Larry Niven
Larry Niven (Laurence van Cott Niven) is an American science fiction author. He was born 1938. His best known novel is Ringworld (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar and Nebula awards.
Aliens – Moties – were first contacted in AD3017 in the region of space known as the Coalsack. The eponymous mote in his eye, which has winked out, much to the distress of pious Himmists, just might have been Motie laser light. It might even indicate the position of their home planet.