I was teaching a summer course in Computer Theory at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Among my colleagues, it was big news.

__________________
Fiction has to be plausible. Reality is under no such constraint.

In general, of course I agree with you, but specifically in case of "Rama II" it was hardly "abstract knowledge somewhere beyond our reach." An alien spaceship the size of a smallish country showing up in the solar system is hard to ignore.

__________________
Fiction has to be plausible. Reality is under no such constraint.

True, the events they witnessed were much more extraordinary. But only a handful of people had actually been to the alien ship in person, which left the solar system after a short time (weeks, IIRC). Everyone else would have been glued to their TV sets for a month or so, but, after the news stopped pouring, I have trouble believing that they would react as emotionally as is described in the book. It was big news, but it didn't really change anything tangible in the lives of most people.

On the flip side, there is the odd precedent of Orson Welles' radio adaptation of War of the Worlds...

__________________
"All your bias are belong to us." Ara Pacis
"A witty saying proves nothing." Voltaire

We've had this discussion already. SOme of us would get excited and pee on the floor, and others would abandon our homes and climb the highest rock and wait for salvation. But the other 99.99999% of us would go on about our lives.

If the US government found some artifact, they might well keep it quiet, but to be fair to the OP, let us assume some sort of auromatic probe from a distant place far away and from long ago landed itself in Yellowstone, or Times Square, or in front of the Dallas Book Depository. Some evidence that couldn't be kept secret. The question is what would the general public do if the general public became aware there was ET out there somewhere.

"Hey, Hon, paper says here that an alien spaceship landed downtown."
"Yeah, well, is that alien spaceship gonna take out the trash and mow the lawn? Get off your butt and get 'er done."

Later at the bowling alley, "Hey guys, look. There's an alien spacship landed downtown."
"Yeah, right, you're up, grab the ball and bowl."

"We interrupt this broadcast of the National Football League playoffs to present this important bulletin: alien spaceship just landed downtown."
Eighteen million TV sets explode simultaneously as bricks are thrown at them.

The public won't care. Since half of them already believe ther are aliens out there, this is not news. To those who find it novel, many will find it yet another way for the government to waste our money. Right wing whackos will buy extra ammo on the way home from work, and call their friends to reinfore each other's belief in the conspiracy of the government not telling the whole story. KAtie COuric wil ask the family whose car was crushed how it feels to have their car crushed and will they be devastated because the dog was still in the car?

"Hey, Hon, says here there's an alien spaceship landed downtown."
"Well, Duh, they been seeing those UFOs all over for a long time. Bout time they figured out what it was."

Local News will have a story or two, for a day or two. Roast beef will still be on sale all week at Kroger. The new Buick for 2007 will come out in the fall. AMtrak will lose money. Baseball will go on in the spring, and people will argue about player salaries - a lot more than they will about the alien space probe.

It is also possible however for people to be both astounded and 'get on with their lives'. Unless, as you stated, an "earth shattering consequence" occurred, (like alien machines and beings suddenly showing up all over Earth everywhere by the thousands,) people will want to know all about whatever spacecraft or signal was discovered and they still have to eat, sleep, raise kids, catch a game, go to work, etc., so I think a lot of humanity can be amazed, curious, and interested on an on-going basis, and also get on with day to day living.

__________________
"Insignificant molehill sometimes more important than conspicuous mountain." - Charlie Chan

Eh... he usually shows it being somewhat of a blow to religion... but if notice in all 4 Rama books... he's doing a C.S. Lewis and promoting ideas of religion within his story *nods*

__________________
-The Wolf
http://www.ryanmercer.com

When the Rama returned to Earth the second time, they had borded it very fast, as they knew it was approaching, the THIRD time however, it was there for a few months before all of the people for the colony went up to it. And you know what... the people living ont he ship, had pretty much forgotten they were living in an alien craft traveling across the galaxy in a few months. And you know what... thats believable to... "oh there are aliens out there? Oh well, they aren't important because they aren't human" that'll be most peoples reactions I'm afraid... or the exact opposite "oh my God we aren't alone!!! NOOOOOOOOOO everything we've been told is wrong!"

__________________
-The Wolf
http://www.ryanmercer.com

It always seemed to me that the favorable view of religion in the Rama sequels was due to the influence of Gentry Lee. It's very un-Clarke-like.

__________________
"All your bias are belong to us." Ara Pacis
"A witty saying proves nothing." Voltaire

I haven't read Childhood's End, so this is based on second-hand information but, given that the messianic aliens in the novel are depicted as devil-like, is Clarke not validating the Christian narrative there as well? It may be an alternative take on the Christian narrative, but it nonetheless validates it as "correct." Same with Phillip Pullman.

__________________
I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?

It's gotten to the point where careful investigation is needed just to tell parody from reality. I think that means reality is broken.- Noclevername.

That's definitely a weak spot in the story, although the remainder vastly makes up for it. But I saw it more as a bit of naive Eurocentrism, than as any kind of support for Christianity.

__________________
"All your bias are belong to us." Ara Pacis
"A witty saying proves nothing." Voltaire

Actually, I don't think most people know that. In fact, it's news to me, so I, and most people, would be unlikely to be deterred by such fears. People leak things all the time. Things that are very embarrassing to very important people--say the President, Secretary of State, FBI Director. Things that might be really important—like NSA is secretly listening in on telecommunications of potential terrorists without warrants.

They didn’t tell the secret court for fear of leaks. Now, of course, they have a gusher.

Sometimes there are big investigations, lie detector tests, a reporter is jailed for a few weeks, but rarely does anything go anywhere.

Who is going to do this killing anyway? Another administration will come in--maybe a do-gooder religious type like Carter cubed. Is he or she going to continue with the cover-up? To the benefit of his arch-rival whom he’s hated since 7th grade? Are the security services going to continue protecting people who've committed crimes like murder, blackmail, conspiracy, obstruction of justice—just for a start? In defiance of their oath, the President and Congress? And, incidentally, it’s a morally reprehensible way to behave—threatening, blackmailing and killing people for no good reason.

With Watergate, it was a just "a second rate burglary", and there were no secrets of any significance. But they all went down in less than two years.

Besides, who wants to be disgraced and go to jail forever for some screwy secret George Bush or Hillary Clinton or whoever thinks should be kept secret for no good reason?

Government, politics and people don’t work that way.

Count them: the President, Vice-President, National Security Advisor, Secretary of Defense, close political advisors and staff, crucial people in Congress, lots of military people starting with the Joint Chiefs, and lots of civilians because the civilian government can't entrust too much to the military, the people who found the thing, the people who analyze it (perhaps including notoriously politically unreliable scientists), the people who guard it and all the records, all kinds of clerks, secretaries, janitors and other hangers on. And, of course, all those security people who might do dirty deeds.

Are we talking hundreds or thousands? They all have friends and family. Does nobody have a lover--straight or gay--with whom they share everything? Does nobody go nuts and spill all to CNN with irrefutable proof of some kind? Does no reporter practice trickery and treachery and get the big secret? Nobody has pangs of conscience and spills all in their last will and testament before taking the jump?

And everybody knows there's no good reason to keep it secret. The President should risk disgrace and his place in history for what? Nothing.

No to it all. We’re back to “Three men can keep a secret, if two are dead.”

The idea of most governments keeping such a secret for long is just silly. They just don't have it in them.

Bob

But let's not forget that Project Mogul was kept secret for quite a long time even though people were crawling all over "The Roswell Incident" for years.

The government really can keep secrets about UFOs, though perhaps not in the popular sense.

__________________
Home of the Illumi-Llama:
The Illuminati-R-Us Forums

I'm sure, without stepping into woo-woo handwaving, that there are quite a few secrets that are reasonably well kept, even with politicians having access to them.

__________________
I'm not completely heartless, the doctor who removed it told me he'd never be able to get it all.

Sure there are. For example, the existance of F-117 stealth fighter remained secret for more than 10 years after it became operational! That's quite an achievement. But the crucial difference between this kind of secret and "hiding the evidence of ET's" is that everyone involved in the former knows there is a good reason for the secret and moreover, should they spill it, American public opinion would be against them. A secret which involves hiding something as important as existance of ET's for no good reason is a different story -- and covering it up through murder is even more of a different story. In fact, if anyone involved went to CNN and told the whole story, his life would be utterly safe. Nothing would collaborate the story more than him suddenly dying -- and if the killers were caught (yes, plenty of detectives, policemen, and military investigators would remain faithful to their duty, not to mention reporters), the backlash would destroy any Administration.

That's why I always laughed at the theory that Flight TWA 800 was shot down by a US Navy missile. On any ship with more than 100 crewmen you'll find at least one (usually more) sailor who hates the Navy and would love nothing more than stick it to the Navy and to his captain. If the airliner were actually shot down by a missile, or even worse, the crew were ordered not to talk about it, this sailor would be on the phone to CNN the very next shore leave. And there is nothing Navy could do to him after the fact. In view of American public (and in truth) he'd be a hero. The fact that not one sailor came forward with the story is the best proof to me that it never happened.

__________________
Fiction has to be plausible. Reality is under no such constraint.

Okay, but what if there is a good reason?

__________________
Home of the Illumi-Llama:
The Illuminati-R-Us Forums

Like what?

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

There may be some. But an awful lot of very important ones are not, such as the secrets of mak-ing an H-bomb published in the magazine The Nation for anyone to see.

The existence of extraterrestrials would be a very important datum for which many people would see no reason for secrecy--quite the opposite.

How many on this board would feel it desirable to keep that secret? How many would be tempted by money, sex, drugs and fame? Certainly at least one spy would let some foreign government know. Then someone might think, the best way to handle this is to blow the secret.

There are so many ways for such a secret to leak out, that it would be like trying to shovel the ocean back with a fork.

Bob Unferth

I have no idea. That's why it's a secret.

__________________
Home of the Illumi-Llama:
The Illuminati-R-Us Forums