Beyond

I've recently been thinking a lot about Space. It started when I found out that the Gas cloud that is features in the 'Pillars of Creation' image is most likely gone now. It hasn't been destroyed since the photo was taken, but rather its 7000 light years away and scientists believe it was destroyed by a SuperNova 6000 years ago. That means in 1000 years we will be able to observe it.

We have recently located a galaxy 13 Billion light years away. This means that what we are seeing actually occurred 13 Billion years ago. Less than 1 Billion years after the Big Bang.

Really though I have been thinking about life out there. I believe there is life elsewhere in the universe. Even intelligent life, both far more and less advanced than our own. I base the technological difference on how quickly humanities technology changes. In only the past 100 years Humanity has discovered Nuclear Power, what will we think of next?

The law of averages practically guarantees that somewhere out there is another intelligence. I have come to accept this without any difficulty. The only thing that I can question is that whether man has had contact with aliens, and if so to what extent.

Its possible, however unlikely, that the probe we sent out was intercepted and a more advanced race could have traced back its point of origin. I then suppose that the race could have come here. This is all speculating that they are far more technologically advanced than us.

What about UFOs? I believe in the strictest definition of a UFO. I believe there are OBJECTS that are FLYING in the sky and remain UNIDENTIFIED. Are these "aliens"? I don't know for sure but I highly doubt it. I believe that the majority of sightings which are not gases, weather balloons, or other obvious explanations are experimental aircraft. Good examples of these would be the flying wing aircrafts that were developed in the 60s and 70s, these include the B2 Bomber, F117, and more recently the RQ-170.

So while I don't know much of anything for sure, I believe a few things...

1: There is life beyond earth, INCLUDING intelligent life of varying technological levels.
2: Given the age of the universe, there will be races out there capable of contacting us if they knew we were here and wished to.
3:  Given the vast distances between stars and galaxies, its improbable that life from outside our solar system has arrived on earth.
4: I do not believe that Intelligent life would come to Earth for reasons that would be good for humanity.
5: I do not know if life originating within our solar system has come to earth. I do NOT believe that this would be intelligent life, but rather microbes.
6: I believe that UFOs observed in the sky are gases, weather balloons, or experimental craft.