Gigantic, super-advanced alien spacecraft traveling across the universe could create ripples in space-time and we could detect them.
LIGO could use gravitational waves — ripples in space-time — to detect giant super-advanced spacecraft traveling across the universe.
Humankind seems to be very, very interested in finding out whether we are alone in the vastness of the universe. We very well might be, but as Carl Sagan said, it just would be a massive waste of space. I do not think this is the case. I also believe that there are some pretty good chances that some of the UFOs we see flying around in the skies and space could be technology, not of this Earth. This is still a theory, at least officially. However, several agencies, like NASA, and the Pentagon, for example, are working hard to find out. Now, an entirely new search aspect has been proposed. Scientists want to answer whether there are super advanced aliens in space by detecting evidence of a super spaceship.
A giant alien spaceship
If an alien civilization has developed to a certain degree where they can build a gigantic spaceship, we might be able to spot the traces that this spaceship leaves behind. And to do so, scientists say we can look at gravitational waves because a mega spaceship could probably affect gravitational waves. As per a recent article by scientists from Applied Physics, detectors such as LIGO could, in theory, identify perturbances in gravitational waves left behind by a giant alien spaceship moving through space. Applied Physics is an independent research group of scientists and engineers advising companies and governments on science, per their website.
Using LIGO to hunt for Aliens
The research paper, which has still to be peer-reviewed, is currently available for download at the preprint server arXiv. It is expected to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. In the paper, the scientists make an interesting case as to why LIGO could be the right tool.
Ripples in space-time and aliens
Our ability to look for technosignatures or even alien messages in the universe is limited to tens of thousands of stars. We simply have not developed technology that allows for a broader search. As they explain, the types of electromagnetic waves we communicate are weak and weaker as they move further into the cosmos. This means sit is almost impossible to filter out the noise beyond a few hundred light-years. Enter gravitational waves. Gravitational waves, as it turns out, are not attenuated in the same way as electromagnetic signals would be. This means we can therefore detect them at much greater distances. In other words, if super intelligent alien civilizations are traveling across the universe with a kind of technology capable of interacting with gravitational waves, we might have the tools to detect it.
As the University of Birmingham explains, “Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime. When objects move, the curvature of spacetime changes and these changes move outwards (like ripples on a pond) as gravitational waves.”
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