Are We Alone in the Universe?

[Keer]

The things that run through my head at brunch...

Yeah, I'm a bit self conscious about posting this, but hey, we're all playing a game with spaceships and aliens running around so...

Full Disclosure: I've always been a believer in E.T.I. (extra-terrestrial intelligent) life. And I think that we've made contact with ET's several times during human history, whether willingly or "accidental".

There, okay.

This is one of my favorite topics and was a marathon "water cooler" debate at my job last week (it was slow). I'll try to be brief

For me, trying to put my desire to believe in check and be objective, I think that there are several indicators past and present times to give the nod to the existence of ETI and human contact with it. There are myriad stories but I'll just go with my personal faves.

- The "Foo Fighters": not the musical group, but the UFO's reported by pilots and aircrews of ALL nations beginning in WW2 continuing to present day. It could be argued that these UFO could just be X-craft of our own design that are super top secret. But what about the stories of WW2 pilots giving similar accounts of UFO? No matter how you stretch it NO nation in the 1940's had any craft capable of the flight characteristics that were reported then and still sometimes nowadays.

And many of these pilots were and still are "upstanding members" of our society with good character histories. From my experience with pilots in general, they are quick to tell you to "go to hell" (whether they are right or wrong). Not the type to make up stuff as weird as this.

- Alien Abductions: Most of these people I don't believe in but some of them I think are right on target. I liken it to what we see on Discovery Channel, Nat'l Geographic, etc. A team of scientists go out into the wilderness to monitor and sometimes capture wild animals. We sedate them, poke and prode, experiment with them. Sometimes even tag them with tracers so we can capture them again. Then we let them go. If that animal could communicate, wouldn't what it would claim sound exactly like an alien abduction?

How about if there was a race of beings more advanced than humans?How about if we were the primitve animals that they wanted to monitor and study? They might just do the same thing that we do to other "primitive lifeforms". And it wouldn't make sense to do it in Times Square. They'd "creep" in isolated areas with low population. Lessens the chance of losing a fight. Many abductees claim to have been taken in remote areas.

And last, my favorite of all, and probably the most debated, The Ancient Pyramids of Egypt. I think that they are just too damn slick for ancient times.

- the word pyramid has no known root in any Earth language.

- The great Pyramid is positioned in the exact geographic center of Earth. It's north-south-east-west centerlines cross more land than any other pair of lattitude and longitude.

- The circumference to height ratio is the same as that of Earth from equator to poles.

- The placement pattern of all 3 pyramids matches exactly the pattern of 3 stars in the Orion constellation, which once lined up with pyramid orientation.

- The Great Pyramid is 42 stories tall, made of 2.5 million individual blocks, weighing 14 billion pounds, yet it has settled less than 1/2 inch in approximately 5 thousand years.

For comparison, the U.S Capitol Building which is 200 years old has settled more than 5 inches.

{Sources: Various. Mysteries of WW2, Chariots of the Gods, A History of Secret Societies, Mysteries of the Unknown, and almost every book by Jim Marrs, lol}

I'm not short changing human capability, but I think maybe a Mon Cal Master Architect hooked up someone back then with an awesome schematic

So there it is, my "short" display of why I believe we are not alone.

I'd like to hear from my intelligent peerage (you folks are sharper than my job counterparts ). Support? Rebuttals? Anyone out there... {oooh-weee-ooh-WEE-ooooo}

[Lok'i Vidaar]

Ooooo-weeeeee-oooooooo-weeeeeee-ooooooooo

I LOVE IT!!

Well this is an awesome thing you have brought up...

I BELIVE!!! But I don't have enough substansial evidence that they have made contact with us. Your points are all awesome, and valid, I just don't know that it is enough.

And those are some great factiods about the pyramids, I had no Idea about those!

[MrDooo]

One of the tidbits I remember from the Discovery Channel mentioned how the great pyramids used to line up perfectly with the stars - from 10,000 years ago. This would indicate that they were built way before what is currently accepted as their time period. That one threw me a bit.


Dooo

[X'an Shin]

I actually at one time wanted to at the very least run a morphing simulation between the face of a Chimp and the face of a typical "gray." I should still do it, but the problem is that I could "force" it to prove my hypothesis.

I had an idea once for a novel where humans discover the reason for their genetic promotion past the chimpanzee family was due to a "push" from an alien/chimp DNA experiment done tens of thousands of years ago.

But that's just my personal fiction. I have no doubt that from just a statistical basis, there is life outside of our little pond somewhere. I was saying life is like a virus long before Agent Smith said it. Grass grows in the crack of a 12" cement sidewalk. I'm pretty sure life can thrive almost anywhere, given the proper conditions. Sentience is bound to happen eventually, given enough time.

[Ekade]

One of the tidbits I remember from the Discovery Channel mentioned how the great pyramids used to line up perfectly with the stars - from 10,000 years ago. This would indicate that they were built way before what is currently accepted as their time period. That one threw me a bit.


Dooo

You want to hear something that might send chills?

Along the lines of lining up perfectly with the stars 10,000 years ago.. one show I saw on the Discover channel a few years back said the "view holes" would line up again in 2007.

[Seret Sajet]

All I'll say on this is its vain to think we're the only intelligent life form in the universe. What I don't believe is we've made any contact yet. I imagine other life on other planets far from here just doesn't have the technology to reach us just like we can't reach them.

You want an interesting astrological fact? (ok maybe its just interesting to me)

Some background to set up first...
Over hundreds of years the Catholic church has turned Pagan beliefs into acts of Devil Worship so their followers will not go astray. True Pagan belief is simply the worship of nature and Venus, the goddess of beauty and life.

The Goddess Venus and the Planet Venus are one in the same in Pagan belief.

Now the astrology part:
The Planet Venus traces a perfect pentacle in the ecliptic sky every 4 years. Pagans documented this and used the pentacle in their divine worship of the goddess. What is impressive is over 1000 years ago the pagans were able to track such a prolonged astrological phenomenon.

[Keer]

Another of the things that at once sent chills, put things into perspective, and still "rubber band snapped" my imagination was the study last year that stated that there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all of the beaches on Earth combined.

More than there are grains of sand?! That concept is deeper than a bottomless pit!

I mean, you'd go nutty just trying to count one handful of sand grains.

I think that it was Carl Sagan the astronomer that said that "not only is outer space stranger than we think it is, it's stranger than we have the ability to think it is."

I'd accept that as an axiom, and with it it means that possibilities are endless.

[Jabe Adaks]

Simply by the sheer size of the known universe it makes it mathematically improbable for life on earth to be an isolated incident. Between that and the fact that massive amounts of water were recently found on mars, this makes it highly likely that thousands, perhaps even millions of other life bearing planets/planetoids exist.

I believe some of these instances are "duds" or short lived microbial life that dies due to factors that were only temporary and that most bear life without intelligence. It would seem likely that the vast mintority would be like us and be self aware asking the same questions we are discussing at this very moment. There may even be a few gems that are vastly smarter than us, and without trying to insult the human race, isn't too hard to imagine.

I don't believe we have ever made contact, or if we have it goes along the lines of what Keer has written that msot contact was from a very long time ago. Perhaps because it was a time when our people could cope with the idea - which I think they can not now. I also think any overly intelligent being would find us undesirable to deal with at this point in our history.

Jabe

[Gaaralow]

There is most likely intellegent live outside our planet, even if there isn't any here.

We will probably NEVER make contact with any, because planets that can support life (like Earth) are EXTREMELY rare. Someone did the calculations, and it's only an estimated 300,000 Earth-like planets that can support life in the entire universe (not positive about that number, but it was extremely low). And the conditions to make life from basic minerals narrow that number down even further (less than a thousand). Intellegent life, even fewer.

With the vastness of the universe, and considering technological advancments of any other life, it's all but impossable that we will make contact with someone else. Good thing too, cause we don't even treat each other well. If some space travelers came here, they'd most likely not get along with us. And since they'd have much better technology to get here, they wipe the floor with us.

[Keer]

...most contact was from a very long time ago. Perhaps because it was a time when our people could cope with the idea - which I think they can not now.

I agree on the "inabilty to cope" angle. A lot of people would loose it if we were openly "visited". Mass scrambling for a new "identity".

I also think any overly intelligent being would find us undesirable to deal with at this point in our history.

If some space travelers came here, they'd most likely not get along with us. And since they'd have much better technology to get here, they wipe the floor with us.

Personally, I'd give it one generation until we either stole the "Death Ray" from them and used it or they just smacked us down hard and broke contact.

One thing though, I think that world governments are aware of existence. The best eveidence that I can mention is that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), the same folks who help out with natural disasters have protocols for dealing with UFO visits/attacks.

In the Fire Officers' Guide to Disaster Control, which is a common training manual in fire stations across the country, Chapter 13 is titled Disaster Control and UFO's. The chapter goes into great detail about how to respond to UFO's and the past hazards associated with them.

Alot of time and money spent on something that "officially doesn't exist".

[E-bo Obi]

The possibilities really are endless. To tell you the truth I don't look forward to contact nor do I feel that we should sit around with our heads in the sand at the possibilities.

I don't believe we have made face to face contact in the last hundred years at least. Perhaps there have been "abductions" but I won't believe those stories til I witness it myself. Sorry not a conspiracy theorist. The only conspiracy was the pentagon spreading the alien stories in order to hide secret tests they were performing. But hell that was done in the interests of national security.

In the meantime I bought a record player and some 30's music on lp's just in case I have to save the world.

[Ekade]

There is most likely intellegent live outside our planet, even if there isn't any here.

We will probably NEVER make contact with any, because planets that can support life (like Earth) are EXTREMELY rare. Someone did the calculations, and it's only an estimated 300,000 Earth-like planets that can support life in the entire universe (not positive about that number, but it was extremely low). And the conditions to make life from basic minerals narrow that number down even further (less than a thousand). Intellegent life, even fewer.

This brings up another point. The chances of molecules randomly forming into life is ludicroulsy small. I saw a show once that argued it was all but statistically impossible for life to randomly occur, much less become intelligent life.

However this brings us into a religious argument, and frankly.. I don't care what you all think. I am here to play games.

[E-bo Obi]

Yes, but this is jibber jabber and who is to say that whatever creator made us did not also make other beings on other planets?

At any rate I don't look to the future, I concentrate on where I am now.

[Keer]

This brings up another point. The chances of molecules randomly forming into life is ludicroulsy small. I saw a show once that argued it was all but statistically impossible for life to randomly occur, much less become intelligent life.

However this brings us into a religious argument, and frankly.. I don't care what you all think. I am here to play games.

For all those who do care to see other's thoughts...

Time empowers all possibility. Infinite time leads to infinite possibilities.

"Random genesis" may be improbable but for how long? And do the surrounding conditions stay constant over infinity? Each shot can lead it closer to the mark.

In that context the argument doesn't even have to visit religion. It can remain a function of possibility/time.

[E-bo Obi]

I dunno but if aliens show up on my doorstep they damn well better bring a case of their beer and a bottle of their best whiskey. Otherwise I am shooting first and asking questions later.