Thoughts on the Existence of Extraterrestrial Life

Age : 31 Posts : 2547

I've been sort of 'soul searching' as some people do early in life. Pondering the universe and it's origin I guess you could say. One thing that interests me is the possibility that we're not alone. This is obviously a severely controversial subject, so I'd like to share a few things, and then hear what you all think.

The Roswell Incident
The Roswell UFO Incident was the alleged recovery of extra-terrestrial debris, including alien corpses, from an object which crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, USA, in June or July, 1947. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and the subject of conspiracy theories as to the true nature of the object which crashed. The United States military maintains that what was actually recovered was debris from an experimental high-altitude surveillance balloon belonging to a classified program named "Mogul"; however, many UFO proponents maintain that in fact a crashed alien craft and bodies were recovered, and that the military then engaged in a cover up. The incident has turned into a widely known pop culture phenomenon, making the name Roswell synonymous with UFOs. It ranks as one of the most publicized and controversial alleged UFO incidents.

In 1978, nuclear physicist and author Stanton T. Friedman interviewed Jesse Marcel, the only person known to have accompanied the Roswell debris from where it was recovered to Fort Worth. Over the next few years, the accounts he and others gave elevated Roswell from a forgotten incident to perhaps the most famous UFO case of all time.
By the early 1990s, UFO researchers such as Friedman, William Moore, Karl T. Pflock, and the team of Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt had interviewed several hundred people who had, or claimed to have had, a connection with the events at Roswell in 1947. Additionally, hundreds of documents were obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests, as were some apparently leaked by insiders, such as the disputed "Majestic 12" documents.
Their conclusions were that at least one alien craft had crashed in the Roswell vicinity, that aliens, some possibly still alive, were recovered, and that a massive cover-up of any knowledge of the incident was put in place.
Numerous books, articles, television specials and even a made-for-TV movie brought the 1947 incident fame and notoriety so that by the mid-1990s, strong majorities in polls, such as a 1997 CNN/Time poll, believed that aliens had visited earth and specifically that aliens had landed at Roswell and the government was covering up the fact.
A new narrative emerged which was at strong odds with what was reported in 1947. This narrative evolved over the years from the time the first book on Roswell was published in 1980 as many new witnesses and accounts emerged, drawn out in part by publicity on the incident. Though skeptics had many objections to the plausibility of these accounts, it was not until 1994 and the publication of the first Air Force report on the incident that a strong counter-argument to the presence of aliens was widely publicized.
Numerous scenarios emerged from these authors as to what they felt were the true sequence of events, depending on which witness accounts were embraced or dismissed, and what the documentary evidence suggested. This was especially true in regards to the various claimed crash and recovery sites of alien craft, as various authors had different witnesses and different locations for these events.
However, the following general outline from UFO Crash at Roswell (1991) by Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt is common to most of these accounts:
“ A UFO crashed northwest of Roswell, New Mexico, in the summer of 1947. The military acted quickly and efficiently to recover the debris after its existence was reported by a ranch hand. The debris, unlike anything these highly trained men had ever seen, was flown without delay to at least three government installations. A cover story was concocted to explain away the debris and the flurry of activity. It was explained that a weather balloon, one with a new radiosonde target device, had been found and temporarily confused the personnel of the 509th Bomb Group. Government officials took reporters' notes from their desks and warned a radio reporter not to play a recorded interview with the ranch hand. The men who took part in the recovery were told never to talk about the incident. And with a whimper, not a bang, the Roswell event faded quickly from public view and press scrutiny.

The Battle of Los Angeles
The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as '"The Great Los Angeles Air Raid"', is the name given by contemporary sources to the imaginary enemy attack and subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which took place from late 24 February to early 25 February 1942 over Los Angeles, California. The incident occurred less than three months after America's entry into World War II as a result of the Japanese Imperial Navy's attack on Pearl Harbor.
Initially, the target of the aerial barrage was thought to be an attacking force from Japan, but speaking at a press conference shortly afterward Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox called the incident a "false alarm." Newspapers of the time published a number of sensational reports and speculations of a cover-up. A small number of modern-day UFOlogists have suggested the targets were extraterrestrial spacecraft. When documenting the incident in 1983, the U.S. Office of Air Force History attributed the event to a case of "war nerves" likely triggered by a lost weather balloon and exacerbated by stray flares and shell bursts from adjoining batteries.

Some UFOlogists attribute the incident to UFO activity, and a few claim it is connected to a supposedly "top secret" MJ-12 document dated March 5, 1942. The document, ostensibly from Gen. Marshall to President Roosevelt, discusses the recovery of a UFO east of Los Angeles, and quotes chief of Naval intelligence Rear Admiral Walter S. Anderson as saying, "This Headquarters has come to the determination that the mystery airplanes are in fact not earthly and according to secret intelligence sources they are in all probability of interplanetary origin." According to the memo, Marshall supposedly ordered the formation of a special intelligence unit to investigate the phenomenon called the "Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit (IPU)."

Thoughts
Not so long ago one of the valid arguments for the human race being alone in the universe was based on our lack of knowledge of the universe. The argument went that since we had not detected planets around other stars, we could assume that either there were none, or they were very rare.

Today, we know that's not true. Not only do other stars have planets, it turns out planets seem to be a natural consequence of star formation, even around stars that are wildly unlike our own.

A possible valid argument is that life is an improbable event and out of the billions of planets out there, Earth just got lucky. We can't prove this isn't so because we have yet to discover life on another planet, but most scientists would tell you that since we now have a pretty good idea how life arose, it seems very probable that life is a natural consequence of planets when they have a range of conditions that would permit life.

The last argument given is that the distance between the stars is too large to permit travel between them. We now know that is not true. A technology development project at JPL demonstrated that laser driven sails could send a probe to nearby planets, however it would be a voyage of decades and take a budget beyond anything that we've ever done before. But there is no reason to believe that future developments in physics and technology might not make it easier. The last point I'd like to make is that if alien visitations are actually happening, then there is no doubt in my mind that the ruling governments would do everything in their power to hide the fact. The basis of power is a government's ability to protect its citizens.

What are your thoughts?

Age : 31 Posts : 8965

Wow John, has secret services knocked on your door yet?

Age : 31 Posts : 716

I will agree that the government would hide this, and doubt otherwise. However, regarding other life, I have yet to be completely convinced. I have no reason to not believe there aren't any other life forms out there, I just haven't experienced any of this myself, so I can't be entirely sure. Ya know? Anyways, interesting topic. Regardless, I still stand neautral.

Age : 30 Posts : 1701

I thinks it's asinine to proclaim the nonexistence of extraterrestrials. The fact is that every star we see in the sky can have a multitude of planets circling it. How could it possibly be true that we're the only system with life?

Posts : 118

The possibility of extraterrestrial life is slim to none. its like a 1 billionth percent chance that a galaxy has a planet suitable to support life, then there is a 10 billionth of a chance that the life that develops is intelligent. Look at all the creatures on this planet, there are millions and we are the only species here to have developed intelligent life.

Lastly, why on earth if the aliens had enough technology to get all the way here would just sit there and watch us, if they are that far advanced to develop inter-galaxy movement, why would they just sit there, if they were waring they would destroy our asses by now and if they we're peacefaring you think they would contact us by now offering to help us or trade or whatever.

I'm not convinced.

Yes. Extraterrestrial life exists.
No, its probably not intelligent and no its probably not here.

Age : 30 Posts : 1701

Thats only a certain school of thought, however. Theres an incredibly great chances that a small amount of life will develop to meet any conditions. It's basic evolution. There could be billions of life sustaining planets out there. INtelligent life? Who knows, we're a young species ourself, whos to say we're intelligent?

Posts : 372

As you can see, in technological terms, scientist say that the universe is still very young. However, if you believe in Christianity, this is another thing.

In Catholic paintings, and even an early painting showed a space ship looking thing flying through the air with Jesus's face on it with a picture of him preaching to people.

I however, don't think there is any life other than the one on our own planet. Life is very complicated and there needs to be certain conditions. So far, the only calmest place apparently in the universe that has been discovered so far is our Milky Way. Our position in our galaxy is very coincidental, as we are the right distance from the sun to where water (the supposed necessity of life) is liquid.

Though, scientist think that a meteor brought life to Earth, which means life came from somewhere else other than Earth. Though, since I'm Catholic, I believe in the whole Adam and Eve. :?

Age : 31 Posts : 1836

I personally do believe in the existence of extraterrstrial life. As to whether they are intelligent or not, I believe that both variteties exist. The universe (or mulitverse, whatever) is huge and seemingly endless, many things could exist which would blow our minds. I don't have any arguments to support this theory, but for personal reasons I believe the existance of life on other planets to be true. And no, it's not because I'm an alien myself.

Age : 32 Posts : 276

Who knows?

That is all. Smile

Age : 31 Posts : 2547

Avarice. wrote:: The possibility of extraterrestrial life is slim to none. its like a 1 billionth percent chance that a galaxy has a planet suitable to support life, then there is a 10 billionth of a chance that the life that develops is intelligent. Look at all the creatures on this planet, there are millions and we are the only species here to have developed intelligent life.

Lastly, why on earth if the aliens had enough technology to get all the way here would just sit there and watch us, if they are that far advanced to develop inter-galaxy movement, why would they just sit there, if they were waring they would destroy our asses by now and if they we're peacefaring you think they would contact us by now offering to help us or trade or whatever.

I'm not convinced.

Yes. Extraterrestrial life exists.
No, its probably not intelligent and no its probably not here.

The reason aliens don't abduct the president or 'destroy our asses' is because they're not like human beings. You have to imagine that an intelligent being from another planet doesn't experience life the way that we do, and therefore would have a completely different culture and psychology. Dismissing their existence by rationalizing their behavior as inept in human terms is a grevious error.

If you want to believe this at all, you can't make assumptions based on what humans might do and accept that, if they're not making themselves known to us, it's probably for a very good reason. If they are, in fact, trying to take over and haven't asserted their dominance in a show of power, it's probably because they understand the terms of human armed conflict and they don't want us using our nuclear deterrence to sully the planet.

Just like we couldn't understand their psychology without decades of intense analysis, we can't understand their technology either. Reflect, for a moment, on how quickly humans have gone from the industrial revolution to putting a man on the moon after having been in existence for roughly 10,000 years. Now imagine a culture that has existed another 10,000 years past that; you can bet they will have transcended any paradigm of science and engineering we believe we've mastered.

Posts : 118

We can't assume their behavior is different then ours either though John. We assume its different or we assume its the same. Either way your assuming. We don't know because its not there. Go watch those new shows on Science Channel with Stephen Hawking and Freeman. They both explain how lucky we are. (Like srsly. its so small a chance).

Obviously Extraterrestrial life exists. I believe that was the point of this discussion.

Whether its intelligent or not, who knows? And honestly if they are there and not doing anything, who cares? Let them watch like peeping toms for all i care. Don't mess with me don't mess with you.

Yeah, Human technology is advancing rapidly because of the large periods of peace and free-minded ship that is allowed nowadays. If it took us this long, who knows it could have also taken the others LONGER then us? ever think about that..?

We DONT know. And its IMPOSSIBLE to determine. Whatever the government is covering up, I highly doubt its Aliens, some idiot would have spilled the beans by now.

Age : 30 Posts : 1701

Considering they're from a different planet, and their approach method is different from ours, it's more viable to assume what john stated.

Posts : 118

Yeah, "Approach Method." Sense make.

Age : 30 Posts : 1701

It's still grammatically correct, actually...

Age : 27 Posts : 613

I don't know if this was said yet or not but one of teachers said that some other form of life contacted us years ago, we sent signals back and everything and then the smartest man on earth said "Stop! If they reached us first, then they may be smarter then us, and overpower us." Or something like that.

But *shrug* I don't know...

Posts : 118

ყoυɴɢ вяιтт - вяιтт wrote:: I don't know if this was said yet or not but one of teachers said that some other form of life contacted us years ago, we sent signals back and everything and then the smartest man on earth said "Stop! If they reached us first, then they may be smarter then us, and overpower us." Or something like that.

But *shrug* I don't know...

Load of Bull. lol.l

Age : 31 Posts : 8965

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