Sometimes, anyway. A few seconds worth, anyway.

Here’s the deal: an acquaintance told me that any time a small plane flies over his house, he can hear the pilot’s conversation coming out of his computer speakers.

You’re probably thinking flashbacks, but he was always kind of a goody-goody, so that’s not it. Maybe it’s because his house is high up in the Rockies — closer to the action so to speak.

I wanted to know if he heard anything interesting – but no. Just idle chit-chat. And he could recall neither the chit nor the chat.

Now if he could just arrange to be seated at said computer when UFO’s fly by. You know how the Western skies are infested with them, and I for one would like a heads-up about any conquest of earth – strictly for planning purposes (Do I send the dry-cleaning out? Or wait?).

All my childhood dreams of space travel are rushing to the surface. Virgin Galactic has released its designs for what should be the first viable commercial space craft, and if I can get the $200,000 needed to get onbaord, I could be going suborbital by 2010.

BBC News reports that Virgin’s design for SpaceShipTwo builds on that of the X-Prize winning SpaceShipOne. That means the craft will initially be lifted by a carrier plane (White Knight Two) before blasting off.

Visit Virgin Galactic for more on Richard Branson’s space plans, and if anyone could spot me the $200,000, I swear I’m good for it.

Liked this story? Check out “The Virgin Empire”