Are we alone?

[Steve Gardner]

This is not a subject I have looked in to in any meaningful way, but I do know a lot people who sincerely believe we have been and continue to be visited by alien beings. Their theories span the full spectrum; some believe we were 'created' by aliens as some sort of experiment, others that we are simply being observed.

My own view is that, whilst I am convinced there must be other life forms in this universe, none have visited our planet.

But, as I said, I haven't looked at the 'evidence' in much detail and, whether you're a believer or a sceptic, you can't deny there is a good deal of 'evidence' available.

So, to start with, what's your view and why?

[teddy]

This is one of those things I think about frequently, without having a clear standpoint. My own view today is that we are not special in the universe, and so other life forms surely exist out there. I also believe that the distances between galaxies is so vast that it's very unlikely that people could reach us from the next nearest civilisation - unless of course there really are worm-holes, or faster-than-speed-of-light travel, which I remain skeptical about at the moment. Of course there are many stories of people having experienced alien life on earth and I respect those that tell those stories - I just haven't had time to examine them for myself; although in the end there rarely seems to be enough evidence to back up their claims.

[Jack]

Ok, I totally believe that there are other life-forms, other creatures, other organisms, however I do not believe that there has ever been an alien on Earth. Why? Because I believe that the life-forms that I believe of are so far away, with another Sun, other moons and many different stars that there is no way that anyone from Earth would ever be able to travel that far. Nor would anyone be able to travel back towards us, that far. It'd take years, decades, centuries, if an alien ever did set foot on this planet then wouldn't they have taken notes on our behaviour and reported back. If an alien ever did set foot on this planet then wouldn't they have stayed here for a bit then gone back home. If so, how can we just miss an alien leaving earth, with the amount of CCTV Cameras and the amount of people that we now have in the world I feel that it's unlikely without a single sighting. - I think that if I studied this is more depth then they're be alot more things that could be against this, saying that it doesn't exist and with pages worth of reasons, but also a think there could be pages worth of reasons why it does. It'd take years to go through all the pro's and con's and find out which is the most likely. However, i'm not old enough or experienced enough to even attempt taking on that challenge! Although I'm pretty sure it'd be very interesting

[Steve Gardner]

Apr 21, 2008 20:14:43 GMT Jack said:

I think that if I studied this is more depth then they're be alot more things that could be against this, saying that it doesn't exist and with pages worth of reasons, but also a think there could be pages worth of reasons why it does. It'd take years to go through all the pro's and con's and find out which is the most likely.

One of the advantages of exchanging views in this sort of environment is that time is on our side. We have "years to go through all the pro's and con's" if we want to and I think it would be an interesting topic to explore.

I'm going to do a bit of digging around and get a few pieces of evidence posted here for discussion. I actually have a fairly simple explanation for UFO sightings but I'll keep it to myself for now.

[Steve Gardner]

Putting the atronaut's view to one side, what really grabbed my attention was the final two paragraphs - in particular, the last one.

Nobutaka Machimura, the number two in government, said in December that he personally believed aliens existed, in an unusual rebuttal to a government statement that Japan had no knowledge of UFOs.

Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba went as far as to say that he was studying the legal ramifications of responding to an alien attack in light of Japan's post-World War II pacifist constitution.

Those who believe we have been visited have interpreted this as evidence of a possible upcoming public disclosure.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

The human race will find life elsewhere in the universe as it pushes ahead with space exploration, astronauts back from the latest US space mission said.

"If we push back boundaries far enough, I'm sure eventually we'll find something out there," said Mike Foreman, a mission specialist on the Endeavour, which returned to Earth in March.

"Maybe not as evolved as we are, but it's hard to believe that there is not life somewhere else in this great universe," he told a news conference in Tokyo.

The crew members on the 16-day Endeavour mission, which included a Japanese astronaut, said that so far they have not seen anything inexplicable or mysterious in terms of other life forms.

"I personally believe that we are going to find something that we can't explain," said another astronaut, Gregory Johnson.

"There is probably something out there but I've never seen it," he said.

Dominic Gorie, the crew commander and veteran of four space flights, pointed out that explorers in past eras did not know what they would find before setting off across the ocean.

"As we travel in the space, we don't know what we'll find. That's the beauty of what we do. I hope that someday we'll find what we don't understand."

But it could take a while before human beings come into contact with extraterrestrial life, Richard Linnehan, a fellow mission specialist and believer in the possibilities of extraterrestrial life, told the news conference.

"Unfortunately we are taking only baby steps in outer space efforts and we left our planet barely a few hundred miles above the atmosphere," he said.

The latest hitch-free Endeavour mission went to the International Space Station, carrying part of Japan's first space laboratory along with a Canadian repair robot.

Foreman described the Japanese laboratory - named "Kibo", or hope - as smelling like a "new car".

Takao Doi, the Japanese astronaut on the Endeavour mission, agreed "life like us must exist" elsewhere in the universe.

The comments come after a surprisingly high-level debate in Japan about UFOs.

Nobutaka Machimura, the number two in government, said in December that he personally believed aliens existed, in an unusual rebuttal to a government statement that Japan had no knowledge of UFOs.

Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba went as far as to say that he was studying the legal ramifications of responding to an alien attack in light of Japan's post-World War II pacifist constitution.

[Jack]

Read this. It's pretty interesting.