I read two recent articles on “Livescience” describing a fascinating phenomenon. Apparently, some chimps have started using caves for shelter and some spear-like weapons to hunt much like early humans did as they started the journey leading to our life as we know it now. 

          Are those chimps going to be like us after 4000 years? It's too early to determine that, but the scientists studying the case followed the strict laws of the wildlife. These laws dictate that there should be no human interference in any aspect of the animals' wild behavior. So, the scientists kept a distance and only "watched" for whole days. The chimps could see the humans but got used to their presence. 

          Now, using our imagination, we will try to sneak into what could happen if those chimps are on the road to becoming the next humans. The next step for them would be expanding their hunting grounds, making fire, and using their caves not only for protection from the heat, but also as protection from other species. Then they will start their first communication attempts by drawing images on the walls of their caves. They will draw animals to describe food and natural elements that can scare them. Also, they will mention the "weird creatures" (us humans) that used to bring tools and keep a distance from them. Those creatures could eat without hunting, use noisy machines, and sometimes fly! 

          We'll go even one step further now. For some reason, we, the human species, leave this planet or die from a disease or any other reason you find fit (again using our imagination). The chimps -who have replaced us- will have a society very different from ours. They will start digging out their ancestors' traces, where, astonishingly,  they will find images of weird people who kept a distance from their ancestors, used weird machinery and well, in some drawings they seemed... flying! What will those new Earth residents think of us, old Earth residents? "Aliens, our ancestors communicated with aliens!"