What Do You Think Of Ufo's?

[Baby Bethany]

Okay, who believes in extraterrestrials? Maybe you think they are in Area 52, or maybe you think it's crap or maybe you've even had a close encounter.

Talking of close encounters. Many years ago I woke up one night to see a figure in my room. It was tall, very skinny, pale white, all wet looking and making a groaning sound. Don't worry, it was just my room mate doing his weights and trying to beef up for the girls.

Beth

[DailyDi]

I believe in UFO's.

Years ago I was outside with my cousin when we saw one, she was only 6 or 7 at the time and her parents forbid me to ever speak of it around her... Then ten years later out of the blue she says "Remember that time we saw the space craft?"

It was huge, round, silver and spinning. Had lights all around the outer rim, came right over our house and yard, casting it in a shadow. Went slowly over and through the neighborhood, then it was gone.

[redneck diaper boy]

To think that we are alone in the universe is ignorant. Yes I believe in UFOs.

Okay, who believes in extraterrestrials? Maybe you think they are in Area 52, or maybe you think it's crap or maybe you've even had a close encounter.

Talking of close encounters. Many years ago I woke up one night to see a figure in my room. It was tall, very skinny, pale white, all wet looking and making a groaning sound. Don't worry, it was just my room mate doing his weights and trying to beef up for the girls.

Beth

[justindiapers]

I think the universe is too big for there to not be life somewhere out there - unless there is divine intervention preventing it. (which I don't believe in) Having said that, I'm skeptical of most UFO encounters. I suspect most of them can be attributed to earthly phenomenon, hallucinations, or mental illness.

Stories like DD's encounter are interesting though. Definitely not a case of a (normal) airplane or cloud being mistaken for a UFO, and one would assume that the 7yr old cousin wasn't drunk or tripping at the time, and the odds of them both being crazy and imagining the same thing at the same time are quite low. That doesn't leave a whole lot of other options...

[Repaid1]

I have to agree to the above posts. I don't remember the actual figure from the Discovery channel and other such shows, and I don't feel like googling right now. But the count of solar systems and planets within our own galaxy that could have similar life support such as the earth is well over a billion. Counting in the millions of known galaxy's we certainly can't even fathom the number or odds of us being only the only life forms at least and most certainly Intelligent at some level most probably some beyond ours. I for one believe they have visited us and the worlds governments are up to something.

For those who have seen the latest National Treasure movie, makes you think.

BTW Bethany..er...that's area 51..we have yet to find out if it exists.. then we will get to area 52. Although according to the commercial here..we are stuck with 409 cleaner as the 410..well just didn't work out

[Baby Bethany]

I believe there must be intelligent life on other worlds, but not sure they have been here. Must admit though, stories like DD's are difficult to explain. There is of course mass hysteria, but what about all the photographs?

Without sounding too way out, has anyone considered that they may be from this planet? I don't mean inside the Earth, or under the sea or anything like that. I mean actually the inhabitants of the Earth in a different time frame.

My thinking is that some consider time travel possible, mainly by bending space. Now, if our descendants take another 2 million years to master this, what's to stop them coming back to now. By that time our form would be a bit different too. It just seems that the close encounters are usually with a human like form, a form that is unlikely to appear on a different world.

Beth

[Repaid1]

There are many theory's on just such a notion. I for one believe that it could be both entity's. Ours from the future, and theirs from now. To me it makes since, that if something happened or evolved in our anatomy that traveling back to introduce a cure as it were in a genetic code to the past. But alas I might read to much Sci-Fi.

I have always believed that the Government has introduced movies on different levels to see the publics reaction on such topics.

[Juliabam]

I believe there must be intelligent life on other worlds, but not sure they have been here. Must admit though, stories like DD's are difficult to explain. There is of course mass hysteria, but what about all the photographs?

Without sounding too way out, has anyone considered that they may be from this planet? I don't mean inside the Earth, or under the sea or anything like that. I mean actually the inhabitants of the Earth in a different time frame.

My thinking is that some consider time travel possible, mainly by bending space. Now, if our descendants take another 2 million years to master this, what's to stop them coming back to now. By that time our form would be a bit different too. It just seems that the close encounters are usually with a human like form, a form that is unlikely to appear on a different world.

Beth

I will NOT discuss alien life in space, hey I'm even from the moon, and no one believes that but, I will comment on the photos.. You can't tell what is true or false, not even the old ones, one of the most famous photos, taken by some guy named Adamski is supposedly one of the first and best shot of a flying saucer.. but turn it around, and it looks like a cake, or some other eatable item, on a plate with peaches or some other round shiny food item around... Hah I still believe his wife took that phot for some cake contest, and when he picked up the photos from his last field trip he saw it upside down and thought he had taken a picture of a UFO :-)

[Baby Bethany]

I will NOT discuss alien life in space, hey I'm even from the moon, and no one believes that but, I will comment on the photos.. You can't tell what is true or false, not even the old ones, one of the most famous photos, taken by some guy named Adamski is supposedly one of the first and best shot of a flying saucer.. but turn it around, and it looks like a cake, or some other eatable item, on a plate with peaches or some other round shiny food item around... Hah I still believe his wife took that phot for some cake contest, and when he picked up the photos from his last field trip he saw it upside down and thought he had taken a picture of a UFO :-)

Didn't Adamski later admit it was all a joke? Who knows, one day even you may admit that you don't really come from the moon Juliabam.

Talking of that, I read something about there being a recording of Neil Armstrong saying there is something like a person on the surface of the moon (Juliabam, please don't say it was you). Apparently he said this on a transmission from Eagle.

Anyone else heard this?

What about Roswell? I don't believe that autopsy film, but something weird happened there.

[ajc2000]

Beam me up scotty.

I belive in alian life but don't think any have visited us. there will be some kind of life somewhere else in the universe.

[wsdler]

UFO = Unidentified Flying Object. If you can't identify it, it's a UFO... therefor I believe however, I believe everything in our skies are terrestrial (with the exception of meteorites). Now that said, I do believe that aliens exist as the math clearly supports it. I don't believe they'd be visiting us. Why? because our technology is so freakin' ancient compared to what they would have if they indeed had a capability to "fly" here. Any culture that has the ability to visit our planet has necessarily mastered traveling faster than the speed of light. As far as our understanding of physics goes, that's technically not possible. Maybe we'll discover a way to travel faster than light one day, there's some interesting theories out there but as of yet... nothing. If if the laws of physics does allow it that technology would probably be thousands if not tens of thousands of years off. So there's that. Now let's take a look at our own technology. What don't we use all that much of anymore? Spy planes. Why? Because satellites are pretty much doing that job now. We no longer have the need for a manned mission to spy, we do it by remote. We also tap the communications of other countries (in addition to our own citizens without a warrant... GRRRRrrrrr). So, if an alien culture wanted to study us they could send an unmanned probe. I'm sure if they have the technology to travel faster than light, that they also have the technology to go undetected from our comparatively stone age technology.

What about the argument that today's technology was the result of discoveries made by capturing an alien craft? Unlikely! Again... any civilization that's advanced enough to have technology that can propel them at speeds faster than light (without killing them... and a vehicle that was capable of that would literally be Star Trek like in nature... the need for inertial dampers, etc. otherwise the acceleration would either take many many years, or it would instantly kill you) is going to have technology so advanced that there's no way we'd be able to analyze it or even figure out how to use it. Consider this. Imagine if we could go 300 years back into the past with something as common as a laptop. There is NO WAY they could figure out how the heck it works and how to manufacture something similar. Screw 300 years... try 100 years ago. They lacked the tools to do any kind of meaningful black box testing. So, we're talking about hundreds of years here. Again, any civilization with light speed technology would be THOUSANDS of years ahead of us. Our sophistication would literally be stone age by comparison (we'd be talking about organic being who's biological abilities would be enhanced by very advanced technology... it's already happening in our current times (digital retinas, artificial hearing, pace makers, controlling machines with brain waves... most of which was developed to help people overcome handicaps but eventually it will get to a point where people will use technology to enhance their natural abilities... I can almost guarantee it)).

I'm also guessing we probably wouldn't be that interesting to research considering how primitive we would be comparatively.

What about the argument that they want to take over our planet and wipe us out? Again, unlikely We have devastating nuclear weapons in our current time. The current world arsenal could destroy this planet several times over. Think about how incredible their weapons would be? They could probably just vaporize us without damaging anything else on the planet with the press of a button. Go beyond that though. Physicist Michio Kaku theorizes in his book "Hyperspace" that any civilization sophisticated enough to reach that level of technology would have advanced to a stage of civility where they were totally non-aggressive. The chance for a civilization to self annihilate would seem to be fairly high. Just look at our current situation? What would it take to spark a nuclear war. As time goes on technology will advance dramatically and that means the weapons will get more advanced as well. The greater the time period you look at, the greater the chance is that we are going to obliterate this planet (either by war or by some kind of pandemic disease due to the damage we're doing to the planet). I think it would stand to reason that other sentient cultures would probably go through similar stages of development so the chances of a civilization getting to the point where technology has been sufficiently mastered to attain faster than light travel is also sadly unlikely.

All that said, I believe that there must be intelligent life out there somewhere. I just don't think they're visiting us. Although who knows... from all the reports of anal probes maybe there's a species out there that really likes butt sex.

[babyfett]

Have you ever considered the possibility that we humans are the most advanced lifeforms in all of space? Maybe aliens from outer space are not as advanced as us?

[Repaid1]

Ahhhh... come on Fett...did ya read the post above yours, kinda blows that theory

[gbw_dl]

im one of those people what if there was anything out there, god would have said so in the bible(not trying to upset any one). even though i dont believe in them i am still one of those "what if" people, and then when im outside at night, i freak out.

[Mintcola]

I believe in spaceships. In fact, when I was young, I was was absolutely terrified at night because I knew there would be lights outside in the sky, and there was a great chance some of those lights weren't a plane or helicopter. I live pretty close to an airport, so planes are always flying about, and I felt I was pretty good at telling which moved and blinked like a plane, and which moved all slow, disappeared, and reappeared in some other spot.

Anyway. I think in 5th grade or so I totally bugged out because I saw a rather large -something- in the sky. It was just kinda chilling there... really pale greenish, kinda oval shaped with lights around it or something. I just know I was totally sobbing at the sight, and my mom just couldn't spot it out. I don't know -how- she couldn't see it, but who knows. I could've been seeing things. I still don't like sleeping with the shades and curtains opened at night... don't want to be able to see outside at all.

[Juliabam]

im one of those people what if there was anything out there, god would have said so in the bible(not trying to upset any one). even though i dont believe in them i am still one of those "what if" people, and then when im outside at night, i freak out.

Come on, if you wanna use the bible as evidence against life in space, then explain why the bible is filled with references to "heavenly lights" that are beyond natural earth phenomenas, and "angels" coming from above to give individual persons guidance and hope, and faith. And what about the holy spirit, learning the apostles to speak in all languages of the earth, few days after Jesus had gone "to heaven"

In those times, that was how they explained what they saw - for them there was no unidentified objects, they were identified as gods creations..

How would you explain the same experiences today.. what would you call it in 2008, if a figure unlike what you were used to see on earth stood in front of you, and gave you guidance in life or certain problems to be solved on earth ? How would you explain burning bushes talking to you (besides delirium, drunkness, or simple psychiatric diseases)? and how would you explain virgin birth (besides a bad excuse for not taking care).

I'm not trying to say that God is an alien creation and that heaven is another world in the universe, I'm only saying, how would you explain things like that, if you saw it today...

[Baby Bethany]

Have you ever considered the possibility that we humans are the most advanced lifeforms in all of space? Maybe aliens from outer space are not as advanced as us?

I believe it's a bit of both. I think that their must be thousands of other life forms in our galaxy alone. Some will be truly advanced, others may just be simple animals or even single cell type life forms.

I don't believe that a hugely advanced civilization would have necessarily developed weapons or even have warfare, I think this is what we would do.

If you look at the basis for warfare it all goes back to our primitive ancestors fighting over mating. This is common to most animals on this planet. But on another world you may have a life form with no need to actually mate, so maybe they've never even fought a war or used a weapon. On the other side of the coin, they may have a history of fighting over something else instead. There is also the point that they may be able to destroy each other without a weapon, using thought or something.

Beth

[stork]

I believe there is other life out there, but I doubt they have visited us. This could be because theyre not advanced to the point where they are capable of space travel, like us, or that they are capable of space travel, but with as vast as the universe is, just havent found us yet.

I dont buy the not having visited us because of seeing us as inferior with technology and all that. They were in our place at one point and know that many people would like to know that there is other life out there and that were not alone.

As far as how long until were capable of traveling the galaxy, I think a few hundred years at most, and definitely *not* several thousand. Look where we were a hundred years ago, and look where we are now, hell, look 30 years ago. Moore's law essentially states that computer technology will double every 18 months (I know its not exactly that, but easiest way to put it). And there are several derivatives of Moore's law that expand to technology in general, and theyve been pretty close to accurate. Given the increase in the rate that were developing technology, I dont think it will be long.

In regards to how developed other life might be, when were talking about millions of years of the development of life on Earth, a few hundred years is insignificant. All someone had to do was advance just slightly faster than us, and theyd be way ahead. Also, dont forget about the dark ages. A 500 year period where there was virtually no technological advancement. Imagine where we'd be if that didnt happen, we'd have the technology of year ~2500 today.

Another thing to think about is that the odds of life being out there is high, space-capable life as well. And the odds are that there's more than one species of space-capable life out there. Now, if their nature is anything remotely like human nature has been, theres going to be war. I'm not talking about star-trek or star-wars type battles here. I'm not sure what that battle might look like, but I figure its very likely.

Part of me wishes I'd been born in a few hundred years in the future, just so I can live in that time, the time where we might be considered technologically advanced. But at the same time, I'm grateful I wasnt born a hundred years ago. Though I wouldnt have known what I'd be missing out on if I was born then, I do now.

Anyway, my post has gone on long enough.

[Baby Bethany]

Don't forget Stork, the Dark Ages only applied to Western Europe. In the Islamic world these 500 years were a golden age of technological advancement. We in the west more or less learned from these people, which in turn lead to the Renaissance.

I always think that one of the biggest ironies is that technology always makes its biggest leaps during a war. For instance, look at the advances between 1939 and 1945.....just six years. Obviously it's because we are competing for our lives, and all our time, money, and resources are spent on being ahead. Still seems a sad fact though.

Beth

[DiaperBoyKR]

A couple of points to think about from my thoughts:

First, I think it is absolutely arrogant to assume that we are the only lifeforms in the entire universe. Even from the Creationist perspective...God only created one group of children in all of His creation? I doubt it. Trusting the Bible to decide whether or not there are other sentient beings out in the universe is as shaky a basis for belief as any of the other parts of the Book of Genesis. The first five books of the Bible were passed down in oral tradition for almost 400 years before they were written down during the Babylonian captivity. The nature of oral traditions is that anything can and will change. On top of that the Bible has been translated no less than 4 times to different languages depending on the version you're looking at (KJV: Hebrew, to Greek, to Latin, to English). Now, if you look at the probability theory if you want to be more secular about it. There are probably billions of worlds in our galaxy like ours that exist in their sun's liquid water zone, with the supplies of carbon and such to support life like ours. Even if 1 planet in 10 million developed life of some form, and 1 in 100 or even a 1000 of those planets were to develop SENTIENT life, there would still be alot of potential worlds with new sentient races in our galaxy alone.

Second, I believe it is possible to achieve speeds faster than light, but I dont think it will be in the base dimensions that we understand now. We will find a way around that, maybe, I dont know. I think it more likely that we would be able to access a different dimension that would allow ships to accelerate to high speeds, that allow for apparent faster than light travel.

Third, if a race were to become totally pacifistic, they're technology development would slow extremely down. Look at the vast majority of technological advantages that have come in the last 100 years. The vast majority of them have been developed originally for military purposes. Very few have been developed for civilian or academic purposes. I agree that as long as one planet is all a race has, there is a probability that they would become more pacifistic. But lets do a thought experiment here. Assume that a sentient race were to enjoy a diaspora that spread them to thousands of worlds that were joined together in a variety of different star nations. What would be more likely? That those star nations would continue to exist in mutual harmony for all eternity? Or that they would develop treaties and such that would discourage the development of doomsday weapons or the bombardment of planetary populaces? I think the latter would be more likely.

Fourth, would we recognize sentient life even if it showed up on our doorstep or we stumbled on it? We assume that if life exists, it will resemble ours. What if this isnt the case? What if there's another sentient race thats methane or chlorine breathing? Or one thats silicon based instead of carbon based?

We dont know the answers to these questions.

Just my $0.02.

[Guest Nohg]

Fourth, would we recognize sentient life even if it showed up on our doorstep or we stumbled on it? We assume that if life exists, it will resemble ours. What if this isnt the case? What if there's another sentient race thats methane or chlorine breathing? Or one thats silicon based instead of carbon based?

We dont know the answers to these questions.

Just my $0.02.

Or a teeny tiny bacteria colony on some rock in the other end of the galaxy? Being self-aware is the icing on the cake for me, any life will do!

[rickibrat2]

they are real

other then that i do not talk about then on line

[Dill_Pickle]

Or a teeny tiny bacteria colony on some rock in the other end of the galaxy? Being self-aware is the icing on the cake for me, any life will do!

Me, it's pretty obvious that a race that can cross an interstellar gap is going to be able to conceal itself completely. It is going to be hellaciously expensive to cross those gaps, so, extrapolating from the current situation, where materials need to be worth three times their weight in gold to be worth sending to space for processing, the only thing worth sending across the gap will be either pure information or a gatherer/processor/compressor of information, such as an intelligent being with at least human-like intelligence. Whether such a being could be recognized, or would act like your typical "valley girl" on the outside, as well as looking like one, is an open question.

Aliens would be studying our "lower" form of "extra-terrestrial" life for the same reasons we study other forms of life on this planet, such as whales and dolphins.

The UFOs we see are pretty clearly the work of terrestrial humans. When UFOs were at their peak, just at the end of WWII, the US air force was concerned about what could be observed with the naked eye, as it became possible to deliver a devastating nuclear attack halfway around the world by air with very little warning. As a simple example, they equipped the anti-submarine airplanes with lights that were adjusted to match the luminosity of the plane from the front to the sky behind them, making them very difficult to see until they were quite close to their targets. Think of the "B-1" Stealth bomber.

They were also almost certainly interested in non-standard airframes, such as "flying saucers", and they had the people and resources to build and fly a few. I think the conclusion was that the nonconventional airframes offered little from a military standpoint, because the emphasis lately has been on the cruise missiles and other unmanned arial vehicles.

I also think that some of the bizarre stuff is basically a practical joke played by the pilots from time to time. Some of the rest is simply attention seeking -- notice how there are some famous people in UFOlogy, and some people making a lot of money off it, and how the distraction keeps attention off of other very real issues that need attention.

[AJbaby]

I think it is highly unlikely that we our the only intelligent life forms in the whole universe. It is just too big. That being said, i don't think any aliens have visited humans because we have only been around for a few thousand years and it takes too long to travel through space.

[lynniehyde]

There are aliens among us. Here on earth. They have been here for years. If it's comforting for you to know, they mean no harm. If they did, it would have happened, long before now. The lucky ones of us, the ones who've been abducted and exposed to their intelligence, know they are only interested in the survival of man. Maybe that's a scary thing to some. But, they only wish to study, cultivate and further our species.

They are on land, in the skies and under our seas. One day, they will reveal themselves. When we are ready.

Cuddles,

--heidilynn