Diversion of Flight 641 [Perfect Paperback]

Joseph Fray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2009

This is a science fiction story describing what happens to a routine airplane flight from Washington DC to San Francisco. The events associated with this flight , while fictional, do not depart too far from established science such as to require undue imagination. As an example, the story involves extraterrestrial civilizations, which to some people might seem highly imaginable. However, consider that the Sun with its system of planets including the Earth is only one of countless stars in the Milky Way galaxy. It has already been determined that several hundred other stars have associated planets, and that many more remain to be found. It would seem more likely than not that other civilizations have developed. Hence it requires little imagination to believe others are out there. The majority of scientists and engineers subscribe to the view that many other extraterrestrial civilizations must exist. Scientific opinion only becomes divided on the question of whether extraterrestrials have visited Earth. This essentially results from a consideration of the enormous interstellar distances and the postulates of Special Relativity. Continuing with this theme, the well known Drake equation estimates that the Milky Way galaxy could contain millions of technologically developed civilizations. It would be both foolish and arrogant to think that Earth represented the most advanced of these societies. Surely it would be much more reasonable to assume that we are somewhere in the middle of the technological league table. Some of these civilizations could have sustained technological development which is thousands of years in advance of Earth. Consider what this could mean. At the time of the Wright brothers first flight the prevailing scientific opinion was that a heavier than air machine could never fly. Less than one hundred years later air travel all over the world was taken for granted and we had visited the Moon more than once. Imagine what will be accomplished during the next thousand years! A civilization which has been developing for thousands of years in advance of Earth would likely be able to perform feats quite unimaginable to us. In this context we may recall that Newton gave us an understanding of the laws of motion and gravitational interaction. However, Einstein later refined these laws significantly in Special and General Relativity. Is it unreasonable to expect further understanding of the basic physics to occur in the future? It is popssible that additional knowledge such as the exploitation of spacetime warps and wormholes could influence interstellar travel. Another factor to be considered is that of UFOs. Hundreds of UFOs are reported daily around the world and, while the majority can be identified following examination, a significant number remain to defy explanation. The latter in many cases are reported by responsible people such as airline pilots, military personnel, police officers and even an ex-president! Also, very often multiple witnesses are present and trace evidence such as higher than normal levels of radiation and ground indentations are found. Combined with the strong evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations the UFO evidence does not require too much imagination to believe we have had extraterrestrial visitation for centuries. On a more mundane level you may have noticed that many science fiction novels and films portray aliens as speaking flawless English! This tends to diminish the overall credibility. As a detail in this novel an attempt is made to address communication between different alien groups in order to preserve the credibility as far as possible. In summary, it is believed this novel presents a variety of scenarios, which while fictional, do not stretch the imagination too far, which is an attribute of good science fiction.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The author is a chartered electrical engineer and physicist in the United Kingdom. He initially graduated in electrical engineering from Manchester University in 1945 and entered the electrical power industry. During this period he also served as a part-time lecturer in electrical engineering. From the power industry the author joined the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) in 1958 as the Works Electrical Engineer at the Chapelcross nuclear power station. During this assignment he developed an interest in the reactor side of the operation and began a study of reactor physics. He then moved to the Industrial Power Branch of the UKAEA and was engaged in the review of commercial nuclear power plants. He also lectured on reactor control at the Calder Hall Reactor Operations School. The author next took a position with the Test Design and Analysis Group of the General Electric (GE) Nuclear Section in San Jose, California. He was assigned as the team leader for the team conducting all startup testing on the Dresden 2 nuclear reactor located south of Chicago, Illinois. At completion of the Dresden startup, the author continued with GE to support the licensing of nuclear plants. He formerly retired in 1988, but worked as a private consultant for GE until 2001. The author now devotes time to keeping up with developments in physics and has an interest in Ufology. By way of contrast he also follows the fortunes of Manchester United; an interest stemming from from his student days in Manchester.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (March 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1425179029
• ISBN-13: 978-1425179021