Author Topic: Survey 001: Do you believe in UFOs? (Read 1202 times)

gofaster · « **Reply #45 on:** March 23, 2004, 01:44:19 PM »

I quit believing in space aliens right about the time I quit believing in Sasquatch and that "Chariots Of The Gods?" was a real documentary.

-dead- · « **Reply #46 on:** March 23, 2004, 02:17:06 PM »

Don't know.

I see UFOs all the time - but thats because I'm not very in to ornithology.

The chances of there not being extraterrestrial life seems laughably slim in such a large place as universe.

But ETs travelling between stars and visiting Terra (and without properly saying 'hi') seems a more tenuous assumption.

On the other hand, something is going on here: People do see them. Sometimes en masse. People have had strange experiences and some tell of being abducted. And this sort of thing - whatever it "is" - appears to have been going on throughout a lot of history. But whether it's down to little green (or grey) men, the elves, hallucinations of some sort, brain tumors, or some other explanation - "theory X" - is a much murkier point.

Hoaxes further muddy the waters, but the pure skeptical "it's all a hoax"/"it's all a hallucination" explanations of individual often gets so contrived and convoluted, they end up looking less plausible than the "ETs did it" theories.

Read Charles Fort's "Book of the Damned", and you find yourself entertaining the opinion that the universe is not only weirder than you imagined, it's weirder than you can possibly imagine.

I haven't really come across an explanation that seems to fit yet, so I remain a model agnostic.

Gixer · « **Reply #47 on:** March 23, 2004, 05:02:14 PM »

"The chances of there not being extraterrestrial life seems laughably slim in such a large place as universe."

True it's large and given it's vastness a possibility, but that's only half of the equation. The chances of a life form being in existence let alone intelligent in the same time frame we are in existence on this earth is almost a mathematical impossibilty. Given the short time weve been on earth compared to the time of earths existence let alone the universe.

ET is a nice idea but the odds are far greater that our only contact with any form of outside life is more likely to come in the form of a bacteria on a 5 mile wide asteroid just as it's about to crash into earth.

~~...-Gixer~~

Furball · « **Reply #48 on:** March 23, 2004, 05:06:00 PM »

anyone seen those things called 'rods'?

Capt. Pork · « **Reply #49 on:** March 23, 2004, 05:12:08 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Maniac
Yes.

Maniac, your avatar has been giving me really odd dreams for the past few days. Waking up, I keep asking myself the same question--where is this green piece of spoor on legs running with such a huge smile on its face?

Vulcan · « **Reply #50 on:** March 23, 2004, 05:46:58 PM »

I believe.... I BELIEVE...

Holden McGroin · « **Reply #51 on:** March 23, 2004, 05:54:08 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Gixer
...our only contact with any form of outside life is more likely to come in the form of a bacteria on a 5 mile wide asteroid just as it's about to crash into earth.
~~...-Gixer~~

~~My calculations say it will happen 635 km wsw of Diego Garcia at 16:28 GMT on Oct 23, this year. Do you have newer data?~~

Vulcan · « **Reply #52 on:** March 23, 2004, 06:03:39 PM »

I believe!

Halo · « **Reply #53 on:** March 23, 2004, 11:58:09 PM »

You Earthlings are so amusing!

Humans the most advanced life in the galaxy, let alone the universe?

(snorf hackle gnosh gnosh whaffle snark)

Big Bang? (snark snark snark)

But now you have blown our Aces High cover.

When you click out of this thread, you will never remember it.

-dead- · « **Reply #54 on:** March 24, 2004, 05:10:21 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Gixer
"The chances of there not being extraterrestrial life seems laughably slim in such a large place as universe."

True it's large and given it's vastness a possibility, but that's only half of the equation. The chances of a life form being in existence let alone intelligent in the same time frame we are in existence on this earth is almost a mathematical impossibilty. Given the short time weve been on earth compared to the time of earths existence let alone the universe.

ET is a nice idea but the odds are far greater that our only contact with any form of outside life is more likely to come in the form of a bacteria on a 5 mile wide asteroid just as it's about to crash into earth.

~~...-Gixer~~

I sort of concur which is why I only said "life" - and why the next sentence was "But ETs travelling between stars and visiting Terra (and without properly saying 'hi') seems a more tenuous assumption."

Nevertheless I reckon the chance for other intelligences still exists. Also, given the size of the universe and the resilience and adaptability of life (and its curious habit of confounding the best thought out mathematical probabilities), I suspect it's not quite as slim a chance as you posit - but that's just the opinion one of the over 6 billion mathematical near impossibilities currently on this planet.

Interstellar travel to earth slims those chances right back down again, but on the other hand, we've already made a start - and that's the product of an solar system that's not the oldest one around - the universe has about 4 - 8 billion years on it - quite a bit of room for development: where will we be in another thousand years - how about 2,000? Who knows - just over a hundred years ago, heavier-than-air flight was another much-touted impossibility, and we lived in a newtonian universe.