Is there someone out there?

But in early November, two very credible scientists said that they had reason to believe that a very long cigar-shaped asteroid-like rock might be an alien ship.

Now before you stop reading and tell yourself “this guy’s lost the plot”, consider that the two scientists worked at Harvard — not exactly an institution known for its far-fetched and off-the-wall wacky theories.

The rock is named Oumuamua, and scientists have been watching it tumble through space for the past year or so. But its shape, and the way it has accelerated and moved, is making the two tall foreheads of Harvard go hmmmmm.

Hmmmmm indeed.

I’m not buying it. At least that’s what I thought. But then there was another recent report, one that the Irish Civil Aviation Authority investigating two separate reports from pilots that they saw fast-moving lights beside their plans as they approached Irish airspace towards the end of their transatlantic flights.

One British Airways pilot on November 9 asked the Irish air-controllers to check if there was any military activity in the skies near his flight path.

The Irish checked, and no, they responded after checking two separate radar systems, there was nothing.

Here’s the thing, though — another pilot who was on a similar flight path, flying a Virgin flight from Orlando, chimed over the radio that he too had seen those same lights whizzing through the skies.

It certainly makes you think, doesn’t it?

Are we really alone in the vast expanses of this universe?

All seven billion of us share this little blue planet as it whizzes around our Sun each year. And while we know that there are no habitable planets in our immediate vicinity, every day it seems as if space researches announced new Earth-like planets that are in the so-called Goldilocks zones — not too hot and not too cold — that could support life. Or at least life in the form of what we know it to be.

And no, I am not a kook. But it is very interesting.

Maybe, just maybe, if there are intelligent life forms out there, they might take a very long and hard look at the way we treat our planet.

They’d see smog and life-forms that move around and live in cars, and a species that seems to have little regard for clean water, clean air, and predators that devour all other natural species and resources in their wake.

What would they make of our fascination with sport. I mean, try and explain cricket to an alien, and that would be enough to send them packing once and for all.

Imagine trying to communicate with an alien, on twitter or social media. The very notion of an emoji would no doubt blow their little green minds. Supposing they somehow were able to tap into our airwaves and tuned into a radio station that played nothing but hard-core rap. How about that for a first impression?

It’s all food for thought. I love looking at the stars at night, and sometimes when I can’t sleep, I’d try and count the stars from a bedroom window. I’m watching out now, not counting.