The Editor, Sir:

I read with interest Paul Williams' article, 'Of God and aliens', in Tuesday's Gleaner (September 22). Very interesting.

Let me first state that I am an unrepentant atheist until I can be provided with indisputable evidence supporting the existence of 'God'. Nobody need tell me about the existence of birds, bees, trees and the like. That is not proof or evidence.

In my view the existence of matter, living or otherwise, is beyond man's comprehension. Darwin's 'theory' of evolution, while seemingly credible, does not, in my opinion, explain the reproduction process of 'living matter'. I believe, therefore, that there is a third explanation giving rise to our existence which is yet to unfold itself.

Space travel

I do not want to get into any biblical/Christian dialogue, but where is hell and where is heaven? Our solar system consists of the sun (a star) with a number of planets revolving and rotating around it of which the earth, which we occupy, is one of them.

The next closest star to us is Alpha Centauri which is 26 trillion miles from earth or 4.3 light-years away. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year at a speed of 186,000 miles per second. Our brain cannot even comprehend that, and if we go by Einstein's theory of relativity in its simplest form, E=MCsquared, it means that matter travelling at the speed of light becomes or is transformed into energy. This would suggest that if UFOs exist, they would be coming from a planet in our solar system.

The Americans claim to have landed on the moon - the nearest celestial object to us (except for extraterrestrial debris). I am not so sure that I believe that they landed on the moon in 1969.

The Americans are clever people, they could have simulated a lunar landing, if, at least, to secure psychological advantage over the Russians during the cold war. 'A small step for man, a giant step for mankind', they claimed.

Kindness to each other

What earthlings need to do is to be kind and considerate to each other, which will create a wholesome living environment if applied properly. Heaven will take care of itself.

I am, etc.,

AL RICHARDS

alfonz112@cwjamaica.com