JR> the speed of light. The time would be relative (A.Einstein)
JR> E = mc^2
   There is no indication at this time that we will get
anywhere near to such a speed for many a long day. Besides
there is no indication of their being any suitable planets
anywhere as close as that either. Even the ones that some
claim might exist have NOT been directly seen at all and
they are at much much greater distances.
   It seems to me that it would be necessary to discover how
to travel much much faster than the speed of light long
before we realistically think of travelling anywhere near
far enough to be of any use at all.
 LA> Thank you for that comment. However, as in the case of
 LA> the previous message, I decline to comment further on the
 LA> grounds that almost anything that I say will be claimed to
 LA> be off-topic.
JR>      I don't think that a discussion of this subject in
JR> this echo is off topic. It would be up to the moderator to
JR> caution you when you do go astray Laurie.
   Since I have had three mild warnings already, then that
seems to be enough. Sorry.
Laurie
--- Ezycom V1.48g0 01fd016b
---------------