It causes civilizations to destroy themselves. But, they hope, at least one of those other extraterrestrial civilizations may have managed to get through the deadly technological stage without destroying itself, and evolved into a benevolent, super-intelligent race that is searching for civilizations such as ours, to rescue us before we blow ourselves to bits. The search for extraterrestrial life is, for some people, really a search for a savior. Jews are looking for another kind of savior. Christians already have one.
Eastern religions find salvation in meditation and enlightenment.
None of these groups need to look for an extraterrestrial savior. Evolutionists are the only ones who need to look outside our solar system for a savior. In 2001, Carol Robinson and her colleagues from the Unarius Academy of Science will travel to an exotic Caribbean location. There they plan to greet an incoming spaceship from the planet Myton. Unlike the 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult, members of the Unarius Academy do not advocate suicide.