Do you believe we have already been visited by E.T’s?

[Doctor Amadeus]

Do you believe we have already been visited by E.T’s?

I’m going to say NO

If you believe even 1% of the stories of alien abduction what do you make whoever being hostile or benevolent?

Hostile

Have you ever seen or experienced anything that would lead you to believe we have been visited by intelligent life from another planet?

Seen and experienced thing I couldn’t explain but seen no craft or aliens. But I’m open to the idea

[Jonnusthegreat]

Highly unlikely. Although isn't the current theory that we are actually derived from Martian life via panspermia?

[Doctor Amadeus]

Highly unlikely. Although isn't the current theory that we are actually derived from Martian life via transpermia?

I’ve never heard such nonsense.

[Jonnusthegreat]

I’ve never heard such nonsense.

Oops, it's called Panspermia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia

[Doctor Amadeus]

- Yes, absolutely.

- I don’t think they’re hostile.

- Not personally, but I have watched documentaries and read official statements.

Well here’s the thing all the accounts I’ve heard go from abduction to experiments. Which means 1 of 2 things. 1. Like we tag and monitor our wild life for research purposes they do the same with us. 2. They have taken people captive against their will which means they know but don’t care abuse our rights. Neither of which is friendly.

[Misuteri]

- Yes.

- I think we're too uninteresting as a species and our planet not unique enough to be conquered from a resource perspective.

- No.

I think the most interesting theory on why we have not been visited by ET's is the power required to do so from an alien race would likely outstrip their ability to survive being able to harness that kind of power for interplanetary travel purposes.

Example.

Our development we went from stones/sticks, to fire, to spears/swords, to arrows, to muzzle loaders, full metal jacket single shot, machine gun as an individual. The power of the atom was harnessed by nation states and what comes after the atom, no one knows yet beyond theory.

Now what if an individual had something like a phaser/blaster and nation states went from atom bombs to say orbital death rays that could wipe out a state with no radiation.

My point here is that as technology increases in harnessed power and subsequent firepower to an individual or government the increased likelihood that a species would eliminate itself in armed conflict before their ability to use it for interplanetary travel, contact or conquest. The nature of man is likely no different in other species should they exist in the universe.

We are not highly evolved enough for 100 nations to have death rays that can wipe out another nation and for it not to happen and such a conflict to cascade. It is likely that scenario has repeated itself already on worlds we never know existed with species now extinct.

Plus, if you think at a more basic level it has been a constant warning of the medical profession that antibiotics are becoming increasingly ineffective. Should they ever become ineffective medicine as it has existed since the end of World War II would be rendered obsolete overnight. Then micro-organisms would end us as a species. That also has likely happened on another world.

Personally I think intelligent beings will almost never cross the line of potential to reality on that technological curve.

[Powerogue]

No. I can't even grasp with my puny mortal mind just how far we've looked out into space and not found a sign of intelligence life. Then combine that with the inefficiency of space travel and there's just no way. Unless their species was incredibly good at hiding. Like mole-people or something.

Look at us from space and it's pretty conspicuous at a glance that this planet houses life.

[Endus]

Highly unlikely. Although isn't the current theory that we are actually derived from Martian life via panspermia?

It's more that we've yet to uncover any mechanism for abiogenesis, and it may simply be that the reason we haven't is that conditions on Earth aren't tenable for it. But they might have been, on Mars. And the necessary "bits" could have been knocked off Mars some billions of years ago, and been transferred to Earth, kicking off life expansion here.

It doesn't require that Mars have had advanced multicellular life, or even "life" at all; it may have just been specific chemical combinations that "primed the pump", so to speak.

It's more an "I dunno, maybe" than anything like an actual hypothesis.

[George Lucas]

Yes, of course, I have seen nine extraterrestrials alone last week!

[Skroe]

No. I can't even grasp with my puny mortal mind just how far we've looked out into space and not found a sign of intelligence life. Then combine that with the inefficiency of space travel and there's just no way. Unless their species was incredibly good at hiding. Like mole-people or something.

Look at us from space and it's pretty conspicuous at a glance that this planet houses life.

And completely invisible outside of about 150 light years, and that's being generous, since it wasn't until the 20th century that large number of radio signals (one method of detection) or the changing composition of the atmosphere due to the industrial revolution (another method of detection) would be visable to outsiders.

By looking for oxygen, liquid water and chlorophyll, aliens could detect Earth any time in the last 400-500 million years, really. But if we assume that chorlophyl or something chorlophy like occurs elsewhere in the universe (i.e. alien-trees), and we know plenty of plants have oxygen and liquid water, then earth would look like a life bearing, but otherwise unremarkable planet to outsiders until about 100-150 years ago. It may not be worth it for them to make the trip to study what could very well be what would spectroscopy look like an algae or tree dominated planet.

Within 100-150 light years, there are plenty of planets, but clearly habitable ones in the present day are rare. The ones that are habitable almost all require some kind of caveat (i.e. tidally locked and habitable just on the threshold between the hot and cold side). That could be bad luck - just a function of where Earth is in the galaxy right now. We could simple be the galactic equivalent of pre-contact Eskimos - we exist, but out of the way and all the "action" is elsewhere. Or it could be the way things are in the universe and tremendous time and distance produce a natural homogenized spread of intelligent life that is all very distant from each other.

I would like to imagine we're visited by the scientist in me makes me not believe it. Aliens looking to space would ask the same questions and go through the same search process, and unless they are within 150 light years, we'd be a very interesting entry on their version of the Kepler Space telescope, but otherwise invisible until the signals from the radio age or the light from the changing composition of Earth's atmosphere reaches them. You know know, even with that latter detection method, keep in mind that occams razor would suggest natural causes - like increased volcanism or an asteroid strike - until sufficient time for observations on their part has passed to conclude that the increase in carbon is not natural. That itself would take decades of observation.

Or let me flip this around. If NASA theorized they may have detected a planet with chlorophyll on it 200 light years away... would they come out and say "this planet hosts forests". No. They'd spend decades ruling out every possible false positive before saying "there might be algae" there. And then if they noticed an uptick in carbon in the atmosphere, they would have an enormous list of things to rule out before concluding "they have coal fired plants". It's a same thing when a radio telescope recieves a powerful single. They don't jump to "alien transmitter". It's always more likely some natural stellar phenomenon, like a pulsar. NASA concluding "life is there, and it is intelligent and persistent", would be the product of a life time of observations. The only way we'll resolve the question of "who is out there" comparatively quickly within our life time, is to find some kind of microscropic fossil or sample on Mars or Enceladus or something. And that itself will only come after years of ruling out potential for cross contamination. Hell both Viking 1 and 2's biological experiments and the ALH84001 meteorite are still vigorously debated, with their researchers really thinking there is something there, but decade of study suggesting other non-biological processes at play.

I think the answer therefore to the Fermi is extremely mundane. Space is big, time is long... we probably missed each other, and we don't look remarkable enough yet. There is no "great filter". There is no real life Galactus. Nobody has ascended to a higher plane of existence or other non-scientific nonsense. Its as simple as, right now, unless you're pretty close to us... if you're a civilization that has knowledge that yes, planets can and do bear life, but intelligent life is rare, we've blended in for most of the past 4 billion years. Interesting in a catalog... probably not worth the investment for a visit.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

I think it's possible. If they've got 1000 years or more on us, they'd probably be able to avoid detection.

I don't necessarily think they are hostile, but they may see us the way we see a rabbit. We have no issues experimenting on rabbits, so they'd have no issue experimenting on us if it's actually a thing.

Saw a UFO years ago, I was with some friends, we were looking at the stars, we saw a light moving across the sky, figured it was a plane until it just stopped and held a position in the sky.

[Masark]

Plausible if one assumes the existence of a means of trivial interstellar travel.

Just think about it : If we had a means of trivially travelling between solar systems like we travel between cities now, do you really think we wouldn't have drunk frat boys going around on Friday nights messing with pre-spaceflight species?

And if you find that plausible, why would other intelligent species not have instances of similar individuals?

[kenthovind]

Do you believe we have already been visited by E.T’s?

I’m going to say NO

If you believe even 1% of the stories of alien abduction what do you make whoever being hostile or benevolent?

Hostile

Have you ever seen or experienced anything that would lead you to believe we have been visited by intelligent life from another planet?

Seen and experienced thing I couldn’t explain but seen no craft or aliens. But I’m open to the idea

By aliens and demons? Yes.

By physical ETs who magically evolved from soup and built spaceships and flew here? No.

[KOMO1211]

threw up a maybe. the one thing that sticks out to me, of all the testimonial ive read/watched and even heard in person, the stories (abduction etc) are almost exactly the same. that's the creepy part. now a lot of that may just be some sort of post event delusion or something a long the lines of them just taking well known ideas and incorporating them into their own stories I don't know. the science and engineering we have says probably not given the difficulties of space travel but yet this doesn't account for technology we don't have or cant comprehend yet so it still not out of the realm of possibility.

[Garnier Fructis]

By aliens and demons? Yes.

By physical ETs who magically evolved from soup and built spaceships and flew here? No.

What is your idea of an alien?

[Celista]

I don't think so, I think people who think they have seen them either have wild imaginations or some sort of mental illness. Also I think it's telling that aliens somehow look remarkably similar to us when people retell their alien abduction stories.

The fact that there's often a sexual element is hilarious and also evidence of wild storytelling.

[Kaleredar]

Highly unlikely. Although isn't the current theory that we are actually derived from Martian life via panspermia?

No.

There's no reason to think that life couldn't have developed on earth. It's just about as plausible as it developing anywhere else in the solar system. Actually, I take that back... life as we know it is far more likely to have developed on the only planet that currently supports it.

"Panspermia" is just a fun what-if.

[Lollis]

Nope.

I guess visited, as in Earth, with nobody knowing could be possible. But if you mean has anyone been directly visited, then simply no.

[RobertoCarlos]

No. I can't even grasp with my puny mortal mind just how far we've looked out into space and not found a sign of intelligence life. Then combine that with the inefficiency of space travel and there's just no way. Unless their species was incredibly good at hiding. Like mole-people or something.

Look at us from space and it's pretty conspicuous at a glance that this planet houses life.

What if we lack the senses to be able to see them? We cant see every shade of color. Its not impossible there are realities outside of our organs limited capabilities

[Kaleredar]

threw up a maybe. the one thing that sticks out to me, of all the testimonial ive read/watched and even heard in person, the stories (abduction etc) are almost exactly the same. that's the creepy part. now a lot of that may just be some sort of post event delusion or something a long the lines of them just taking well known ideas and incorporating them into their own stories I don't know. the science and engineering we have says probably not given the difficulties of space travel but yet this doesn't account for technology we don't have or cant comprehend yet so it still not out of the realm of possibility.

They're all the same because they're all coming from the same made up zeitgeist of abductions.

- - - Updated - - -

What if we lack the senses to be able to see them? We cant see every shade of color. Its not impossible there are realities outside of our organs limited capabilities

You could make that same argument about anything, though.



Who says there aren't invisible unicorns everywhere? You can't prove they aren't there!