Apollo astronaut Alan Bean, the fourth man ever to walk on the moon, has a rather intriguing argument for why he believes aliens have not visited the Earth.
In an interview with an Australian news outlet, the astronaut-turned-artist suggested "civilizations that are more advanced are more altruistic and friendly."
Therefore, he theorized, if ETs discovered the Earth, they would be compelled to reveal themselves and help the human race with their advanced technology.
Bean mused, "they would have landed and said ‘we come in peace and we know from our studies you have cancer that kills people, we solved that problem 50 years ago, here’s the gadget we put on a person’s chest that will cure it.'"
Since the presumed aliens have done no such thing, Bean believes that indicates that ETs have never visited the planet.
That said, the famed moonwalker did say that aliens of varying levels of intelligence probably do exist throughout the universe, but they apparently have not found us yet.
While Bean's theory is certainly viable, it does leave open the possibility proposed by many scientists and UFO researchers that the ETs cannot intervene in human affairs due to some kind of proverbial 'prime directive.'
Beyond that, the Apollo astronaut clearly does not subscribe to the conspiracy theories surrounding either 'ancient aliens' helping primitive cultures or modern humans secretly receiving technology from ETs.
Nonetheless, since the aliens have yet to make their presence known, Bean's incredibly optimistic perspective on ETs is on par with those other fantastic ideas.
And it certainly would be the best case scenario for the UFO mystery to come to an end: with the ETs arriving, explaining that they just found us, and now want to help us.
It's a different story as to whether humans would believe such a thing or suspect that we're about to become dinner.
Source: news.com.au