Do UFOs exist?

[MidnightFlyer]

Pretty obvious what this is about.

I'm not sure on this one. It seems pretty weird to think so, but if the Universe really is never ending, surely we can't be the only inhabitants in trillions of square miles?

if they exist, are they what they are commonly portrayed as - grey / green ET type people, or are they much more similar to ourselves?

Also, some half decent inexplicable events wouldn't go amiss.

Cheers

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Well, since any object seen in the sky but which is not recognised is, by definition, unidentified until such time as it comes close enough to be identified, then the answer must be emphatically yes.

However, whether or not any form of alien intelligence is involved - that is quite another thing altogether, but as one wag once put it: would not logic indicate that if any alien civilisation is intelligent enough to construct such a means of transport then surely they would be intelligent enough to realise they should give humans a wide berth?!

 

[HugePilchard]

I'm going to pretty much agree with Peter, there.

I believe there is life out there, somewhere; in a really big universe, for us to be the only planet with life seems a bit far fetched for my liking.

Are UFOs real? Well, yes in the sense that they're things in the sky that people haven't managed to explain. Do I think they're aliens? Nah.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

UFOs exist. Ask any Air Traffic Controller, and they will tell you that UFO's are about. They are simply something flying that hasn't been identified - such as a plane infringing on a bit of airspace it shouldn't be in (most commonly military). It does NOT mean they are flying saucers, spaceships or the Starship Enterprise.

 

[chris89]

UFO's do exist and as Ralph said is the truth, most of them around Area 51 is the 'black' protects in testing.

But those who say about the ET verison yes they do exsist as no way we would be the 'Only intelligent' life in the whole universe, if they come to the planet is another thing, but for humanity sake hope they don't as i doubt they would come in peace.

Chris

 

[RyanB]

UFO's do exist and as Ralph said is the truth, most of them around Area 51 is the 'black' protects in testing.

But those who say about the ET verison yes they do exsist as no way we would be the 'Only intelligent' life in the whole universe, if they come to the planet is another thing, but for humanity sake hope they don't as i doubt they would come in peace.

Chris

I agree that we are likely not alone in this vast universe, however I do feel that the chance of the life we may likely find being intelligent is slim, not impossible, but slim.

 

[Greenback]

I also agree that given the vast scale of the Universe, there is likely to be intelligent life on other worlds. I also think that the nature of that life is going to be very diverse, and not necessarily of the humanoid, little green perosn type.

I am more sceptical about alien spacecraft. There is always some kind of rational explanation for UFO's, nothing has ever been truly unexplained.

 

[Metroland]

Yes they definitely exist, at least from the point of view things are not seen that can be explained - although this doesn't mean they are Alien.

The Area from Uttoxeter to Matlock in Derbyshire is one such hotspot, as is the central belt of Scotland. In the former, large triangular craft hanging silently in the sky were a common sight, especially in the mid-1990s and around 2000. Googling Derbyshire UFOs illustrates something is going on in this part of the world, with many, many credible witness including policemen, airline pilots, military personnel and so on. Freedom of information request reveal the very real concern the MOD have above this area, and there was rumoured to be at least one event when a jet fighter chased a UFO and crash landed in a reservoir. There's also some footage filmed by a housewife from Matlock.

I think overall it is fairly unlikely we are alone in the Universe, although whether anything has visited earth remains to be seen.

Lack of really good footage is still an issue, although far more exists than paranormal activity which is almost certainly rubbish.

 

[Madge Wildfire]

Even if intelligent life forms do exist, and have the technology to travel the trillions of miles per day necessary to visit our solar system, they are also going to be very aware that billions of relatively undeveloped lifeforms on a planet are going to be highly dangerous.

They probably went through that stage themselves millions of years ago. They will know that direct interaction is not on the agenda.

However, they may well want to monitor planets in order to see how their inhabitants are progressing. I think that in the case of the small planet we call Earth, they will be bitterly disappointed.

Remember that we seem to be ingrained with the idea that life from other planets would be prejudged as violent - people have already hinted that here without a shred of evidence, except for fictional books and films, and our own selves as a guide.

This means that when we do stumble upon the secret of how to easily escape the earth's gravitational pull and travel close to the speed of light, we are going to be potentially highly destructive. For this reason they need to keep a very close watch on our aviation capabilities.

 

[Tracked]

They've been watching us for years, monitoring our communications, and now they've seen The Only Way is Essex they're setting up the intergalactic exclusion zone ...


Or they exist, maybe have even got to the advanced space travel stage without killing each other, but have no idea we're here because the universe is quite a big place and no-ones done a map yet. How far can radio waves etc travel in the time we've had them?

 

[Bittern]

I believe in alien intelligences. I also believe that humanity has had contact with alien intelligences.

Weather balloons? Don't make me laugh.

It's also interesting to note that while UFOs are often linked with alien spacecraft, many could also be some of our own vehicles as previously noted. The interesting part is that some of these vehicles could even be from our own future. This is a theory which I don't think is considered enough. It's very possible that at some point we'll find a way to travel through time, and what better way to learn about history than to experience it first hand?

 

[WestCoast]

I echo what others have said, UFOs most certainly do exist, but as exactly that, Unidentified Flying Objects, rather than aliens.

Many do seem to have preconceived notions about aliens, formulated by the media and other sources. If they do exist somewhere out there, how do we know what they are like?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

It's also interesting to note that while UFOs are often linked with alien spacecraft, many could also be some of our own vehicles as previously noted. The interesting part is that some of these vehicles could even be from our own future. This is a theory which I don't think is considered enough. It's very possible that at some point we'll find a way to travel through time, and what better way to learn about history than to experience it first hand?

An interesting way of looking at it. However, these UFOs do visit some strange (and often rather nondescript) places!

 

[exile]

Odd that aliens started visiting about the time sci fi films started to come out - before that it was always visions of saints, devils, ghosts and so on.

 

[table38]

Odd that aliens started visiting about the time sci fi films started to come out - before that it was always visions of saints, devils, ghosts and so on.

As had been said already, with an infinite number of galaxies containing an infinite number of planets, even taking into account the Goldilocks Effect, statistically it is likely that we are not alone. Of course with the speed of light being what it is, it might take an awful long time to get here.

As Douglas Adams said, as we live in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy, so why would they even bother?

Having said that, maybe they are amongst us already

 

[Bill EWS]

Absolutely brilliant table38. I was also thinkng, that if we ever manage to reach another planet much like ourt own that they have not been as stupid as us in pruducing bloody Voyager!

 

[Mr Spock]

They do exist - i have met them and actually if you check my name you will see that I am one.

 

[Bittern]

They do exist - i have met them and actually if you check my name you will see that I am one.

I always thought you were an unidentified flying object.

Seriously, UFOs and Aliens are as much an interchangeable term as United Kingdom and England are, and it should be common knowledge that they're not interchangeable at all.

Oh, and table38, Data was an android, not an alien...or even a UFO for that matter.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Odd that aliens started visiting about the time sci fi films started to come out - before that it was always visions of saints, devils, ghosts and so on.

If you look into the matter even a little bit, you'll see that aliens visited ancient civilizations such as the ancient Egyptians.

 

[Mr Spock]

I always thought you were an unidentified flying object.

Seriously, UFOs and Aliens are as much an interchangeable term as United Kingdom and England are, and it should be common knowledge that they're not interchangeable at all.

Sorry for getting it wrong my human language still needs a bit of work.

 

[table38]

Oh, and table38, Data was an android

Yeah, but still an alien andriod

Omicron Theta Remote star whose sytem included a Class M planet where Noonian Soong and his wife created their androids, including Data, while living among 410 other science colonists. All life was wiped out sometime before 2338 by the Crystalline Entity lured there by Lore, Data's predecessor model

Anyway, maybe I meant the one on the left was the alien...

 

[Bittern]

Yeah, but still an alien andriod

No he wasn't. He was built by a human.

 

[table38]

No he wasn't. He was built by a human.

To be pedantic, alien doesn't mean "non-human", it means:

(adjective) a creature from outer space; extraterrestrial.

and extraterrestrial means:

outside, or originating outside, the limits of the earth.

I rest my case (and I'll shut up before the mods have to split this thread into a new "Do Aliens exist" one!)

 

[Bittern]

Oh yeah? Well...your face is an alien!

 

[Madge Wildfire]

While I like the idea of time travel, scientifically it seems impossible to actually go back in time so I cant get to grips with the idea that some UFOs are our own craft from the future.

After all, in theory you could come back and drop a dozen giant nuclear bombs over the planet thus destroying the humanity from which you are descended - which would be a contradiction.

Forward in time? maybe if you move fast enough - but not the other way around.

 

[Greenback]

Aye, but then you wouldn't exist to go back and drop the bombs, so humanity would survive meaning that you would then go back and...

I believe there is a technical name for this, though it escapes me at the moment!

 

[table38]

I believe there is a technical name for this, though it escapes me at the moment!

Temporal Paradox

Or as Captain Janeway used to say, effect can precede cause

 

[Greenback]

Temporal Paradox

Or as Captain Janeway used to say, effect can precede cause

Yes, that was it! Thanks!

Not a big fan of Voyager though...

 

[LE Greys]

As others have said, there are plenty of unidentified flying objects, because there are plenty of things that can fly and we cannot tell what they are. I've seen some really bizarre sights, among them a Tornado on full reheat flying directly away from me and climbing (which looked like a bright orange light hovering), six lights evenly-spaced in a row sitting off the Norfolk coast (effect spoilt by the Hercules that flew straight in from the sea between them) and plenty of odd astronomical phenomena. Not to mention the B2 I saw going to an airshow once. Odd how many cross-shaped UFOs turned up in the sixties, with pointy ones with a tube on either side in the seventies, triangular-shaped ones in the eighties and wider triangular ones in the nineties. Also odd how Lockheed and Northrop produced some very strange secret reconnaissance and bomber aircraft that looked very similar. Makes you wonder if the US DoD decided to use the UFO thing as a smokescreen for various things they didn't want the KGB to know about.

Yes, that was it! Thanks!

Not a big fan of Voyager though...

Not as bad as Enterprise, though, although that got a lot better just before they cancelled it. :-x
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

While I like the idea of time travel, scientifically it seems impossible to actually go back in time so I cant get to grips with the idea that some UFOs are our own craft from the future.

I really want that to be true, because it means that at some point in the future we will have pulled ourselves together, sorted out all the problems we've produced and developed far enough to discover how to travel in time and not mess up the future. However, I think that the UFO's pilots are more likely to be porcine than the chances of this ever happening. Wishful pessimism. :/

 

[Bittern]

I've seen some really bizarre sights, among them a Tornado on full reheat flying directly away from me and climbing (which looked like a bright orange light hovering),

Damn. I wanna see a Tornado. Preferably one that's green and powered by coal.

 

[Greenback]

Not as bad as Enterprise, though, although that got a lot better just before they cancelled it. :-x

Indeed. I watched the first episode of Enterprise and found it disappointingly dire.

I returned in the middle of season 4 by accident and was more impressed. So much so that when it was canceleld I purchased the DVD box set of that season. I still have no interest in the other seasons, having caught a few episodes since they were pretty poor.

 

[Bittern]

Only Enterprise episodes that really stand out are the World War Two ones the the First Contact sequel. Although, I do love the characters. T'Pol in particular had some interesting development.