The sky above the Pacific Ocean did not turn red in 1962 because of an alien invasion. 'The experiment is not expected to endanger anyone,' the New York Times author writes.

In real life – Earth, 2021 – we have the United Nations, the Outer Space Treaty and six decades of restraint concerning space weapons.Ī wire-service story in The Globe and Mail on April 30, 1962, reports on the upcoming nuclear test in Hawaii. In Star Trek, we see the United Federation of Planets in Babylon 5, there’s the Earth Alliance, extending over a dozen star systems. Decades later, when Donald Trump asserted that space is a “war-fighting domain” and created a Space Force to dominate this “high ground,” he too was reaching for a future that sci-fi had already portrayed.īut among the lasers, missiles and battlestars, another vision is often present – one of peace, hope and co-operation. His critics responded by calling the program a Star Wars fantasy. president Ronald Reagan spent vast sums trying to develop space-based weapons, including lasers, as a means of missile defence. The events and technologies imagined by sci-fi authors also have real-life influence, including on governments. Dogfights between Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire starfighters are cultural echoes of the air battles of the First and Second World Wars.

They often offer a sombre reminder of our darker side and the many ways we can slide into armed conflict. The stories are used to confront difficult philosophical ideas and examine human behaviours in new or reimagined settings. Science fiction explores core aspects of the human experience. Fewer still would have realized that the course of humanity had just changed. Only a few people would have understood what was happening. High above the ocean, at least six satellites were disabled. In Hawaii, streetlamps went dark, telephones stopped working and burglar alarms began ringing – all because of a mysterious electromagnetic pulse. The sky above the Pacific Ocean turned red on the night of July 9, 1962. They teach at the University of British Columbia and co-direct the Outer Space Institute. Aaron Boley holds the Canada Research Chair in Planetary Astronomy. Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law.

Babylon 5 earth alliance ships