Are We Alone?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I must admit I haven't read all the posts but has anybody mentioned what one of the brightest scientist Stephen Hawking said about us constantly trying to find alien life. He said something like we might find out they are too friendly and come here to destroy us and take our resources....Just saying.:cool:
 
I must admit I haven't read all the posts but has anybody mentioned what one of the brightest scientist Stephen Hawking said about us constantly trying to find alien life. He said something like we might find out they are too friendly and come here to destroy us and take our resources....Just saying.:cool:
That seems a very strange thing for him to say. Given the technology and energy needed to get here, and to transport things back "home" at near light speed, they could much more easily make any tangible thing that they could get from us.

The only thing we have that they would not are biological artifacts (because life can be expected to evolve very differently in each environment) and creative things made by man. It's unlikely they have Hamlet, or Beethoven's Fifth, Huckleberry Finn or the Mona Lisa. But would any of that art/literature have any meaning or significance outside of our "human" framework? >Maybe< the music, but probably nothing else. To a culture different from our own, unaware of our past or our circumstances and even new to our language, "Nancy Drew and the Green Lamp Mystery" would probably be just as significant as "Animal Farm."
 
Last edited:
That is because your mind is allready made up.There is no way anyone can look at these cases and not wonder if it is true.Just because I don't have evidence doesn't mean it isn't true or didn't happen.I doubt you have studied all these cases.It's simple really.I am willing to consider the possibility that it could be true.You are not because the smoking gun evidence is lacking.I never said I had such evidence to begin with.I said it is out there for those with an open mind.If you wish to call all the eye witnesses and abductees of UFO's mistaken or simply crazy then that is your right.My right is to consider the possibility and I do.The vastness of space is so big it is almost as if it demands life to fulfill it's existance.

Just because I am not convinced of your "evidences" does not make me close minded. You shouldn't be labeling people in such way.

People reporting UFO which can't be explained (almost all have explanations BTW) is not a proof that aliens are visiting earth. That takes a huge leap of faith for anyone to believe. And if you have noticed others' responses on the topic, you would have some idea on the odd of having another intelligent life form within a "flying" distance of solar system. I have a better chance of winning a lotto 5 times in a row.
 
Last edited:
I must admit I haven't read all the posts but has anybody mentioned what one of the brightest scientist Stephen Hawking said about us constantly trying to find alien life. He said something like we might find out they are (edit NOT) too friendly and come here to destroy us and take our resources....Just saying.:cool:
They better hurry up at the rate we're using everything, unless they find sea water of high value.
 
Wrong.It has nothing to do with me wishing to impose my beliefs on you or anyone else.Having an open mind means open to all possibilities.Since I am not 100% sure I consider that it might be true.Whether you are open to all possibilities or not is of no concern to me.I have no proof therefore I am open minded.You seem to disagree with that.Do you have any proof that it is not true?

I'm OK with people believing what they want to believe, proof or no proof. I'm mostly concerned with what decisions or actions people make based on their belief systems. There are those who want to spend resources to collect evidence for life outside this planet. It could be earth based or space based telescopes and detectors. It could be robot or manned visits to other worlds. At some point the amount of resources collides with other societal priorities and then we have to decide how much we want to spend on SETI.

I think there is also a spiritual component to the belief in and search for extraterrestrial life. Concluding that we are alone in the universe is not acceptable to many people. Some people want to ask aliens a set of questions to get an objective perspective on our own state of affairs. I'm not much of a spiritual guy.

The value to me of space research is that space is provides laboratory conditions not possible or practical here on earth that allow us to test our understanding of the universe.
 
They better hurry up at the rate we're using everything, unless they find sea water of high value.
Or if molecular nanotechnology takes off and we hit the singularity, all they'll get is grey goo, hehe!
 
It has been my experience that discussions of religion rarely end well.

I understand the concern.

My point was... IMO no one knows the answer to "Are We Alone".

However in a forum as friendly and courteous as this one... couldn't sensitive topics be discussed without ending poorly?

Also, given the ages of most of the participant... I'm a bit surprised the questions of mortality and theology are not discussed more often.

But as a relative newbie to the ER community I'll let it go and respect your experienced judgement.

Beam me up :greetings10:
 
Just because I am not convinced of your "evidences" does not make me close minded. You shouldn't be labeling people in such way.

People reporting UFO which can't be explained (almost all have explanations BTW) is not a proof that aliens are visiting earth. That takes a huge leap of faith for anyone to believe. And if you have noticed others' responses on the topic, you would have some idea on the odd of having another intelligent life form within a "flying" distance of solar system. I have a better chance of winning a lotto 5 times in a row.
You are free to think what you wish.I am not trying to convince you of anything.I disagree strongly with your post and could write a whole book of rebuttal.But what difference would it make to You or I or to the forum?I am ready to move on.
 
Hey what a coincidence, I've started watching all of the episodes of the X-Files this past week. I'm on season two and I'll let you know what I find out! :)

And speaking of reptile aliens taking your pain away...here's a Kentucky wonder who only sounds like he's from Texas.
 
I must admit I haven't read all the posts but has anybody mentioned what one of the brightest scientist Stephen Hawking said about us constantly trying to find alien life. He said something like we might find out they are too friendly and come here to destroy us and take our resources....Just saying.:cool:

You didn't read my post about stopping SETI just in case one of the alien race find and eat us for lunch :D.
 
I'm going with the government knows a lot more than the public and if there is a meeting, it will be like the movie Close Encounters. :cool:
 
You are free to think what you wish.I am not trying to convince you of anything.I disagree strongly with your post and could write a whole book of rebuttal.But what difference would it make to You or I or to the forum?I am ready to move on.

Huh? You initiated the thread asking for our thoughts. I offered mine in a few posts, some in jest I admit. I believe in another life out there (we are not alone) but I don't believe intelligent aliens have visited earth, government knows about it, etc.. I just don't see the evidence you see and that is being close minded? I don't think so.
 
Huh? You initiated the thread asking for our thoughts. I offered mine in a few posts, some in jest I admit. I believe in another life out there (we are not alone) but I don't believe intelligent aliens have visited earth, government knows about it, etc.. I just don't see the evidence you see and that is being close minded? I don't think so.
Just let it go.We both enjoy the topic.Let us concentrate on that.
 
I'm going with the government knows a lot more than the public and if there is a meeting, it will be like the movie Close Encounters. :cool:

More like the movie "Paul" with Simon Pegg. :)
 
I am not saying I believe we have been visited by Alien intelligence,but I am open to the possibility we have.
...
There's just been too many what I will call incidences happen over the years for there not to be something to it.There is the Betty and Barney Hill case of 1961.Then there is the Roswell case of 1947.Then there is the fascinating Bentwaters UFO in 1980.This happened on a base in England.Even those who are experienced pilots were baffled by what they saw.Then there is the Travis Walton case of 1975.There is the Weiner UFO abduction maybe 1976 or thereabouts.Then there is the Michelak case of 1967 in Canada where he saw a UFO and touched it and it left a physical mark on his stomach with radiation burns.All these cannot be hoaxes.We all want the smoking gun so to speak.If such evidence does exist and it likely does,it is in the hands by those who do not want to share it and are powerful enough to get away with it.

So do you believe these stories or not? You say you aren't necessarily believing in them...but then you say that all of them cannot be hoaxes (which implies that at least one is true - but that then begs the question "how do you know which wild fantasy is actually true, and which of the wild fantasies are hoaxes?")

And funny how all of these cases are in the last 50 years or so. Guess the aliens just happened to start showing up then? Or they didn't care about investigating us back in the middle ages, or earlier civilization times?

And are all of these reports about the same alien race? Do they have the same spacecraft? Or does our planet double as the intergalatic alien interchange where various alien civilizations visit us all at the same time, as I doubt all of these 'eyewitnesses' would describe the same aliens, exact same spacecraft, etc.

Suppose all of these stories are true - you want us to believe that the aliens came all that way to leave a burn mark on someone's stomach? Or to probe someone's rectum? Then turn around and disappear? No need to communicate with or probe any of the other world's 6 billion residents?

If they have a need to travel all that distance to examine us, why not communicate with us? Why these sporadic, handful of allegations? If you're going to make contact like that, why stop? And if they did want to examine us discretely, they are able to bend the fabric of space/time for their space travel - yet they can't wander around our planet without going unnoticed....except by people out in the middle of nowhere?

And let's take a quick look at just one random pick from your list:

Michelak case of 1967 in Canada

Summoning his nerve, Michalak approached the open door and stuck his head inside. There he saw a maze of lights on what appeared to be a panel, and beams of light in horizontal and diagonal patterns. There was also a cluster of lights flashing in a random sequence "like on a computer."
Ah, yes. An advanced alien civilization that can travel through wormholes or travel at faster than the speed of light has a spaceship with mere "blinking lights"...just like on a 1960s computer! Guess that special effects team on the 1970s Star Trek series weren't that far off with their infamous "blinking lights" that controlled the Enterprise! All you need are a few lights to turn on or off to maintain a ship traveling through wormholes. Advanced warp drives and other technological feats by alien races apparently do not accompany advanced communication display or controls technologies.

Not seeing anyone, he pulled back and waited. Suddenly, three panels slid together, closing the opening completely. Michalak then examined the outer surface of the object, noting that it was like highly polished colored glass with no breaks or seams in its surface. He touched it, and it melted his glove.
It "melted" his glove? I presume it wasn't a metallic glove, and rather a cotton or 'rough denim'-like glove. I highly doubt it dissolved the glove like a solvent would, and rather was so hot that it vaporized his glove -but at either rate, is he suggesting he had his glove partially pulled off of his hand? If he was wearing his glove like a normal person would, and if his finger was at the tip of the glove, when the glove tip dissolves/evaporates, why didn't his fingertip also evaporate? If the glove evaporated from extreme heat, then the gases would partially rise up inside his glove and burn his fingertip. If the glove 'dissolved' magically from solvents or chemical reaction, then why didn't his fingertip also meet the same fate? Or is he suggesting he somehow has a .001 second reaction time and somehow knew that his glove was 'dissolving' the absolute split second it came into contact with the UFO, so he didn't continue pushing forward with his fingertip? And if it was hot enough to incinerate his glove....wouldn't he feel the heat emanating from it before he touched it?

Oh, and funny how it dissolved his glove, yet doesn't do anything to the soil on the ground that it's sitting on.

Without warning, the object moved, and something like an exhaust vent was now in front of him. It was about nine inches high by six inches wide, and contained a uniform pattern of round holes, each about 1/16 inch in diameter. A blast of hot gas shot from these holes onto his chest, setting his shirt and undershirt on fire and causing him severe pain. He tore off his burning garments and threw them to the ground. He looked up in time to see the craft depart like the first, and felt a rush of air as it ascended.


Let me get this straight - a blast of "hot air" hit his shirt and it was so hot that it caught his outer and UNDER shirt "on fire" (and apparently left circle burns on his stomach)...yet, this same blast of hot air didn't do anything after it hit his shirt? (i.e. didn't partly deflect up and burn his face?) A story said he had 'redness' on his face...but if just air was directed at his shirt and 'caught it on fire', I would expect that air to be hot enough to actually burn his face as well.

Also - and more importantly - he describes the holes as being 1/16" diameter?!!? Do you realize what would happen if you had a series of holes that small with hot gas being pushed through it? It would diffuse similarly to one liquid being diffused through similar holes into another fluid (for visualization). In other words, the gases would slow down in velocity, and the gases themselves would spread out in shape. The alleged round circles that burned his shirt and his skin would never be caused by holes that would maintain that perfectly spherical shape - unless his shirt was touching the actual holes (which it doesn't say it was).

And what's with the "rush of air as it ascended"? An object with no 'exhaust ports' and no apparent means of combustion has a need to move air as it ascends? Funny that he never mentioned any rushing air as it DEscended in the beginning. Yes, it initially descended "160 feet away", but you would both feel and hear it similar to how it would have ascended.

Looking down, he saw that some moss had been set on fire by his smouldering shirts, and so he stamped it out.
So his shirt - which was just smouldering - somehow caught moss on fire? Looking at the pictures of his shirt for the cover of his book, there's no way in hell a few tiny burn circles on a cotton shirt would catch moss on fire.
 
Last edited:
MooreBonds sayeth:

..."And funny how all of these cases are in the last 50 years or so. Guess the aliens just happened to start showing up then? Or they didn't care about investigating us back in the middle ages, or earlier civilization times?"...

If you Google "space aliens in the middle ages" (or, something like that) you will find that our ancestors were visited as well.
 
Last edited:
One would ordinarily expect the number of UFO sightings/photos to increase roughly on pace with the increasing number of cameras around, but that has not occurred...
 
One would ordinarily expect the number of UFO sightings/photos to increase roughly on pace with the increasing number of cameras around, but that has not occurred...

... and no increased sightings of Loch Ness monster, Yeti, unicorn, ... :LOL:
 
The reason we don't see more UFO's or alien ships with more and better tech gear is because we can't get our faces off the smart phones and I Pads! :facepalm:
 
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
 
We have detected many planets orbiting other stars by either radial velocity measurements, observing the shifts in the spectrum of light from the star caused by the orbiting planet, or by occultation.....the planet passing between us and the star and dimming the apparent brightness of the star. A few exoplanets have actually been directly imaged by the new generation of large telescopes and some spectra taken to allow some conclusions to be made about the chemical composition of their atmospheres.

I have no idea whether there is "life out there"...the ingredients are there, but until I see actual evidence I'm agnostic about it. Believing in aliens is just like believing in God, both are possible....but you won't get me to say either exist without actual proof, but I will say the arguments for one are better than the other.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom