"Our galaxy is some 10,000 million years old and contains something on the order of 100,000 million stars. It is hard to believe that in all this myriad host of suns and throughout all these countless millenia not one race has developed without avhieving a degree of practical instellar [spaceflight] capability." -John W. Macvey, astronomer
Can Life Exist On Other Planets?
The answer to that question is easily yes. Though many scientists say no planets in this solar system can support life because of a lack of water and oxygen, if a creature evolved on a planet without those things, it would not require them. And very little of the universe has been discovered, so we don't know what kind planets are out there. Many scientists also say that aliens could not have been here because technology would not allow them to travel the distance between our planets. But just as we are a microscopic part of this huge universe, we are also a fairly new edition, making it possible for many aliens cultures to be thriving while we were still learning to walk upright, which would allow their technology to greatly outdo our's. So the big question is not whether they exist, or if they could get here, but whether they've been here.
"[Aliens] are here for their own reasons. And I'm not sure what those are." -Budd Hopkins, UFO Researcher
Why would aliens travel light years to visit Earth?
My best answer for that question would be general curiosity. I mean, why are we sending spaceships to the outer regions of our own solar system, sending probes to other planets, and spending so much to study whether there is life on Mars? What we do not know is if these creatures are friendly or not. We'll just have to hope that their intentions are good.
Because they have been visiting us for so long and not done anything bad (other than possibly abducting a few people) it is probably safe to say that they are not planning to do anything bad to us. But the fact that they could possibly be taking people into their spaceships and experimenting on them could mean many things. It could just be the general curiosity theory; or it could also be that they want to live on this planet, and instead of trying to change it to their own needs, as most science fiction would suggest, they are trying to change themselves. Many women have claimed to have been abducted and impregnated, only to have the fetus removed immediately afterwards. If this is really happening we will have to hope that they will allow us to live side by side, because given what their technology must be like, chances ware that they could take us.
"The fact that life exists here tells us nothing about how likely life is to exist elsewhere... We animals and plants and fungi and bacteria all have DNA, and all share the same 64 word dictionary that translates DNA instructions into action. It would be too much of a coincidence for the same 64 word dictionary to spring up twice, independently." -Richard Dawkins, Oxford University.
In response to Mr. Dawkins' comment, to know if life could originate on another planet, you must first know how it originated on this planet. One idea is that we received the genetic material lead to our existence from an outside source. We have identified many meteors found on this planet as pieces of the moon, Mars, or other planets. Studies have shown that these pieces come from the surface of planets, making the transfer of genetic material quite possible. And with the 3.5 billion years that there has been life on this planet, we've certainly received a lot more of these chunks of panetoid, and sent out a few of our own.
Sir Fred Hoyle, professor at University College, Cardiff has suggested that diseases such as Black Death and Legionnaires Disease may have been spread to Earth by passing comets, and that many diseases that were once thought to have been eradicated have came back follow similar cycles as Halley's Comet, and thus are impossible to eradicate. And Mark Chorvinsky, editor of Strange Magazine puts forward a very convincing argument on the Venus flytrap. The only carnivorous plant found on Earth, with highly evolved organs for trapping flies (like no other plant we've seen) make it almost appear as if it's some kind of alien life form. And the fact that it thrives on heat and fire (making a descent from beyond quite possible), and is only found growing naturally in the Carolina Bays of Wilmington, NC, in a circle made up of crater, most likely from a meteor shower seem to support that scenario.
So are those the only thing on this planet that could have originated from extraterrestrial means? Or could a similar beginning have given birth to all life on this planet, including us? According to just about every theory of evolution, we began as single-celled organisms and slowly began improving. So how did these cells get here? When the government announced that they had found bacteria on a rock from Mars, the idea spread that this could have been the spawn of life on this planet, making us all "Martians." But that was far from the first time a theory like this had developed. Sir Fred Hoyle also hypothesized that comets could be flying around the universe, spreading similar genetic material to other planets. And if they landed on a planet with the right conditions (some kind of atmosphere, some kind of water, specific amount of heat), it could develop into life similar to our own. But just how similar?
"Any extraterrestrials reported are always described as essentially human in form, which is so unlikely a possibility that we can dismiss it out of hand." -Isaac Asimov, author.
Although it is quite possible that we could have originated from the same genetic material, what's the probability of them actually looking like us? When human life first developed on this planet about 100,000 years ago, it was not the same it was today. When the world changed, we had no choice but to change with it. And when people moved to different parts of the planet, they had to adapt to the changes in climate and resources, often leading to changes in height, skin colour, and eye shape. Were they to move to a completely different planet, they may have to deal with being at a different distance to the sun, and more, less or completely different and water animal/plant life. And if the genetic material that we originated from were placed on an identical planet and checked back on it in another 3.4 billion years, it could look similar to us, but it very likely would differ in appearance quite a bit, because different mutations are bound to occur. This just could explain the Reticulan, or Grey alien, the most commonly encountered alien race.
It is believed by some people the the greys look exactly like humans, other than their colour, head shape and eye shape. That could most likely rule them out as actually existing, if it were true. It is not. No UFOlogist has ever said that this is true, the belief most likely stems from the way that grey aliens are usually drawn, which I believe to be similar to the way that people say that Darwin said that man evolved from ape: Anti-evolutionists say that this is not possible, overlooking the fact that Darwin never said that man evolved from ape, but that's how he has been quoted repeatedly. Anyway, getting back to the greys, they have been described as grey in colour, large heads, long, black wrap-around eyes, a tiny slit for a mouth, a small bump with two holes in it for a nose, holes for ears on the sides of their heads, long, thin arms that go down to about where their knees are (or at least would be on us), with long fingers, four on each hand. They are also very thin, and have been reported to be anywhere from 3.5 to 7 feet tall, which would suggest a completely different build. They have your basic humanoid like appearance as in, two legs, two arms with hands and fingers, head with eyes, nose, mouth and ears, yet differ from us in many other ways. And that's just what we can see. We know nothing of their inner organs, other than they probably have either less or small organs in the abdominal region due to the smaller size. Another thing about them: from what government people who have later come forward have said, they have no sex organs. Or at least not in the very human between the legs type of deal. They could reproduce in some other way, or possibly do it by cloning (I once read something that said that they have been reproducing by cloning for a long time, and the genetic material is know wearing thin, which is why they have a tendency to abduct people and impregnate them. Although I can't immediately rule this idea out, it doesn't seem that likely to me. First, how are they impregnating people? Wouldn't it be a better idea to just take some DNA and clone a hybrid? And second, how did they get to the "reproduce by cloning" stage in the first place? Did they decide that cloning was a superior way to reproduce, so they genetically engineered that species to not have sex organs? Sounds to me like this person heard that greys abduct and impregnate people, and have no sex organs and just put two and two together).
The there are the Neonates, who are similar in appearance to the greys, but are shorter (3.5 to 4 feet), smaller eyes, larger heads, and a general fetus type appearance (They look a lot like the beings in the film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"). Also very similar were the bodies seen at the Roswell crash, who have been described as "little people", with a child like appearance, large heads and wrap-around eyes (though smaller than most Reticulan). With their similar appearances, it is probably a safe hypothesis to say that these beings all come from the same planet, but possibly different parts of it. And maybe on their planet their are a couple different dominant species, the way that for example, Cro-magnons, Neanderthals and many other ape-like creatures once existed on our planet. But lets get back to us humans.
When asked the question of whether an alien race found on another planet could look like us, the response most scientists and UFO researchers alike would give would most likely be no. So if you ever hear a story about an alien resembling a human, it is quite likely that this story is false. Also, if you hear a story about an alien that looks just like a human, only with green skin, four arms or antennae, it is most likely a hoax also (It would have to resemble our planet, only different in the sense that it would require it's inhabitants to have green skin, four arms and antennae. Where the hell can you find a planet like that?). So how would explain all the sightings of humanoids from another planet? If you examine most of these cases, you find that they are probably hoaxes, most likely attributed to an overactive imagination, delusion or a practical joke. But there are some cases that sound more credible, and still remain unexplained, such as some cases involving the Nordics, also called Blondes and Talls, who resemble tall people with long blonde hair. One such case is Travis Walton, who claims to have been abducted by greys, and while on board their ship encountered three men and one woman that were about six feet tall, with long blonde hair, and not a single blemish. Eventually the woman approached him wearing some kind of oxygen mask. After that he woke up on the pavement, while he saw a circular object rise up and fly away. After this occurrence he was examined by many psychiatrists, all who testified that he was telling the truth.
What could have happened to Travis? Was he taken by intelligent life forms from beyond our planet? If so, what were those humanoids doing there? Were they other abductees, who had possibly been with them for a long time, or maybe they were the results cloning. Or was it something else. What other explanations are there for this, and possibly many other UFO sightings and cases of alien abduction? Here are some of the most popular UFO theories other than alien spaceships:
Alternate Dimensions:
These crafts are from Earth, but a different Earth, occupying the same space as us, but that we are unaware of, where somewhere in history something different happened (for example: What If...eveyone was tall and blond?), or maybe where a completely different dominant species evolved in the first place (which could be an explanation for many other UFO sightings). This could also explain why they would want to abduct and experiment on people: the chance to study life in another world.
Time Travel:
In the future the secret to time travel is discovered, and the people of the future are now going back in time, in big flying machines. This could explain the advanced technology (maybe aliens have a head start on us, but what if we had an opportunity to catch up on them?), and the "missing time" (they have mastered how to control time). This could also provide some insight onto why the abduct and experiment on people-what anthropologist hasn't dreamed of actually going back and studying these people, and not just what they've left behind? Although by doing this they could risk changing the time line, which would probably be why the always try to return people to the same place they were before the abduction.
Apparitions:
With all of the ghost sightings people have seen of not only ghosts, but "phantom" buildings, trains, ships and cars, it is by some people believed that some people that there is some natural phenomena that "records" certain things, then "plays them back" later. Perhaps whatever this thing is can also generate flying machines.
Space Animals:
These are not piloted spaceships, but large flying creatures that live in outer space. Hey, it could happen.
Natural Phenomena:
The universe us widely unexplored, but so is our own planet. Some ideas include swamp gas, in which rising phosphine and methane ignite and create globes of blue flame ("That happens to me when I eat Dodger Dogs", says Mulder), or "Earthlights", a theory that has never been proven, but states that tectonic stress below the Earth's surface can create lights (it is also theorized by some that whatever is creating these lights has intelligence).
The Human Mind:
Whether you're a skeptic or believer, it is widely accepted that the huge increase in UFO sightings is due to a cultural belief (things that have been seen before and thought to be other things are now being called alien spaceships). First identified by Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark in their 1975 book "The Unidentified", they suggested that many UFO sightings are the result of a combination of cultural beliefs and a visionary experience (such as a natural phenomena, or catching a glimpse of one of those flying space creatures.)
Hypnosis:
This may have been a fairly reliable method of retrieving memories of alien abductions back when they were first coming around and many people were giving similar stories, but now that nearly everyone has heard those stories, so if someone now disappears and turns up later and undergoes hypnosis to try to find out what happened to them, it is likely they could give a typical alien abduction story when nothing even happened to them. And after this hypnosis session has occurred, they go around with this false memory in their head. Also, if the government does know about the existence of extraterrestrials and wished to cover it up, it is suggested that certain alien abductions are actually done by government agents and the people are hypnotized to believe they were taken by aliens. Then later the case can be investigated and revealed to be a hoax, which makes other cases look less credible.
Tectonic Stress
Similar to the Earthlights theory, this idea was proposed by neuroscientist Michael Persinger, and suggest that tension below the Earth's surface can not only create lights in the sky, but stimulate the brain's own electromagnetic activity, creating hallucinations that are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. What you would see would reflect your own personal beliefs, and a believer in extraterrestrial life just may see some kind of huge spaceship piloted by intelligent life from beyond Earth.
So what does this mean? Many of the latter involve UFO's being a part of our culture, which they certainly are. They're on television, in movies, books, the internet, and are discussed by people worldwide. But how did this whole thing start anyway? Did one person have this hallucination, and tell a bunch of people, which prompted them to have similar hallucinations? Or was it all just made up by people out for money-the real little green men? And what about the earlier ones? Some of them may sound possible, while others even more preposterous than alien spacecraft. I believe this can best be answered by one man:
"While I accept that parallels [between UFO's and interdimensional travel] can be drawn in many cases, there is no such way they can be drawn in all cases. First, it is impossible to reconcile the hypothesis with reports of recovered vehicles and bodies, as well as with those involving an ongoing physical action. Second, although many encounters may seem "supernatural" to us, we should never underestimate the mental and technological potential of an advanced extraterrestrial species, who in my opinion, may be able to manipulate space and time in such a way that they can function in other dimensions. Unbelievable? Of course! So was manned flight, television, the atom bomb, space travel, microchip technology, and many other terrestrial achievements which we now take for granted. By the same token, extraterrestrial abilities may be unbelievable and indistinguishable from magic". --Timothy Good, UFOlogist
From "Alien Contact: Top Secret UFO Files Revealed"
1993, William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York.
