Do You Believe In U.F.O.s and Extra Terrestrials?

[delalluvia]

I didn't write clear enough...The scientist were saying that the stories of abduction were a PRODUCT of electrical malfunction in a certain area of the brain...

an hallucination if you will...they were struck that all the volunteers 'remembered' the same details...

so maybe it is a form of epilepsy or something...

Yeah, I saw those specials too.  They think that such alien abduction stories are simply people experiencing brain chemistry gone awry.

Similar results have been reported with near death experiences.  People from all walks of life from all over the world and in different times have reported the same phenomenon.

[ekeby]

Yeah, I saw those specials too.  They think that such alien abduction stories are simply people experiencing brain chemistry gone awry.

Similar results have been reported with near death experiences.  People from all walks of life from all over the world and in different times have reported the same phenomenon.

I think a lot of them are too. I've even experienced those paralyzing "night terrors" . . . you're conscious but unable to move or speak . . . believe me, they are very, very frightening. On the other hand, if you've ever seen the documentary about the "original" abductees, Betty and Barney Hill, it's very convincing. . . .

[Kelpersmek]

I believe! 

In a universe this size it would be unlikely that life has not formed up elsewhere.
Does it travel around in spaceships?  Has other life visited earth?  I'd have to say I find that very unlikely.  While we have only a partial grasp on physics, it is outside our realms of experience that such a thing is possible.  If we did see somethin capable of space travel, again I can't see little atmosphere capable ships popping in for a quick abduction.

Regarding abductees, I believe that most of them are convinced of their experiences.  They're not crazy, they just underwent something as vivid as real life.  Doesn't make it real, but if you have a totally real experience, how could you tell it apart from everyday things?

Is there life in our own solar system?  Possibly. 
Where?  I'd check Uranus 

[JT]

I think a lot of them are too. I've even experienced those paralyzing "night terrors" . . . you're conscious but unable to move or speak . . . believe me, they are very, very frightening.

I think this is related to sleep paralysis and lucid dreams.  I have them frequently and when I was a kid, it was very frightening.  You hear sounds and see things in your dream, but you can not move and yet you're awake.  Very frightening for those who experience it for the first time.

Is there life in our own solar system?  Possibly. 
Where?  I'd check Uranus 

You naughty thing!  But you're absolutely right.  That place is teeming with life.  And you don't have to go very far either.

[ednbarby]

I certainly don't think we're alone in the universe - that's just ridiculously narrow-minded thinking, in my view.  But I question whether "intelligent" life forms from other worlds have actually made it to ours - it seems like they're just plain too far away.  Ah, but then maybe I'm just employing ridiculously narrow-minded thinking in that view.

Some people find the thought of there being perhaps millions and millions, as Carl Sagan used to say, of other planets out there with intelligent life overwhelming - it makes them feel insignificant.  I guess I like that feeling.  I like the idea that someone or something on another world is looking at the light from some of the same stars as I am - perhaps even the light from our star - and wondering if someone or something like me is doing the same.

[David In Indy]

Do you all want my 2 cents worth?

It doesn't matter, because I'm going to tell you anyway. 

The Universe is infinate. There is no brick wall at the end which reads "You have now reached the end of the Universe". And even if there was, what is on the other side of the wall? Or does the thickness of the wall continue on forever?

Some people have tried to say the Universe is actually a sphere and if you travel far enough, you will end up right back where you started. Okay. What is on the outside of the sphere? More Universe.

Since the Universe is infinate, the planets and stars are also infinate. Where space exists, the possibility of something occupying that space also exists.

Therefore, there are infinate possibilities for life (of any form) to exist, as well as infinate possibilities for intelligent life.

[ednbarby]

But what about the restaurant at the end of the universe??? 

(I'm once again dating myself *and* showing my dorkiness at the same time.)

[delalluvia]

But what about the restaurant at the end of the universe??? 

(I'm once again dating myself *and* showing my dorkiness at the same time.)

Yoiu don't have to date yourself.  'Hitchhiker's Guide' movie just came out last year.  I love Douglas Adams.  His play on words is wonderful.  The 'end of the universe' isn't what you first think it is. 

Plus I've been trying to remember the line from the book that talks about UFO contacts being - and let me try to quote -  'rich kids who buzz planets that haven't made contact yet...they strut up and down in front of some poor sap no one is ever going to believe wearing antenna and making beeping noises.  Rather childish, actually."

and

On the other hand, if you've ever seen the documentary about the "original" abductees, Betty and Barney Hill, it's very convincing. . .

I, too, really got into their story, until Skeptical Inquirer magazine did a story on them and threw a lot of doubt on it.  Turns out Barney was very susceptible to suggestion, Betty was an excellent storyteller and the aliens that both Barney and Betty drew - the classic 'gray' that everyone nowadays sees - was a monster character on a TV show that was shown earlier that season before Barney and Betty's experience.  I think it was 'Twilight Zone' or 'Outer Limits' or something like that.

[Kelpersmek]

(I'm once again dating myself *and* showing my dorkiness at the same time.)

But under your photo you have the quote "I'm the son of rage anf love" and that redeems you for 114 Dorkiness points.  Brings you well clear of dorkdom 

I'll dork myself up a bit for comparison:
If the universe is spherical (actually, I've heard people talking about it being 'pringle' shaped) then when you travel you curve back in on yourself.  What is beyond those boundaries?  Nothing, but not in the sense of empty space.  Nothing as in non-existance, a lack of eveything, including time and space.  There are no dimentions in which to move about, therefore talking about distance is meaningless.

We find it hard to visuzlise because we are creatures of space, and it is intrinsically against every experience we have.  It's tempting to think of it as a big void, but it's not even that.  You can't go there, because there does not exist.  You can't go to the edge because by curving back in upon itself it has no edge. 

[David In Indy]

We find it hard to visuzlise because we are creatures of space, and it is intrinsically against every experience we have.  It's tempting to think of it as a big void, but it's not even that.  You can't go there, because there does not exist.  You can't go to the edge because by curving back in upon itself it has no edge. 

We are also creatures of time and we have problems comprehending a concept such as infinity or eternity.

But our inability to comprehend it doesn't mean it is impossible or it couldn't exist.