Does anybody believe in aliens?

I love to get peoples opinions about this because so many have their own beliefs about this, and i would like to hear yours...

IMO, there are too many galaxies, and too many planets in the universe for ours to be the ONLY one with life. i watch alot of shows about UFO sightings and stuff like that, and i very much believe some of the people who talk about it. the pictures ive seen, and the videos too, it looks real & tho there isnt any real proof, i think the UFOs in the pics are real. I was just watching a show on the National Geographic channel, & they were talking about how some peple believe that even if there was other life out there, there is no way they could travel here, because we cant travel to other galaxies. so the aliens cant. most think of aliens to be more advanced in technology than we are, so why would they think they couldnt travel here? i think its true.

What do yuo guys think? Do you think aliens are real?

Yeah, I have to admit, I do, sort of. I lived in a town with some weird cattle mutilations and such, so that's probably where I get that!

There was a similar thread some months back. I'll just repost what I said in there:

The study of Astronomy is like history: the study of things past. Only with astronomy we have no idea what the current situation is because of the vast distance and time required (thousands, millions, billions of years) for light and sound to travel to our mini planet.

Unless faster than light (FTL) or forms of ultra-space traversal are possible - despite what all of the SciFi genre promotes heavily - there is little chance of any two sentient species from different planets meeting unless the planets reside in the same solar system. Calculations of the time required just to jump from one galaxy to the next at light-speed is in the millions of years (!). That pretty much rules out extra-galactic invasion without FTL travel. Heck, the travel time to the nearest star at light-speed is something like 4 years (at more realistically possible speeds it may take 20 to 40 years).

Interestingly, the situation is bleak just by merit. Like evolution on Earth that took a long time (and stable conditions) for a sentient species to evolve (4.5 billion years), I think that the universe operates in similar ways. It is very probable that conditions weren't stable enough for so many billions of years (of the estimated 15.5 billion) for planetary systems to evolve. Also, theory shows that elements of more complex types required long times to accumulate by the dying of many stars. In other words, sentient lifeforms may not have been possible more than 5 or 10 billion years ago which would mean that sentient lifeforms may only 'now' be popping up in the universe due to stability and a rich source of elements. And since the universe is like a history machine, each sentient lifeform would be practically isolated by several factors: expansion of the universe and speed at which light (EM) travels.

For instance, a sentient lifeform 5,000 light years away would need to have peaked technologically at least 5,000 years ago (our time) for us to receive any transmissions. And for them to receive our transmissions they would need to have survived technologically for 10,000 years beyond that (think of the two planets separated by 5,000 (light) years each travelling along parallel lines of time (upward for future let's say). Their signal leaves at A and arrives at Earth 5,000 years later in which time both have moved 5,000 years along the timeline. We respond with a signal back that takes another 5,000 years to arrive at A. Not exactly instant communications.

So do I think they saw UFO's? They certainly saw something and because they can't identify it that means it's an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO). Does that mean this object was "Extraterrestrial"? No. Just regular air crafts and the mind playing tricks. Nothing more.

Does that mean there aren't other lifeforms out there somewhere? It would be arrogant to think that we are alone in this vast space. But those on other planets are probably struggling with their own limitations for space exploration, just like we are. Will we ever meet with one another? Doubtful unless we can each overcome the limits of time and space travel.

For those that don't know about "light years":

A light-year is a unit of distance. It is the distance that light can travel in one year. Light moves at a velocity of about 300,000 kilometers (km) each second. So in one year, it can travel about 10 trillion km. More precisely, one light-year is equal to 9,500,000,000,000 kilometers.
Now if a place is 10 light years away, that is more than 100 trillion km! It would take you 10 years travelling at a constant speed of 300,000 km/second to reach that destination.

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Then there is the whole "mass" problem

The more you accelerate towards the speed of light, the more massive and the more energy required to propel the mass. That's why the only thing nearing light speed is, well, light (massless particles). By the time you're moving 80% the speed of light you'll need a couple million spare stars for power.

Longetivity, modes of transport, take-it-all-with-you are all speculative unfortunately. The problem with the latter 'entire biosphere' ideology is that, for instance, Earth isn't a closed system. It has been fed by asteriods, comets, dust, solar radiation, and extra-solar radiation for billions of years. Life on Earth is dependent completely on the Sun - ignoring vent life and subsurface microbes. So, you'd essentially want to take your entire solar system out for a spin - what would you use for propulsion?

I know I sure wouldn't want to come face to face with any species that has the ability to throw their solar system around like a football. And where would they park it? I'm sure that we would notice if a solar system was parked in our back yard,

IMO, there are too many galaxies, and too many planets in the universe for ours to be the ONLY one with life

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That's exactly how I feel about it. IMO, there's no way that we can be the only lifeform in a never-ending universe.

sure i do , they just keep coming accross the borders all the time.


oh you mean space aliens, maybe.

"A light-year is a unit of distance. It is the distance that light can travel in one year. Light moves at a velocity of about 300,000 kilometers (km) each second. So in one year, it can travel about 10 trillion km. More precisely, one light-year is equal to 9,500,000,000,000 kilometers.
Now if a place is 10 light years away, that is more than 100 trillion km! It would take you 10 years travelling at a constant speed of 300,000 km/second to reach that destination.

Then there is the whole "mass" problem"


that is based what we think, not what we know, and based on current tech. i am sure 100 years ago people did not think people would ever fly, or break the sound the barrier. I remember reading books where some of the wolds top people said the sound barrier could never be broken.
well in truth it could not be with there current tech.

so maybe , maybe not

Originally Posted by KittKatt

That's exactly how I feel about it. IMO, there's no way that we can be the only lifeform in a never-ending universe.

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we are no the onlyi lifeform, we have cats.

Originally Posted by theimp98

that is based what we think, not what we know, and based on current tech. i am sure 100 years ago people did not think people would ever fly, or break the sound the barrier. I remember reading books where some of the wolds top people said the sound barrier could never be broken.
well in truth it could not be with there current tech.

so maybe , maybe not

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Well, just to be sure we're accurate (we ARE talking science, right?), the Wright brothers first flew 105 years ago, and the Montgolfier brothers invented the balloon in 1783, so flying was not all that shocking 100 years ago.

OK, picky enough.

But it's true the study of astronomy is a study of history. There are undoubtedly stars we are admiring at nigh that are no longer in existence. Earlier this year, there was a supernova that was visible here on earth; I believe that star actually died 7.5 billion years ago.

I believe there is likely life elsewhere. I see no real reason to assume they're a lot more or less advanced than us, but I can make arguments on either side. But they're not visiting us, of that you can be sure.

Yes I believe there are other beings. To think we are the ONLY people in this universe is a bit nieve IMO.

And DH had an encounter with aliens when he was about 10 yrs old (including several of his brothers and sisters). They saw a UFO land (or crash) into the lake when living on the Indian reservation. And the last they remember for a few hours was seeing an alien (DH thinks it was a good 7 feet tall - taller then normal person) coming up the path to the lake and approaching their trailer home.

The next thing they know all the kids woke up at the same exact time. It was about 3-4 hrs later.

We did a little researching for UFO encounters in the month/year this happened. We found an article about someone traveling north of where the lake was and the car problems they had as the UFO came really close. They also mentioned that when the UFO left (and the car started again) 3 smaller UFO's left the main one - and the directions they headed. One or two of them were headed in the direction of the lake where DH lived. Good chance it was one of those smaller UFO's that crashed or landed in the lake and that is what they saw.

Thre has to be other life out there. Religon has put the kibosh on that, God created this world and yadda yadda..
Moving back to a place I can see the sky, in all its glory I wonder who is looking back at my part of the sky. We are just a blue smudge, how much more is out there? We have discovered life on this planet where none is suppoed to live (Black smokers, lots of life there, in the ocean,they live on nitrogen who a thunk i)
We are not alone.

Originally Posted by Trillcat

Thre has to be other life out there. Religon has put the kibosh on that, God created this world and yadda yadda..

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Not necessarily. I have heard Jesus words, "Other sheep have I that are not of this fold," as a reference to life on other planets.

Of course, that's the danger of interpreting anything.

I don`t believe but I know someone who believes they built the Pyramids

You mean "aliens" as in life on other planets, right? Statistically, that has to be true.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

And the last they remember for a few hours was seeing an alien (DH thinks it was a good 7 feet tall - taller then normal person).

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Yes, most people on this show who had said they had encounters, said that the aliens were really tall. they were saying around 8-10 ft tall though.

And they were also saying how people think they cant come here because nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. they were talking about wormholes & vortexes that could get them here faster. idk, i dont understand alot of science. it wasnt my best subject

Originally Posted by KiTTYL0VE4

I love to get peoples opinions about this because so many have their own beliefs about this, and i would like to hear yours...

IMO, there are too many galaxies, and too many planets in the universe for ours to be the ONLY one with life.

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I agree entirely with this statement.

Since the Bible speaks of "angels" before man was created, I kinda think those just might be the "aliens" that are visiting us. We really don't know what the true form of an alien may be - just that they are different then man. They may be capable of changing their appearance somewhat as the angels that visited man in the Old Testament looked similar to us - enough for us not to be totally afraid of them.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Since the Bible speaks of "angels" before man was created, I kinda think those just might be the "aliens" that are visiting us. We really don't know what the true form of an alien may be - just that they are different then man. They may be capable of changing their appearance somewhat as the angels that visited man in the Old Testament looked similar to us - enough for us not to be totally afraid of them.

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There was a show on Discovery Channel or the History Channel about this very thing. You might want to watch it if you haven't already.

My parents were out hunting one year - probably close to 40 years ago - and before going to bed, they took a walk and saw what looked like city lights spread out all over the basin. They didn't THINK they were that close to the city and were confused. The next morning, they checked again, and there was NOTHING there...

When I was younger I believed in them, but I believed a lot of things. I do not any more.

Coco I'd love to have seen that. We only have the very basic cable (as we don't watch much tv) and so we can't get those channels

Originally Posted by mrblanche

Not necessarily. I have heard Jesus words, "Other sheep have I that are not of this fold," as a reference to life on other planets.

Of course, that's the danger of interpreting anything.

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Jesus also said "In my Fathers house there are many rooms" I take that to mean that all religions lead back to the source, but look how many wars are fought over this simple concept. Untilthe 60's I could have been thrown in jail for being a Pagan. Could also mean there is life besides our little planet. Ezekel talks of wheels in the sky. Now I dont know that aliens come to call on us, but you never know, if they are anything like us, they are adverturers, seeking out what can be found in the unknown. *cue Star Trek music* Space, the final frontier....