Aliens from "outer space".......do you believe?

[Edward]

Yes, I believe that we're not the only ones in the universe and there have been some situations in my life when I met certain people and thought that there might be someone among us who just appears to be human.

[megumidesu]

i'm fairly certain that this girl i know is an alien
or maybe a cyborg or something

[nfisher1226]

There really should be another choice along the lines of they exist but there's no evidence they've come here.

Let's pursue the concept logically for a moment. We only started sending out any real evidence of civilisation into space during the last century. If there is intelligent life out there and it is sufficiently advanced to pick up and analyze electromagnetic communications, they may just now be learning of our existence, or they may decades or centuries or millennia away from figuring out that we're here. That's depending on where they're at in the vast universe, whether they're actually looking for evidence of other life "out there", whether they have a sufficient level of technology to differentiate our communications from the rest of the electromagnetic "noise" occurring randomly throughout the universe, and whether they're actually paying enough attention to get the gist. In other words, the stars would all have to align so to speak for anyone else to have figured out that we exist at all.

Assuming the unlikely event that our early broadcasts have been picked up, there is clearly no scientific evidence that faster than light travel would ever be possible. It's quite possible there is something we have yet to discover about spacetime that makes it possible, but if there is then we haven't any evidence of it. Wormholes do exist, but they are subatomic in nature and so fleeting that in practice nothing could really pass through them. So for the time being let's just assume there is no "warp drive" or equivalent in existence anywhere in the universe. Therefore, in the event that an alien race figured out we were here during the last century, triangulated our position, and decided to pay us a visit, we can expect them to arrive no sooner than sometime in the next few decades and quite likely more like centuries from now.

Also, while I'm pretty sure "they" are out there somewhere we can't assume that "they" are any more technologically advanced than us. "They" may be in the early bronze age, engulfed in feudalism, bickering over religion and superstition, or just starting to enter an industrial age. We can somewhat assume that this part of our galaxy is the same age, so the societies closest to us probably had a similar timeframe to evolve into intelligent life and develop advanced civilization. They may be just taking their first tentative steps into exploring the universe just as we are. If a much more advanced civilization exists it is likely to be found in a much older star system in a much older galaxy, which would therefore be pretty damn far away from us.

Also, if "they" have a similar technological level to us, and have decoded our transmissions enough to figure out we're here, they may not have the capability or the resolve to get here. They may or may not even be able to decide whether it would be smart to let us know where they are. I assume governments would exist elsewhere, and based on that I would assume they have just as hard of a time making any real decisions. So "they" might still be dickering for a few more decades about just what should be done with the revelation that people exist on a little planet orbiting this star.

"They" may even consider the fact that life exists elsewhere to be old news, make a little note of us, and just kind of never develop enough interest to contact us. What made us so special anyway?

[partis]

Ive not seen concrete evidence but i believe there could be other life-forms. They could be far more evolved than us or just beginning. Though im sure many u.f.o sightings, particularly in the US during the cold war period were just military aircraft. They wanted people to believe they were seeing aliens!

[southbiochem]

Do you believe in extra-terrestrial life forms?

I'm hard pressed to believe that in a universe so big and diverse we are the only ones..

even if there is a single bacteria growing somewhere else, it's a big deal and very probable...some extremophile organism live int he most unthinkable places here on Earth.

that said I havenpt seen any evidence so far.

Do you believe earth has been invaded and they are living among us?

yes, the Earth has been invaded.....by us parasites..sorry, humans...alies? nope

Do you believe the government is keeping it "secret"?

Any intelligent Goverments keeps everything secret...best coercive mechanism ever..

Is it just the government testing new technology?

UFO's? Probably

Is it just the government creating something to keep us occupied while they do something else?

Again, goverments need fear or hate in the populace to keep them in control, fear of external threats (War or terror, anyone?) fear of the unknown or hate on the outsider, on the different, on the foreign.

they have alwaays done this regardless what the situation or planning is.

Do "they" really exist, or are "we" the only ones out here?

Already answered that

[Bowyn Aerrow]

The size of the universe, the abundance of stars, and now the abundance of confirmed planets around stars even planets of the correct size within the Goldilocks Zone of a star leave little room for doubt that life isn't going to happen all over the place.

The only thing that may be needed for life to exist long enough for technology using intelligence to arise is a large moon for the planet.

Earth has a really, really ginormous moon. Venus has no moon and look what she is like, all but totally tide locked to the sun with sweltering temperatures and acidic clouds. Mars, smaller with two minor moons is a bit more hospitable, and all signs are pointing that at one time, long long ago some sort of life may have existed. Methinks if Mars had a moon 1/3rd its size that whole internal cooling would have been stalled, thus the liquid metal core would still be spinning fast enough to generate a protective magnetic shield from radiation and Mars would most likely be green and blue and full of interesting lifeforms.

Our moon keeps us stable, we don't wobble on our axis. It also helps to keep the mantel and core liquid via the tides, all of that internal kneading via the tides most likely accounts for why earths interior is still so hot.

A question that creationists like to throw out there since the maths clearly show that even with radioactive materials the core should be pretty cold by now if earth is billions of years old. Our moon and the tidal influences it has would account for the lack of cooling.

So I have reached the conclusion that for a planet to maintain a stable climate and be habitable for long periods of time it requires a singularly large moon. I think the question of if technology using species arise hinges on how common are earthlike worlds with large moons.

I seriously doubt that by the time humanity reaches the point where it can manipulate and generate the energies needed to traverse the great distances between the stars that it will still be studying war, or for that matter be locked up in its social struggles.

Humanity sits on a razors edge. We currently have and have had the ability for 50 years or more to totally wipe out life on earth. As we find more powerful energies to play with, our ability to wipe ourselves our increases.

A third world war is impossible for humans to do. Well we can, but no one will survive. As a result of the discovery of nuclear energy and its application in weapons, we forced ourselves to find new ways to get along.

I suspect that for most species there is this period they must go through. Now do most end up retooling their social behaviors to peacefully advance to interstellar civilizations? It would be nice to think so.

However, I suspect that once humanity does reach the stars (if actually) we will discover world after world that is bombed out, dead, once holding life but the intelligent tool using species that arose couldn't master its passions.

Those that do master there passions will not interfere with the development of a primitive culture, and will allow nature to take its course. Thus I really doubt that the governments are in collusion with ET, or getting free technology.

I doubt any species that survived its on social struggle toward interstellar flight would hand a loaded gun to a child.

[Ekwarph]

I hardly believe in extraterrestrial form of life. I think it requires such complex combination of things to happen. Other complex/incredible things may happen on other planets, but here it's life.
Well, I have no evidence but irrationally that's what I think.

[MisterTinkles]

probs.

Once I was in Paeroa and there was suddenly this giant orange flash of light that lit up the sky.

My friend always find's angel hair in the street.

Aw honey...........you need to lay off the meth!!!

[MisterTinkles]

...................... is big, unknown, scary and it freaks me out.

Oh, so you've been to Sylphs house?

[MisterTinkles]

There really should be another choice along the lines of they exist but there's no evidence they've come here.

Let's pursue the concept logically for a moment. We only started sending out any real evidence of civilisation into space during the last century. If there is intelligent life out there and it is sufficiently advanced to pick up and analyze electromagnetic communications, they may just now be learning of our existence, or they may decades or centuries or millennia away from figuring out that we're here. That's depending on where they're at in the vast universe, whether they're actually looking for evidence of other life "out there", whether they have a sufficient level of technology to differentiate our communications from the rest of the electromagnetic "noise" occurring randomly throughout the universe, and whether they're actually paying enough attention to get the gist. In other words, the stars would all have to align so to speak for anyone else to have figured out that we exist at all.

Assuming the unlikely event that our early broadcasts have been picked up, there is clearly no scientific evidence that faster than light travel would ever be possible. It's quite possible there is something we have yet to discover about spacetime that makes it possible, but if there is then we haven't any evidence of it. Wormholes do exist, but they are subatomic in nature and so fleeting that in practice nothing could really pass through them. So for the time being let's just assume there is no "warp drive" or equivalent in existence anywhere in the universe. Therefore, in the event that an alien race figured out we were here during the last century, triangulated our position, and decided to pay us a visit, we can expect them to arrive no sooner than sometime in the next few decades and quite likely more like centuries from now.

Also, while I'm pretty sure "they" are out there somewhere we can't assume that "they" are any more technologically advanced than us. "They" may be in the early bronze age, engulfed in feudalism, bickering over religion and superstition, or just starting to enter an industrial age. We can somewhat assume that this part of our galaxy is the same age, so the societies closest to us probably had a similar timeframe to evolve into intelligent life and develop advanced civilization. They may be just taking their first tentative steps into exploring the universe just as we are. If a much more advanced civilization exists it is likely to be found in a much older star system in a much older galaxy, which would therefore be pretty damn far away from us.

Also, if "they" have a similar technological level to us, and have decoded our transmissions enough to figure out we're here, they may not have the capability or the resolve to get here. They may or may not even be able to decide whether it would be smart to let us know where they are. I assume governments would exist elsewhere, and based on that I would assume they have just as hard of a time making any real decisions. So "they" might still be dickering for a few more decades about just what should be done with the revelation that people exist on a little planet orbiting this star.

"They" may even consider the fact that life exists elsewhere to be old news, make a little note of us, and just kind of never develop enough interest to contact us. What made us so special anyway?

What about all those cave drawings and Egyptian symbols that supposedly depict beings from space?

What about those ancient man-made land/rock formations in South America that are giant shapes and symbols that can only be seen from a up in the sky?

Who is to say WE are the only planet in the universe without space travel capability?