Could be. But don't messages/signals simply take one hell of a longtime to
travel through space? The chances of us listening at the right moment in the
right part of the sky... And considering the apparent age of the universe
and the time it appears to take for a civilisation to evolve to a point
where it develops the technology (similar enough to ours that we would
detect it) and then to take into account how long that civilisation
lasts.... seems that the odds of contact are not really in our favour. But I
still hope nonetheless. :-)

"Simon Laub" <sil@ccieurope.com> wrote in message
news:3f25143a$0$76080$edfadb0f@dread11.news.tele.dk...

IF WE are not alone in the Universe, why have we never picked up signals

from an extraterrestrial

civilisation? This long-standing puzzle, known as the Fermi paradox

after

physicist Enrico Fermi,

who first posed the question, is still one of the strongest arguments

against the existence of

intelligent aliens.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-05/ns-aah050703.php

Makes sense if you have some nasty aliens out there. And then poor
us little Earthlings ....

-> i.e. "Let them join us when we think they are ready".

-Simon
silanian.tripod.com