Have we been visited by aliens?

B

bookem

danno
This has been in the news in the UK quite a lot of late.

It would be great if there was other intelligent life in the Universe apart from ourselves.

Personally I feel that there's at least microscopic life elsewhere in the Universe.

It's that carbonite traces have been found on Mars that got me thinging about this: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040109a.html

It really would be in my opinion the most fascinating discovery of my lifetime if the Mars Rovers found the slightest trace of life.

Any other views?
 
CarbonAte. ;-) CarbonIte is what they froze Han Solo with.

I suspect there is, at a minimum, microbial life elsewhere in the universe, possibly even within our solar system.

However, many respected astronomers have the (somewhat disheartening) opinion that the distances between stars are so vast that regardless how advanced your technology is, it will likely never be worthwhile for any intelligent species to physically travel to another world beyond it's own solar system.

In addition, before they can come here, they have to know that we're here and come here intentionally. Just wandering from world to world looking for life would be futile, unless your lifespan is measured in the billions of years. We've been watching the skies for decades, waiting for signals from another world. So far, nada. If they're out there, they aren't easy to detect.
 
Oops....small slip of the index finger there. I read your reply by email and swore I typed carbonate :D

So what do you think of all the supposed alien encounters & ufo sightings? If there's any truth to them at all, my personal opinion is that it's future humans visiting us somehow, for the reasons you listed above. I know that appears like a somewhat 'Enterprise' influenced view, but that's been my opinion for quite some time.
 
I'd be more prepared to believe very nearly ANY theory besides aliens; hallucinations, hoaxes, a government conspiracy, even time travelers (though those last two are longshots, to be sure.) Anything but aliens.

Alien visitors are sufficiently unlikley that I will NEVER accept "no other explanation comes to mind" as proof, which is what so many people offer as evidence.

I love it when people ask me simply "do you believe in UFOs?" I always answer "Sure, I believe that there are flying objects which are sometimes not easily identified. I don't, however, believe they are alien spaceships."
 
I do believe that there is evidence regarding UFO's and supposed alien encounters that our governments are not telling us. I think there's proof that could go either way that we probably will never know about.

As I see it, the only thing that would get in the way of alien visitors being real is religion. I'm not personally a religious person currently (in the past I have been) so that doesn't affect me.

Basically, I like dreaming about things that would be nice.

As for UFO's - a model aircraft could be a UFO until it's known that it's a model aircraft. Alien Flying Objects are another story.

I suppose time will tell. Imagine the impact it would have if Vulcans landed tomorrow :D
 
bookem said:
Personally I feel that there's at least microscopic life elsewhere in the Universe.
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I figure that there are many different alien races, some microscopic, some large, some bipeds, some quadropeds, etc. I figure this because space is (presumable) infanet. There fore there is also infanet planets, and infinet chances for such life forms to exist. I don't think that One is going to come strolling up to our doorstep, but they are out there.
 

Space is almost infinite! To think we are alone in it is like thinking the Earth is flat. However, I do suspect there might be UFOs. Now, the real question is are they aliens, humans from the future, or just secret government(s) aircraft? Until one presents itself for all to see, I'm keeping my mind open to ALL possibilities. I've seen a lot of strange stuff in my life. Just because I couldn't explain the events doesn't mean that it might have been just another perfect normal occurrence.
 
If we ever find microsopic life elsewhere than our planet, do you think that increases or decreases the chances of finding intelligent life on other worlds? I think it makes it more probable.

It's all technology related. At the moment we don't have the technology to travel far enough to search every part of the universe looking for life. At some point this will undoubtedly change.
 
bookem said:
If we ever find microsopic life elsewhere than our planet, do you think that increases or decreases the chances of finding intelligent life on other worlds? I think it makes it more probable.
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Du you mean microscopic life elsewhere in the solar system? If so, then a resoundign yes. If life has develope independantly on both earth and mars, then cances are the universe is teemign with life. On the otehr hand, if we only know of life on earth, then it is entirely possible that we are the only life in the universe.

bookem said:
It's all technology related. At the moment we don't have the technology to travel far enough to search every part of the universe looking for life. At some point this will undoubtedly change.
Click to expand...

This is a factor, but thre are lots of other. To understand the chances of finding intelligent life in the universe, look at the Drake equation:
N = R* • fp • ne • fl • fi • fc • L

Where,

N = The number of civilizations in The Milky Way Galaxy whose electromagnetic emissions are detectable.

R* =The rate of formation of stars suitable for the development of intelligent life.

fp = The fraction of those stars with planetary systems.

ne = The number of planets, per solar system, with an environment suitable for life.

fl = The fraction of suitable planets on which life actually appears.

fi = The fraction of life bearing planets on which intelligent life emerges. For more information, please visit Dr. William Calvin's "The Drake Equation's fi"

fc = The fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space.

L = The length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.

or read more here . By changing the different figures, you can get a figure from 1 to billions.
 
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