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UFOs, are they real? Do you believe?

CaloNordCaloNord Member Posts: 1,809
edited July 2014 in Off-Topic
Just something I was curious about before I go back to work, I've been watching quite a few documentaries ( though some of them are pretty bloody ballsy calling themselves such ) on the topic and would love to get some input from the lovely folks around here!

I find several cases quite compelling and they certainly raise some questions. I draw your gaze to a case in Australia in the 60's at a school near Melbourne.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westall_UFO#Unofficial_investigation

The quintessential UFO case is also worth the read;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_ufo

I found it interesting the USAAF released a statement that said they had a flying disc, then took it back the next day. Even children know, no takesy backsies. . .

I also found Rendlesham Forest to be rather interesting. I was amused that he took photos, sent them to the base lab and the photo lab said that none of them came out and then refused to give him the negatives back.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendlesham_Forest_incident

It's very possible many of these are simply black projects, natural phenomenon or easily explainable occurrences under unusual circumstances. However, there are a few there can make one generally think. The biggest problem I've had is finding information that isn't biased one way or the other. It's something that people gravitate to one extreme or the other where I tend to find myself in the middle. . . I don't think we are alone in the universe, it is after all infinite, but I don't know if all the worlds governments are going so far as building alliances and trading technology behind the general public's back. . .
  1. UFO, are they real? Do you believe?40 votes
    1. No such thing. We are alone.
      10.00%
    2. Hasn't happened yet, but we can't be alone.
      62.50%
    3. Yes, I believe they have been here, but no one is sure.
      15.00%
    4. Yes, I believe they have been here and the public is being lied to.
      12.50%
BlackravenTheGraveDiggerDemonoid_LimewiredementedDungeonnooblolien
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Comments

  • CaloNordCaloNord Member Posts: 1,809
    Bahahaha! I love those two goofs! Is it just me or are the names possibly inspired by Kang and Koloth from Trek?

    On topic, this is one my favorites.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonnie_Zamora_incident

    I found the Air Forces' letter to the CIA quite interesting.

    Major Hector Quintanilla head of the Air Forces 'Project Bluebook' wrote; "There is no doubt that Lonnie Zamora saw an object which left quite an impression on him. There is also no question about Zamora's reliability. He is a serious police officer, a pillar of his church, and a man well versed in recognizing airborne vehicles in his area. He is puzzled by what he saw and frankly, so are we. This is the best-documented case on record, and still we have been unable, in spite of thorough investigation, to find the vehicle or other stimulus that scared Zamora to the point of panic."
    elminsterDemonoid_Limewirelolien
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,963
    I'm not saying I've been everywhere and I've done everything. But I do know this is a pretty amazing planet we live on here. And a man would have to be some kind of fool to think we're all alone in this universe.
    CaloNordTheGraveDiggerAnduin
  • CaloNordCaloNord Member Posts: 1,809
    What I find most interesting, we're scouring the galaxy for planets that could harbour life, would it not make sense that if there is another intelligent species out there they might be doing the same?
    Demonoid_LimewireAnduinlolien
  • CaloNordCaloNord Member Posts: 1,809
    Yea I had thought of that juuuuust after I posted the thing! :P Can't. Edit. Polls. Drives my OCD nuts! :P
    mlneveseDemonoid_Limewirelolien
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    I can't change a poll either... forum software limitation...
    CaloNord
  • CaloNordCaloNord Member Posts: 1,809
    Vanilla need to fix that. :P Hahaha
    Demonoid_Limewirelolien
  • CoM_SolaufeinCoM_Solaufein Member Posts: 2,607
    The Truth is Out There.
    CuvAnduinMortianna
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    CrevsDaak said:

    Considering that:
    -the expectations for life to reach the level of complexity to form a cooperating body are most unlikely to happen. If there's any type of life in 2 cubic ly, I would bet that it's just bacteria or even more primitive types of life.
    -with the universe being infinite and constantly expanding, there would surely be aliens like we imagine them, but, well, maybe they are more than 0,9*10^87 kiloparsecs away, and I bet that distance isn't one of those you travel every day (one parsec = 3.16 light years, and a light year is 9460730472580800 meters long).
    -I am so cynical I would actually need to *touch* one myself to start thinking that they could be real.
    -I am mostly unable to believe in others at all
    I say:
    No.

    I believe in the infinite vastness of space there must be something, but yeah, whether we'll ever encounter it is a whole another topic in itself.
    KamigoroshiCrevsDaakmeagloth
  • NokkenbuerNokkenbuer Member Posts: 146
    edited July 2014
    Perhaps I'm just too cynical, but I assume that if an alien civilization is advanced enough to travel lightyears to reach our Earth, they probably are advanced enough to extract information from us which would not involve abductions and even the chance of us noticing their presence. The whole idea of aliens performing barbaric experiments and scouting our planet using actual aliens rather than probes or some advanced form of non-intrusive information extraction is just human fear and absurdity talking. Alternatively, they may be too advanced to find us interesting in the slightest. They probably know we exist, but simply don't care, anymore than we notice or care about single-celled organisms on a daily basis.

    In all likelihood, if intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, they are either:

    (a) advanced enough to monitor us and extract information without scouting, the use of actual aliens, or any sort of crazy abductions and experiments; or
    (b) so advanced or apathetic that they have no interest in us, or have already gathered all the information they desire and left long before we could ever detect or notice them.

    The whole idea of ancient aliens, abductions, and scouting missions are absurd and unrealistic. It may be true that nobody knows how aliens look, think, or behave, and it may be true that we can't feasibly conceive of their desires, technologies, or motives, but there is one thing I'm quite sure of: if they exist, they don't care. And if they do, you better believe they're advanced enough to avoid our detection.

    EDIT: As for those purported sightings, they're probably all either false reports, mistaken witnesses, hoaxes, or reports of human technology. Yes, it's all intriguing and at times I can find myself wanting to believe it all, but in the end I simply cannot rationalize it. I have no doubt in my mind that the world's governments are hiding information from the general public, not to mention advanced technologies currently still being tested, but aliens? Really? Yeah, I believe we aren't alone in this universe either, but I'm not so egotistic to believe that they give a damn about our species, or that we can somehow see past their million-years-into-the-future advanced tech. Come on now, people.
    demented
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited July 2014
    CrevsDaak said:

    Considering that:
    -the expectations for life to reach the level of complexity to form a cooperating body are most unlikely to happen. If there's any type of life in 2 cubic ly, I would bet that it's just bacteria or even more primitive types of life.
    -with the universe being infinite and constantly expanding, there would surely be aliens like we imagine them, but, well, maybe they are more than 0,9*10^87 kiloparsecs away, and I bet that distance isn't one of those you travel every day (one parsec = 3.16 light years, and a light year is 9460730472580800 meters long).
    -I am so cynical I would actually need to *touch* one myself to start thinking that they could be real.
    -I am mostly unable to believe in others at all
    I say:
    No.

    Not to mention that if we were to for instance get radio waves (or whatever) from some distant alien species they would take tens of thousands of years for them to get to us. By the time we recieved them the situation for this alien species could be radically different. Also we've only been producing radio waves for a very small portion of our existence as a species. So the likelihood of an alien species picking up our transmissions and responding to them (by sending a ship or whatever) by now seems (to me anyways) fairly low.
    Demonoid_LimewireCrevsDaakNokkenbuer
  • PibaroPibaro Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,989
    I do believe Borgs are out there somewhere.
    CrevsDaakCoM_Solaufein
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    I'm more into UMA's than UFO's myself. But oh well... though I must admit that all those American conspiracy theories about aliens in flying saucers and sausages sure are cute.
    Demonoid_Limewire
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Not to mention that any intelligent species with interstellar technology wouldn't even need to visit us in person. Humans bombard space with radio, microwave and infrared signals on a daily basis. Which would make it an easy task to collect all kinds of informations about us simeans. And don't get me started on the space debris which nowadays had become an miniature asteroid belt surrounding our planet. Who in their right mind would even want to visit such a trash dump?
  • CuvCuv Member, Developer Posts: 2,535
    I want to believe!
  • Demonoid_LimewireDemonoid_Limewire Member Posts: 424
    edited July 2014
    UFOs, a.k.a unidentified flying objects, are just like that; UNIDENTIFIED. Could be an experimental type/model of airplane, for all i care (especially since some of them have been missiled down). Or the prototype flying saucer of the Thule and Vril Society. Which, much like the papers of the late Nichola Tesla, ended into american hands (FBI agents or cut deals with scientists, many German scientists have been known to work with americans since the end of the wars).

    Aliens are a great phantasy theme to make films and sob stories of fame-starving loonies. Much like other things, it exploits the human's fear of the unknown, or passive drive of our own "imagination blooming by itself to self-cover the unknown", in a pitiful attempt to emulate ourselves as knowing/perceiving everything around us, just because we cannot stomach and accept that there are some things we do not know, we cannot know, and we couldn't ever understand, much less describe and analyze. Which leads to the obvious, logical result, of the awareness and ultimate realization of the futility and error in such approaches.

    I wouldn't fear/concern myself with/try to find "aliens", in front of things or in their backsides. What i am most concerned with, is HUMAN and HIS/HER activities. Because that is the most dangerous animal on the loose and in the reigns of an entire world, god help... Instead of UFOs, i would be more troubled by the H.A.A.R.P. facilities for example, the technology putting a permanent end to human dignity/privacy/decency, the spying on all telecommunications, the ability of satellites to spy on civilians and into their residence, the medicines that come to "solve" human released diseases that started as failed experiments or intended pandemic assault, that kind of stuff.

    And god, our own arrogance... Extraterrestrial life HAS to be like us, right? Two hands, two feet, one head... There IS life. But until now, only bacteria, protozoa, and simple life forms have been found, on moon and mars. I seriously hope for something more complex, at least near us, but i neither await this discovery eagerly, nor jump to easy conclusions about how they would look, based on our own looks and habits. I admit my ignorance. An ancient man who said that, history named him a sage among sages. Wisdom does not fantasize to cover its inability to perceive beyond our own limitations; it realizes said limitations, instead, and struggles to remain tightly inside their boundaries! THAT, is REAL wisdom!

    P.S. Also, it is a great scapegoat (aliens) to keep us away from prying into harmful human activities, instead...
    NokkenbuerKamigoroshiO_Bruceelminster
  • Troodon80Troodon80 Member, Developer Posts: 4,110
    I don't put any stock in conspiracy theories, but I think it is a bit silly to think that there couldn't be, or simply is not, any other advanced life out in the universe.

    Consider how life could have started here, whether you believe the big bang, primordial ooze, evolution, or a booming voice that people call God who happened to be an alien in a spaceship who planted a version of their DNA on this planet, pushing our early civilisations in particular directions*. Regardless of which one of the literally thousands of theories and derivative theories that people believe, there is no reason to think that life couldn't evolve the same way on another planet. Now consider just how vast the observable universe is. I think the more appropriate question is: what are the chances that we are alone in the universe?

    * this being one I heard someone say many years back. Apparently, it is actually a belief that quite a few people have. I am considerably more open minded than I was back then, but I still don't know what to think about it.
    Demonoid_Limewire
  • DivineEternal1DivineEternal1 Member Posts: 18
    If I had my own spaceship and could travel to a primitive world you bet I would. The temptation to troll the primitives would just be too strong for me to resist. Fly over a school building or city and then replicate me some popcorn as I watch the confusion and speculation unfold. Might even make for a good alien tv show.

    Realistically I think most UFOs are most like from earth in origin. I wouldn't mind being proven wrong though.
  • NokkenbuerNokkenbuer Member Posts: 146

    If I had my own spaceship and could travel to a primitive world you bet I would. The temptation to troll the primitives would just be too strong for me to resist. Fly over a school building or city and then replicate me some popcorn as I watch the confusion and speculation unfold. Might even make for a good alien tv show.

    Realistically I think most UFOs are most like from earth in origin. I wouldn't mind being proven wrong though.

    You're assuming an extraterrestrial lifeform would think, feel, or have the same motives and desires as you (or any human, for that matter) would. Given that these organisms, if they even exist, originated from an entirely different evolution on an alien planet likely different from Earth's in virtually every respect, I seriously doubt any such alien would even think along the same abstractions as we do, much less develop motivations and interests similar to us. While that's entirely possible, and it could be that humans are the pinnacle of evolution (and thus other lifeforms would evolve to be similar to us), there is simply not enough evidence for this and all current understanding of evolutionary science and biology point to the opposite.

    In the end, I find no reason why extraterrestrials would be interested in us whatsoever, especially if life is abundant in the Universe and therefore countless planets with primitive species of roughly the same technological level as us probably exist. If aliens exist, the likelihood of them choosing us as their prime candidate for investigation is, I presume, astronomically low. That is, of course, assuming they have interest in exploration and investigating other lifeforms whatsoever.
    Demonoid_Limewire
  • NokkenbuerNokkenbuer Member Posts: 146
    edited July 2014
    Troodon80 said:

    I don't put any stock in conspiracy theories, but I think it is a bit silly to think that there couldn't be, or simply is not, any other advanced life out in the universe.

    Consider how life could have started here, whether you believe the big bang, primordial ooze, evolution, or a booming voice that people call God who happened to be an alien in a spaceship who planted a version of their DNA on this planet, pushing our early civilisations in particular directions*. Regardless of which one of the literally thousands of theories and derivative theories that people believe, there is no reason to think that life couldn't evolve the same way on another planet. Now consider just how vast the observable universe is. I think the more appropriate question is: what are the chances that we are alone in the universe?

    * this being one I heard someone say many years back. Apparently, it is actually a belief that quite a few people have. I am considerably more open minded than I was back then, but I still don't know what to think about it.

    At this point in our species, we simply cannot know or even begin to know just how abundant life is in the Universe. There is no mathematical equation, no scientific theory, no evidence or proof of any sort that intelligent life exists anywhere in the Universe, the Earth being an exception. Yes, we may find microbes and bacteria on other planets, but this only indicates that life can exist, but not that it will necessarily (or even has the possibility to) evolve into an intelligent organism.

    Since Earth is literally the ONLY example in all of the explored Known Universe (thus far) to harbor ANY form of intelligent life, virtually any guess or opinion regarding the possibility and abundance of extraterrestrial life is possible. It could be that life can only evolve to the levels Earth exhibits if the atmosphere is like that of Earth; it could be that planets must possess certain qualities in order to even have the chance of hosting intelligent life, such as a certain gravitational pull, or a certain place in its respective solar system, or the strength and reliability of its electromagnetic barrier, etc.; or it could be that intelligent life is abundant in the Universe and that organisms can evolve into intelligent lifeforms virtually anywhere if given enough time.

    We simply don't know. And since we're the only example of life on such a grand scale, there's no feasible way of formulating any equations or scientifically sound predictions regarding the topic either. It's all speculation until the landmark event that'll change human history occurs, our first contact with an intelligent alien species—if indeed they exist at all. At that point, the argue will turn from whether intelligent exists or can exist elsewhere in the Universe to how abundant intelligent life in the Universe is. It could be that we and our newfound alien friends are the only two species known to each other in the Universe, or that other intelligent life existed but has since gone extinct through war or natural disaster. It could be that the aliens are the conquerors themselves and we're next in their path of intergalactic domination.

    In the end, it could be that intelligent life beside our own once existed in this Universe, but have all died out long ago. It could be that right now, we are truly alone because we are the last living evolved species in the cosmos. Or not. But we won't know until first Contact is made.
    TheGraveDiggerTroodon80Demonoid_Limewireelminster
  • TheGraveDiggerTheGraveDigger Member Posts: 336
    If they're smart they'll avoid us, if they're dumb they can't reach us.

    There's probably plenty of other life out there, or was at one time or another... But we can never reach them. If humans detected alien life today around the nearest star. We'd become extinct before getting half way there... or the aliens would. If we DID reach the aliens we'd just enslave them or kill them, like we do with everything else.
    NokkenbuerTroodon80Demonoid_Limewire
  • NokkenbuerNokkenbuer Member Posts: 146

    If they're smart they'll avoid us, if they're dumb they can't reach us.

    There's probably plenty of other life out there, or was at one time or another... But we can never reach them. If humans detected alien life today around the nearest star. We'd become extinct before getting half way there... or the aliens would. If we DID reach the aliens we'd just enslave them or kill them, like we do with everything else.

    You seem to have a lot of faith in human military prowess. To be honest, our only chances at defeating aliens would be if we were the conquerors and we came across a primitive civilization. At that point, however, I'd hope we would be at least a little less martial-minded. But yeah, if the aliens came to us, that means they are powerful enough to easily turn our entire planet into a charred, blackened husk—if they're hostile, that is. Even if they weren't, I seriously doubt any surprise attack on them that we could fathom would do so much as a dent in their defenses or population. Unless some extremely unique circumstance that is borderline-impossible to ever occur, on top of the astronomical improbability of ever encountering an alien civilization, I seriously doubt the human species will stand a chance against any extraterrestrial visitors.
    Demonoid_Limewire
  • TheGraveDiggerTheGraveDigger Member Posts: 336
    @Nokkenbuer‌
    Nah, I have no faith in human anything. That's what I was trying to get across with my last sentence, that even if we reached them we'd never accept them... I'm always bad at putting thoughts to words. I just know humans are butchering eachother right now as we sip coffee... killing eachother over petty things like colour and religion, and it's been this way since forever... The chance of us uniting and accepting aliens is about the same chance of meeting aliens in the first place.
    Demonoid_LimewireNokkenbuer
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    Just going slightly off topic, I have serious problems watching any movies where aliens invade or simply arrive and decide to contact Earth for some simple reasons:

    1) Any civilization that has the technology to reach us can defeat us without firing a single weapon. They just have to push some big stones in our direction and sit in their ships eating the alien equivalent of popcorn while our entire civilization is destroyed...

    2) Why would they even bother? Any resource available on Earth is easily obtained in other places. Water is more abundant in the rings of Saturn than on Earth, there is gold, iron and others in the asteroid fields. Really every time I see someone saying that Ancient Aliens came here to mine gold I have to laugh.

    3) If they want to study us then it's better to do this from far away so that their presence does not disturb the normal workings of our civilization. They could set up a listening/watching station inside the Oort cloud and we would never know it was there.

    4) Language is a barrier. They would have to translate languages that have no roots in their own culture. We still have no available translation for some ancient languages that developed in our own world, just imagine trying to translate a language that has no known roots to you.
    Troodon80Demonoid_LimewireCrevsDaakdemented
  • CoM_SolaufeinCoM_Solaufein Member Posts: 2,607
    image

    Aliens were in our past and they're around now, indiscreetly that is. Just look at the ancient cities and other ancient marvels. Primitive humans didn't move around 50-100 ton rocks to make a wall or a building. Humans didn't have precise instruments to make perfect cuts in granite, diamonds and other hard objects. A lot of our history is lost unfortunately. We're a race with amnesia.

    But I'm a skeptical believer. So I don't believe every story out there.

    I've seen a UFO in the night sky once. It was an unidentified flying object, I couldn't identify it. So it was true to the acronym of UFO. It was a light high up in the sky. It moved fast like a jet but it made movements that would be impossible for a jet to make. It wasn't a light from the ground, it was too far up for that.
  • NokkenbuerNokkenbuer Member Posts: 146
    mlnevese said:

    Just going slightly off topic, I have serious problems watching any movies where aliens invade or simply arrive and decide to contact Earth for some simple reasons:

    1) Any civilization that has the technology to reach us can defeat us without firing a single weapon. They just have to push some big stones in our direction and sit in their ships eating the alien equivalent of popcorn while our entire civilization is destroyed...

    2) Why would they even bother? Any resource available on Earth is easily obtained in other places. Water is more abundant in the rings of Saturn than on Earth, there is gold, iron and others in the asteroid fields. Really every time I see someone saying that Ancient Aliens came here to mine gold I have to laugh.

    3) If they want to study us then it's better to do this from far away so that their presence does not disturb the normal workings of our civilization. They could set up a listening/watching station inside the Oort cloud and we would never know it was there.

    4) Language is a barrier. They would have to translate languages that have no roots in their own culture. We still have no available translation for some ancient languages that developed in our own world, just imagine trying to translate a language that has no known roots to you.

    1) Personally, I would think even that is more work than is necessary. Considering how any advanced civilization would probably be using nuclear fusion or something more powerful, they could easily manufacture or develop offensive weaponry (if they hadn't already) using this same technology. As a result, they could effectively release a focused blast with the strength and intensity of an imploding star and literally disintegrate our entire planet, or at least char it into a black husk. Manipulating asteroids and other planets to do the dirty work may make it appear like a more natural mass extinction, but considering how it's incredibly unlikely that any witnesses aside from the aliens themselves would survive, the "naturalness" of the attack is pretty irrelevant.

    2) I definitely agree to this, but I still find it all a bit too human to assume that. While that's certainly true, it could be that these alien civilizations have never encountered the resources found on Earth, and may eradicate all life, or at least human life, to clear the way for proper investigation, in much the same way we would exterminate entire colony of insects to investigate some new phenomenon in the area—or entire civilizations of fellow humans just so that we can properly discover a new continent. It could also be that these resources are very rare in the Universe and that they are prized for their rarity as an economic boon to extraterrestrial civilizations.

    (You can skip this next part; it's basically me digressing and considering the topic of how aliens evolved, which indirectly ties into what motives they may have in taking the Earth's resources.)

    Alternatively, as some theorists suspect, it could be that we are fallacious in assuming that advanced technology equates to advanced social habits and economic practices. Perhaps these alien civilizations are extremely advanced in technology and function as a technocratic species, but their progress in economic theory, philosophy, ethics, and/or other sciences may be seriously lacking, perhaps so much that we are more advanced than them in those respects. This is a hard argument to sustain, seeing how progress in one field of study typically increases progress in others, which in turn increases progress in others which were unaffected by the first field's progress. In other words, usually every field of knowledge and study advances at roughly the same pace. This may be a human behavior, however, and until further proof is found, it's possible that alien civilizations are only more advanced than us in some fields of study.

    This could mean that they are a highly militaristic society, since they never developed their ethics enough to introduce ideas like humanity (or the alien equivalent), benevolence, respect, honor, etc. (Or, they developed these ideas, but dismissed them in favor of martial conquest, which they deem superior.) This could also mean that they may be extremely advanced in technology or other sciences, but due the unique nature of their home planet(s), they never had a reason to develop any understanding for medicine or biology past the basics, thus rendering them vulnerable to biological warfare.

    What does this all have to do with your original question? Well, if it is possible that other civilizations can have widely disparate levels of progress and advancement in their fields of study, that means they may still practice rather primitive economic standards and still rely on physical currency, or at least a physical "gold standard." As a result, some of the resources on Earth may be increasingly valuable or new to these alien civilizations, and therefore valuable to their economy.


    Overall, though? Yeah, I find it hard to believe aliens would have any use for the resources available on Earth. I already seriously doubt the whole "unequal advancement" idea described above, but even if it is true, the chances of their economy as being the least advanced (or not advanced enough) just makes the whole enterprise that much more improbable.

    3) This is exactly my point in my previous post. Why would they be so inept as to actually be detected by primitives? Aliens are surely smarter, or at least more advanced, than that.

    4) I mean, I guess you could assume that these aliens are advanced enough, or experienced enough with civilizations evolutionarily alien to their own, that they've developed some sort of process or mathematical formula for decoding any language. Or it could be that this very language barrier is the reason why aliens abduct some of us (and it's not just paranoid bullshit from backwater hicks who like to spin tales). But I think I've posited enough crazy hypotheticals in this post, so I'll just agree with you: the language barrier would definitely hinder any progress in understanding our species on any complex level, thereby deterring aliens from getting more involved.
  • elementelement Member Posts: 833
    edited July 2014
    do I think aliens are a thing yes

    do I think ufos visit our planet no
    Post edited by element on
    Nokkenbuer
This discussion has been closed.