Space Sciences The UFO Thread

[FortyTwo]

The more I look into this phenomenon, the more it fascinates me. Not because I am drawn to the paranormal or jump to conclusions far before suitable evidence of specific circumstances is found, but because there is just so much on it and much of it is very unexplainable with our current viewpoints and technology.

Post favorite UFO pictures here, stories, and whatnot.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I don't have any specific theories or anything. My view is that it's just incredibly arrogant for humans to think they're the only (intelligent) life; there's got to be life on other planets in the universe, somewhere. I also think it's arrogant for humans to expect all life to be carbon-based and require water to survive, so there's probably life out there that we might not recognize as "life."

I'm always interested in theories of alien life.

 

[FortyTwo]

Oh, absolutely! There's no doubt at all that alien life exists, even of the caliber we recognize. I'm not so sure that I'd jump to the conclusion that it visits us, though.

In science, the less assumptions you make, the more likely you are to be right. So I turn to atmospheric anomalies, hoaxes, misunderstandings, and secret projects before I go to aliens when I see a UFO picture.

Going off the "unconventional life" type discussion, and a bit off-topic actually, many people think that the Universe itself is one gigantic organism.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I probably mentioned already that I read a book this year about UFOs by Leslie Kean and it was really fascinating!

 

[Calliegirl]

With the size of the universe, I would expect the odds to be in favor of multiple forms of life out there somewhere. I think (hope) we have been getting visits for a long time.

I agree, thinking we are the only intelligent life is very arrogant. But, I do sometimes think, what if somehow the right conditions never came about anywhere else and we are the only life, and we're destroying it all. What a sad, lonely, and scary thing it would be if it were true.

I read Whitley Striebers "Communion" when I was young, and loved the idea of aliens visiting, although it scared the hell out of at the same time. The abductions didn't sound like much fun.

 

[beancounter]

I believe there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

However, given the vastness of the universe, it's unlikely that we have been visited.

 

[Envy]

Thinking that we are the only intelligent life right now isn't arrogant though.

Considering that the chance for the right conditions for life to appear may be pretty small, and that civilizations die out, it might not be all that unlikely that we are one of the few "intelligent lifeforms". Depending on if it's based on other materials than carbon, like silica or otherwise, sapient and self-reflecting life may develop earlier, and thus die out faster on other planets. Uh, I'm only rambling.

 

[beancounter]

Thinking that we are the only intelligent life right now isn't arrogant though.

Considering that the chance for the right conditions for life to appear may be pretty small, and that civilizations die out, it might not be all that unlikely that we are one of the few "intelligent lifeforms". Depending on if it's based on other materials than carbon, like silica or otherwise, sapient and self-reflecting life may develop earlier, and thus die out faster on other planets. Uh, I'm only rambling.

Good point. Life may have developed a billion years ago, but died out long before we came around.

 

[FortyTwo]

There's very little doubt that civilizations at all stages of development, before us and beyond us, exist somewhere. I just think that they're probably nowhere near us, considering the incredibly low probability of life coming about and what we can see so far.

I mean, just look at the Hubble Deep Field. We might not even be alone in our galaxy, let alone billions upon billions.

 

[beancounter]

There's very little doubt that civilizations at all stages of development, before us and beyond us, exist somewhere. I just think that they're probably nowhere near us, considering the incredibly low probability of life coming about and what we can see so far.

I mean, just look at the Hubble Deep Field. We might not even be alone in our galaxy, let alone billions upon billions.

Yes, given the billions of years and billions and billions of stars, statistically, there almost certainly is (or was) life elsewhere in the universe.

 

[ledboots]

Billions and billions...

 

[Moll Flanders]

I was tired the other day and didn't finish what I was going to write. The book I read was about some of the UFO sightings reported by government officials and pilots which belong to the 5% or so sightings that don't have a easily explainable cause. The writer was making some very interesting points about the secrecy the US seems to have surrounding their UFO experiences which is the opposite to some European countries and it was written in a very undramatic way.

I didn't realise there had been so many UFO sightings, when I researched the reports online I saw there have been some in my local area but they sounded like they could be Chinese lanterns in the sky at night.

This probably does sound arrogant but I wondered if UFOs were actual spaceships it could be humans from the future coming back to look at us like people go on safari to see wild animals.

 

[beancounter]

I was tired the other day and didn't finish what I was going to write. The book I read was about some of the UFO sightings reported by government officials and pilots which belong to the 5% or so sightings that don't have a easily explainable cause. The writer was making some very interesting points about the secrecy the US seems to have surrounding their UFO experiences which is the opposite to some European countries and it was written in a very undramatic way.

It occurred to me once, that the gov't may be encouraging the public's interest/belief in UFO's in order to distract attention away from secret (non-alien) military projects.

While I've learned never to say never, even if there is intelligent life out there right now, given the distance between stars and a biological life time, it just seems unlikely that we've been visited...Unless they've either found a way to travel faster than light, or sent robotic probes.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I wonder if in fact there is a whole galactic civilization out there, only we are in some sort of quarantine. Maybe contact with us drives them mad, so they keep us apart from them, or their subconscious protect them from us, so they just don't see us, or hear our broadcasts. Probably when they fly down here, they are as surprised as the pilots that see them, and then they fly off, and try to forget us.
I thought that maybe the only safe way to contact us was crop circles.

 

[Moll Flanders]

It occurred to me once, that the gov't may be encouraging the public's interest/belief in UFO's in order to distract attention away from secret (non-alien) military projects.

The writer was saying that maybe there is a deliberate attempt to belittle any reports of UFOs to make the general public think it was a joke when people said they saw a UFO. She was just saying that was one theory of course. If any country (say the US) had the military capability of any of the technology that were reported by these officials in the book you would think they would be able to dominate the rest of the world and you would think they wouldn't want to hide it.

I'm not saying I'm convinced one way or another but it was an interesting read.

 

[FortyTwo]

A few of one of my favorite sightings.

 

[ledboots]

When my dad was at university in the 1940s, he and some of his friends (engineering students) tied a pie tin to a clothesline that was set up between 2 buildings. They lit and photographed it pretty well, and there was some investigation of it as a ufo before they admitted the prank. I have a copy of the photos somewhere.

And I thought the time machine idea ↑ was pretty cool.

 

[Envy]

A few of one of my favorite sightings.

looks phony.

 

[FortyTwo]

looks phony.

It's one of the single most convincing UFO picture sets I've ever seen. If you want phony, I can show you phony!

 

[Moll Flanders]

Where was that photo taken and what year FortyTwo?