A telescope that may be humanity’s best hope of finding extraterrestrial life was switched on yesterday by John Halligan, a government minister who has said he believes aliens exist.
The International Low-Frequency Array (I-Lofar) telescope is a €150 million network of antennas across Europe that hopes to pick up signals from outer space, detect new planets, uncover the mysteries of black holes and the origins of galaxies.
Mr Halligan, the minister for training and skills, switched on the Irish Lofar telescope, which is the size of a football pitch, at Birr Castle, Co Offaly. yesterday. “Our galaxy is 100,000 light years across with a billion suns and two billion planets. It would be extraordinary if there was not some form of life,” he said. “I