The senior astronomer at SETI recently expressed a remarkably optimistic outlook on when the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence could happen.
In an interview with the website Futurism, Seth Shostak declared that he would "bet everybody a cup of coffee that we'll find intelligent life within 20 years."
Noteworthy about that 'wager' is that Shostak assessment mentions intelligent life rather than something alien but of the microbial variety, which is often the case when scientists make such predictions.
However, as always seems to be the case with matters involving ETs, the astronomer envisions a much more complicated set of circumstances than a UFO merely landing on the White House lawn.
More on this tantalizing story at the Coast to Coast AM website.