"We are being visited."

[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.

[antikristuseke]

Pretty much agree with Platapus on this, but would like to add that extraterrestrial visitors are bloody unlikely, though extraterrestrial life, given the size of the know universe, is inevitable.

[baggygreen]

I just feel the need to clarify myself a tad.

I'm not a fully fledged believer, not by any means, but I feel there are enough examples and accounts which raise the possibility of some form of ALF having visited the neighbourhood in the past.

note possibility not probabilty.

As for mitchell, well he's either gone loopy since his space-faring days, or he is getting paid enough to risk discrediting himself, or he is telling the truth.

[Etienne]

Aliens exist. The size of the universe pretty much guarantee that.

Now wether they've visited us? I highly doubt so. The odds are pretty low, if you think about it - There's a lot of planets, and we've only been broadcasting for about, what, a hundred years? Radio waves only travel at light speed, after all.

[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.