Aliens

[simplyg123]

Are they real?

 

[TeslaZ]

sadly I am the only one here thus far with the belief.

 

[Tiberius]

The poll doesn't include all avaliable options. The only possible choice for believers in alien life is the option that says that aliens are intelligent beings that have developed interstellar transport and are studying our world disguised as humans. What about options that state that there are intelligent aliens, but they are so far away contact with them is impossible at present, or an option that says that alien life may exist, but is less advanced than us (it's possible that this has occured in our own solar system - there may be an ocean under the ice of Europa that is capable of supporting life).

 

[mike1515]

Im not sure i think there is a little info on ufo's in the bible im not sure tho thats just what ive heard

 

[Ponderer]

The poll doesn't include all avaliable options. The only possible choice for believers in alien life is the option that says that aliens are intelligent beings that have developed interstellar transport and are studying our world disguised as humans. What about options that state that there are intelligent aliens, but they are so far away contact with them is impossible at present, or an option that says that alien life may exist, but is less advanced than us (it's possible that this has occured in our own solar system - there may be an ocean under the ice of Europa that is capable of supporting life).

Yes there are a lot of options to consider here and over at another forum I have been a member of for a number of years there are many past and present threads running on this subject.

There are a number of things that people who discuss this issue tend to come back to one is the Fermi Paradox - you can google that it has a Wikipedia entry. It basical postulates that if another civilisation much more advanced that us had emerged in our own galaxy then we would see evidence of it even if they were not capable of FTL travel.

Another is the Drake Equation (also on Wikipedia) which sets out the mathematical basis for calculating the number of technological civilisations - the only problem with it at the moment is we do not have sufficient data to run the numbers in any meaningful way.

Then as has already mentioned what do we me by aliens. Do we mean smart people in spaceships or do we mean simply something which grows and breeds. In which as has already been mentioned Europa might just offer a chance to find something and even Mars might yet yield up a microbe or two.

Then of course there is the whole theory of Panspermia (which I am deeply sceptical of) this suggests that the seeds of life are drifting through the cosmos and that it from those that life down here on earth got started.

People often cite the work done by SETI. However SETI have a problem. They are only looking for life that uses radio telescopes. That is a tricky thing because we ourselves have only been using radio waves for around a century. Even now we can see a future in which we will no longer use radio but rely upon lasers for communication over great distance (they allow you to send a stronger signal to a particular target with less energy loss). Therefore there might be quite a brief period in the history of any technological civilisation when they actually rely on radio waves (maybe 200 years). Therefore unless that short period of their history happens to overlap then two civilisations could easily miss each other.

Now my personal opinon - and this is only a guess is as follows:

I think there may be one other place in our solar system where we will find some form of life but it is likely to be little more than bacteria.

I will guess that within 200 light years of us that there may be as many as 50 star systems with planets/moons that also harbour bacterial life.

There may be 10 planets within 200 light years of us that have relatively complex ecosystems with large multicellular animals and plants of some sort.

It is likely that there are no actual civilisations within 200 light years of us. That probably only one planet in a 100 which has animals and plants actually has a species with the right combination of factors that lead to it forming complex communities a culture and a technology that allow it to improve rapidly over each generation. There is an old saying "Dolphins don't build telescopes" that is shorthand for saying that a technological species needs not only to be intelligent but also have the manipulatory means to exploit that intelligence and produce technology. How are you going to build technological infrastructure without manipulating materials and for example producing metals? How are you going to smelt metals if you cannot control fire? How are you going to control fire if you live in an ocean? I could go on but I think you can follow the basic reasoning.

Where you do get such a technological species then It is almost inevitable that they will develop to the same level as us or beyond but maybe there nearest one to us is 600 light years away and they have not started building radio telescopes because they are still practising cannibalistic ritual sacrifices in stone temples.

 

[wiggbuggie]

no i dont believe in aliens. And the people who said they saw something was a secret weapon/aircraft from the government or US military. Really the US airforce and area 51 test aircraft that look like flying soucers.

 

[GrinningDwarf]

If you've hung out with some of the folks I have in the past...you'd believe in aliens, too!!

 

[meebs]

Are they real?

Ooh another alien quiz!

i cant answer any of your options really.

(i could answer people are crazy but thats just in general not just alien encounters....)

(j/k)

I don't think any "encounter" so far is real. Oh i beleive extra-terrestrial life may exist in some form or another (and maybe some will have evolved similar to us - after all its a huge universe ) I beleive they may have suffciently advanced technology to have fast enough ships (or other means) to travel huge distances in short enough time. On the other hand some will be primitive, heck the potential for all sorts of life is out there.

However, i don't beleive that aliens would make themselves obvious (not on purpose) and make a show of visiting "if" they visited. Unless of course they were really really bored (if they had capacity for boredom)

However we have no evidence they exist at all.

But i dont beleive that all people who have claimed to see them are crazy. There may be more realistic and Earthly explanations you know

 

[meebs]

are studying our world disguised as humans. .

That would be more likely (hypotheticaly) or with some sort of personal cloaking technology

 

[Tiberius]

no i dont believe in aliens. And the people who said they saw something was a secret weapon/aircraft from the government or US military. Really the US airforce and area 51 test aircraft that look like flying soucers.

Trouble is, what about those UFOs that are spotted in other countries? Is the USAF really teting top secret planes in Australia?

And what about all those UFOs spotted before flight was developed? heck, even Captain Cook saw UFO at the end of the 18th century. Was that a US spy plane from Area 51?

 

[GrinningDwarf]

Trouble is, what about those UFOs that are spotted in other countries? Is the USAF really teting top secret planes in Australia?

Top secret Australian planes?

And what about all those UFOs spotted before flight was developed? heck, even Captain Cook saw UFO at the end of the 18th century. Was that a US spy plane from Area 51?

Sure...it accidentally used the 'sling-shot' effect around the sun to propel itself back 200 years in time...

 

[Photios]

Personally, I'm cheerfully agnostic on the subject. I will admit that the universe does seem a much more interesting that way, though. Of course, given the existence of God, reality is so much more fantastical than the wildest literature we could imagine.

 

[NeoScribe]

Makes me think of C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy.

 

[Blackguard_]

And what about all those UFOs spotted before flight was developed? heck, even Captain Cook saw UFO at the end of the 18th century. Was that a US spy plane from Area 51?

Too much Gin?

Makes me think of C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy.

Aliens make me think of old maps that have sea monsters and mythological creatures drawn in the unexplored regions.

 

[NeoScribe]

Old maps with sea monsters make me think of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series!

 

[Photios]

Old maps with monsters and all make me think of adventure!

 

[Blackguard_]

Old maps with sea monsters make me think of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series!

I never read that. Got halfway through the space trilogy though.

Seriously though, I think there is a connection between ideas of sea monsters and space aliens. The fear and excitement of the unknown basically.

I'm not knocking the idea of aliens if that's what you're thinking. I think maps of space should have drawings of Hydras, Dragons, Cyclopes, Scylla and Charybdis, etc. on them.

God only knows what horrible monsters lurk on extra-solar planets and in interstellar space...

 

[Photios]

The fear and excitement of the unknown basically.

I think maps of space should have drawings of Hydras, Dragons, Cyclopes, Scylla and Charybdis, etc. on them.

And this is pretty much the reason I hold to a cheerful agnosticism on the subject. If we are given a mean and base infinity, with no real surprises or dangers, where's the fun and excitement?

 

[meebs]

God only knows what horrible monsters lurk on extra-solar planets and in interstellar space...

and who knows what lovely beautiful fantastic creatures are out there?

what if an alien looks horrible but is very freindly?

what if an alien looks beautiful but is very hostile?

What if an alien looked either way or bland and could care less?

 

[Truffle]

wow,I dunno.
I need to talk to those that have seen or know more