““There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy.””

— William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Today is World UFO Day. I wasn't aware of this until earlier this morning, when I was reliably informed by the Panda in our daily phone idiocy that yes, July 2 is an extraterrestrial event, with close encounters of all kinds a longed for possibility.

This got me thinking about what is out there - if anything. And if there is something or someone cruising through the galaxies, it begs the question:

Why would they come anywhere near us?

I love Dr Who, although the Daleks scared me silly as a kid. What I never can understand though is this; despite having a whole universe to play with, he spends all of his time footling around on Planet Earth. Think about it - there are skies and skies to choose from, and yet he is bumming around watching a fairly ordinary race try to self-destruct on a daily basis.

Personally, I'd be off on the equivalent of Planet Las Vegas getting my Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster on.

I think that the reason we've never (officially) had confirmation of other life forms out there is because they have taken one look at the mess we have made and said 'thanks, but no thanks' - or however you say it in Venutian - or as the case may be, Martian (by the way, if men are from Mars and women are from Venus, how did we end up here together?).

Don't get me wrong; I would love to know that there's life out there, even if it's not as we know it. But I really do think that if there are higher beings, then they would think 'what the hell?' and do as the Vogons did and bulldoze the Earth for an efficient transportation system.

Perhaps I am being too harsh. Perhaps this is just Tuesday morning cynicism, and in an hour or so when I have had more coffee I will be in love with the human race as a whole once more.

Either that or I will keep watching last night's Q&A and decide to crawl back under the doona until politicians don't exist.

Now there's a thought. Aliens with enormous weapons of which we have no knowledge - we welcome you to our world; on one condition - when you leave...

Take out the rubbish.

Or should that be Ruddish?

And I am off to drool over David Tennant (as usual) and imagine him taking me away from all this...

““It’s life Jim, but not as we know it””

— Star Trekkin' Across The Universe

It's not just Star Trek, but each incarnation of that legendary Gene Rodenberry creation provides a perfect example of the throwaway character - poor old Ensign Jones/Smith/Flengman 12 who is given no lines, but is a part of the away party/boarding group/recovery team - and is therefore, blindingly obviously, not going to make it to the end of the episode.

They are either eaten by this week's space monster, the first to succumb to a mysterious space illness, or disappear into a new planet's weird atmospheric conditions never to be seen or heard of again.

Until they pop up in another show.

As the rookie partner of the world-weary cop who just can't catch a break, but needs to emote for an episode.

Hey there Detective There'll Be No Nickname Necessary, cos you ain't sticking around.

What I think we fail to consider sometimes is how many people there are in our own lives whom we perhaps give an Ensign Jones role to - without recognising that in point of fact they are often a leading character whom we can't do without. And when they suddenly exit stage left - well, we suddenly realise that it is in fact Scotty or even Mr Spock who is missing in action.

So perhaps, just occasionally, take a look around you - and make sure that the quiet people in the corners who perhaps don't say much, but always have your back, don't get ready to beam out unexpectedly.

And express your gratitude to them.

Perhaps you could start by asking them about their day.

Maybe they actually defeated a space monster this week on your behalf.

That would be something to be grateful for.