We Are NOT Alone!

[Fragmintz]

Check out this Yahoo! article about France opening its secret government files on UFOs to the public. This is pretty amazing. Out of 1,600 documented sightings by the French government, 25% fell into a category called "Class D", which meant they could not be explained by scientists nor were they hoaxes. That means that at least 400 sightings in France have some veracity to them. America is much more screwed up than France, so chances are that our files have 1000s of cases that fall into a Class D sighting.

In any case, I thought this was an interesting tidbit, and would love to hear people's thoughts/experience with it. Not to mention, that this would make an awesome premise for a Condemned type, mystery, science fiction thriller. "European country opens its files to UFOs confirming that conspiracy theorist, and alleged UFO abductee Jack Thompson didn't just 'make it all up' as he had been told his entire adult life. This sends Jack on a quest to find the truth about his own abduction from the swamps of FL." I think it could work! I'll write it if one of you wants to get it sold.

[GoatMother]

Cool, bring on the little gray men!

[Peench]

I guess if you thought about it in terms of pure statistics, the probability of us being the only species capable of advanced thought in the universe is pretty slim. Take this photo for example:

One peek into a small part of the sky, one giant leap back in time. The Hubble telescope has provided mankind's deepest, most detailed visible view of the universe.

Representing a narrow "keyhole" view stretching to the visible horizon of the universe, the Hubble Deep Field image covers a speck of the sky only about the width of a dime 75 feet away. Though the field is a very small sample of the heavens, it is considered representative of the typical distribution of galaxies in space, because the universe, statistically, looks largely the same in all directions. Gazing into this small field, Hubble uncovered a bewildering assortment of at least 1,500 galaxies at various stages of evolution.

If such a tiny portion of the sky which was previously thought to hold "nothing" in fact holds so many entire galaxies, the chances of us being alone are pretty slim.

That being said, I don't know about breaking the laws of physics which would permit any other beings to travel such great distances. Or perhaps they simply live longer or something? I dunno, but interesting to think about.

[Wondermonkey]

I was actually just reading that story about France's new website. Has anyone been able to get onto the site to check it out? It's always been down for me.

That being said, life was created on earth through a set of, what amounts to, statistical accidents. The greatest of which was a meteor that killed off the dinosaurs, had that not happened, who knows what we'd look like, or if we'd even exist. But, with the basically infinite spread of real estate out there, it's sort of silly to think that accidents like that aren't happening other places too.

On a somewhat related note, has anyone watched Alien Planet on Discovery? I'm sure it's old, but I caught it during the day yesterday in HD and was completely captivated. It's 99% conjecture and "what if" scenarios, but it's pretty amazing to watch.

Also, as far as this thread is related, trust no one.

[Thornes70]

You know, Pigeons are actually aliens. Think about it: you never see baby pigeons, or dead pigeons unless you hit 'em with your car. LOL

[Peench]

We had pigeons set up a roost in the bottom part of our BBQ on our patio when I was in law school. OMG are baby pigeons fugly.

[Wondermonkey]

You see baby pidgeons every day in the city. They are ugly as hell, much like their older dirt bird versions.

[D_Litch]

That Hubble Deep Space photo is what made me unable to be religious. I'm not trying to start a religion debate, I just can't believe anyone can think we are the only life-forms anywhere when there are pictures like that.

[BrewCityUpstart]

They were talking about that on Coast-To-Coast AM a while ago. They were supposed to release something and then they decided not to. Maybe someone got to them and 'urged' them not to say anything.


To say we are alone in the multi-verse is an arrogant statement.

[WormholeXtreme]

I don't know about arrogant but it can't be proven by us either way. If the government does have proof, they certainly aren't releasing the info.

[BrewCityUpstart]

Originally Posted by WormholeXtreme

I don't know about arrogant but it can't be proven by us either way.

Not yet, anyways lol

[KEEZY]

I think the assumption that religion = no life forms anywhere else is too broad, but I see your point.

A whole lot of ish had to fall into place for everything to be the way it is now. To me, that suggests that it is very probable that it could happen somewhere else... especially with such a huge amount of galaxies for it to happen on.

The truth is out there...

[Fragmintz]

Originally Posted by D_Litch

That Hubble Deep Space photo is what made me unable to be religious.

I am not starting a religious debate either so please don't delete this post!

In my experience as a religious Jew, there is nothing in Judaism that says intelligent life doesn't exist elsewhere besides Earth. In fact the eventual and inevitable discover of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe does not contradict or invalidate the Torah (old testament). It merely forces us to reevaluate our perspective of what we understand it to mean.

That is the catch 22 of having a personal relationship with an all knowing, infinite power - just when you think you've got it figured out He throws a curve ball. As I have read elsewhere, "G-d understands, and if he doesn't then he is not G-d."

Lastly, there is a great book called "Challenge: Torah View on Science" that approaches many of these questions and gives some satisfactory explanations for dealing with them. I highly recommend checking out the essay by Dr. Rabbi Norman Lamm, "The Religious Implications of Extraterrestrial Life".

Dr. Lamm says: "...the fact remains that most of the highly respected scientists of our day, eminent in their fields, do believe that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe....No religious position is loyally served by refusing to consider annoying theories which may well turn out to be facts. Torah is "a Torah of truth," and to hide from the facts is to distort that truth into a myth. Of course, it must be repeated that the theories here under discussion have not (yet) been established as true. But they may be: and Judaism will then have to confront them as it has confronted what men have considered the truth throughout the generations."

Good Hunting.

[D_Litch]

[D_Litch]

Originally Posted by Fragmintz

In my experience as a religious Jew, there is nothing in Judaism that says intelligent life doesn't exist elsewhere besides Earth. In fact the eventual and inevitable discover of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe does not contradict or invalidate the Torah (old testament). It merely forces us to reevaluate our perspective of what we understand it to mean.

I was mainly speaking of Christianity. A section of my family is extremely religious, and when you even try to start a discussion about life on other planets, they start off on a rant about how thats not possible because the bible says so. I've never read the bible, so I really don't know. Oh well...

Note* This is the last religion-based post I'll make. No need for deletion.

[Wondermonkey]

Originally Posted by KEEZY

I think the assumption that religion = no life forms anywhere else is too broad, but I see your point.

Agreed, I don't think it says anywhere that religious people can't believe in extraterrestials so lets not attack anyone's religious beliefs or desire to believe one way or another. If anything, people who believe in UFOs and Aliens share the same kind of belief process of people who are religious. That's why it's about believing, because there are only ideas to believe in. So lets leave the religion out of ETs. If they show up with their own religion, maybe we can discuss it.

has anyone browsed over YouTube for ET footage lately, they used to have some great clips...