Earth, it too is the third planet from its sun," NASA spokesperson Jeffrey Belanger announced at a press conference broadcast to a spellbound global audience. "Given these fantastic similarities, it only stands to reason that our new celestial neighbor should also supports a flourishing population of both flora and fauna."
The planet, dubbed Htrae after the famous jester god of Mt. Olympus, was discovered when a freak collision with a piece of space debris sent Hubble spinning out of control. By the time scientists stabilized the telescope, it was pointing at a yet uncharted area of space. "As the telescope came back into focus, Htrae lay before our very eyes, looking like a big, blue marble lost in the vast darkness of space," Belanger remembered, adding that it also resembled a globe or a blue, white and green-swirled superball.
So far, the orbiting Hubble telescope is the only instrument capable of viewing Htrae, a fact that Belanger attributed to cloudy terrestrial skies and the fact that Hubble's location, exactly half way between Earth and the newly discovered planet, gives it a unique viewpoint. Until more equipment can be launched into orbit, however, astronomers will have to rely on the limited information Hubble is designed to collect. Besides the stunning photographs of dense rainforests, soaring mountain ranges and mighty rivers, scientists have had little luck solving the many mysteries of Htrae. One of the most interesting finds has been an enormous peninsula shaped to resemble a human boot. While anthropologists speculate that the boot is some sort of religious construction, astronomers dismiss this theory, pointing out that the shape of the boot would only be perceived by someone looking at it from outer space. "Obviously, this is an attempt at celestial communication undertaken by a highly advanced culture," Belanger claimed. "What they're saying, and to whom, is still unclear."
Belanger's suspicions of a highly-evolved culture are bolstered by the detection of faint radio waves emanating from a planet. While efforts at translating the signals have been hampered by weak reception and the interference of the solar wind, preliminary results indicate that they consist mostly of regularly updated round-the- clock news coverage and situation comedy. "What we are seeing here is an incredibly advanced civilization capable of not only reshaping the surface of the land, but of producing highly advanced light entertainment as well," Belanger noted.
Belanger and his fellow astronomers are utterly thrilled at the prospect of further exploration of Earth's new-found neighbor, and the possible contact with beings not of this world. "Sometimes I lay awake at night and wonder what life is like on that far away world," Belanger said. "And every time I look through the telescope, I wonder if somewhere up there, a Htrae-ling is standing in front of a telescope too, staring back at me."
