"We are being visited."

[Fish]

An Apollo 14 astronaut told a group of UFOlogists Monday that aliens are not a myth and called on the government to disclose its findings, The Washington Times reported.
"It is now time to put away this embargo of truth about the alien presence," Edgar D. Mitchell, who made the longest moonwalk in history, told those attending a conference in Gaithersburg, Md., set up by the Paradigm Research Group.
"I call upon our government to open up ... and become a part of this planetary community that is now trying to take our proper role as a spacefaring civilization," the 79-year-old added. "We are being visited."
Paradigm Research Group founder Stephen Bassett backed Mitchell's theory and demanded that President Obama's administration release all information concerning extraterrestrial beings.
"If it does not disclose, by the end of May — this is not a threat or anything, you don't threaten the United States government, they're heavily armed ... the PRG has an enormous and substantial network, and quite a bit of documentary evidence connected to this, particularly politically ... and we are going to be extensively putting that out to the media, and we're just going to make it as difficult on them as possible," Bassett told the newspaper.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517421,00.html

I think this is going to be bad news for your president.:rotfl:

[baggygreen]

I dunno.

I suspect that its true, call it a gut instinct - and my gut is very rarely wrong.

If it is true, one of my first questions would simply have to be why was it kept from us? not to be asked with malice, but genuine curiosity.

THEN i'd get into wanting to know all about these strange and distant places, my dreams within reach of coming true!

[Platapus]

Edgar makes this or a similar speech every year. It is one of his issues.

As always I have to ask, where is the evidence?

I am undecided on this issue. The absence of evidence does not mean we have not been visited. But I need some positive evidence before I can opine.

Of course the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there is that they have chosen not to visit us.

[Sailor Steve]

I agree. I don't discount anything, but I get tired of people telling me "It's true! You have to believe!", without showing anything real. He is quoted as claiming it's true, but he doesn't say he's actually seen anything. Until he does, it's just his opinion.

But some people just have to try to use it as 'fact'.

[baggygreen]

Platapus, in my opinion one of the best signs that there are extraterrestrials lies in ancient rock art. Dismissed by skeptics as fanciful legends, there are almost identical images portrayed around the world.

pardon the stereotypes to follow, but these are what were drawn millenia ago.

• long, cigar-shaped images painted high above images of ground-dwelling creatures
• images of humanoids with bowls around their heads and clothed in an entirely different fashion to other images in the same area, from the same period.

Another possible indicator is pyramids. Don't dismiss me yet. Pyramids were constructed in Egypt (arguably the most advanced civilisation at that time, as well as being very close to the so-called 'cradle of civilisation'), as well as being built in S-E Asia and South America.

Again, skeptics can dismiss these, using the argument that a pyramid is the most stable of (relatively) ancient architectural possibilities. The argument is valid and accurate, but I feel fails to take into account 2 points. Firstly, that not all cultures known to have built pyramids are known to have had an advanced enough system of mathematics to determine that pyramids were the most stable type of building. Secondly, As is the case with the recurring images, the implication from those arguing on this basis is that humans around the globe developed with the same ideas and the same legends, at different points in history and with no (known) method of contact with each other. That is, to me, just as far-fetched as little green men visiting our planet.

Happy as always to discuss

Edit - here is a link to some decent images. look at a few similarities.

[Skybird]

I don't know which side I found more disgusting: the fanatical pseudo-messianic believers - or the as-fanatical pseudo-scientific sceptics. For both sides, claims they make for their stand so very often know no limits in ridicule, absurdity and maximum antropocentrism. And both sides often do it with an almost religious zealotry - and turn their stand pro or contra into a religion indeed.

If I were ET, I would send home a report that I found no sign of intelligent life on this planet, activate my whatever-it-is, and head for the next name on my to-look-after-list at MAD-speed x+1.

[Platapus]

As an analyst, I am comfortable with uncertainty. Well used to it anyway.

I dismiss nothing, nor do I accept everything. If I don't have enough evidence to make a logical decision, I have no problems admitting "I just don't know".

That's my official position on UFOs/ETs/ALFs.

I just don't know.

And I am OK with that.

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by Platapus

Edgar makes this or a similar speech every year. It is one of his issues.

As always I have to ask, where is the evidence?

I am undecided on this issue. The absence of evidence does not mean we have not been visited. But I need some positive evidence before I can opine.

Of course the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there is that they have chosen not to visit us.

I agree too. In a way this reinforces Mitchell's reputation. He's always been known as the most open-minded astronaut when it comes to the paranormal.

Nothing about being an astronaut excuses one from normal human frailty. It's not a magical occupation. It didn't stop Jack Swigert's cancer, or Buzz Aldrin's alcoholism, or Wally Schirra's impatience, or any number of indiscretions and misfortune we could name---an infamous restroom free drive to Florida comes to mind. My disappointment with Mitchell is not that he has made this claim, but as before he has not been forthcoming with any evidence.