I’m an astronomer and think aliens are plausible – but not because of UFOs
The existence of intelligent aliens is scientifically plausible
Unidentified flying objects
UFO means unidentified flying object. Nothing more, nothing less.
There’s a long history of UFO sightings.Air Force studies of UFOshave been going on since the 1940s. In the United States, “ground zero” for UFOs occurred in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. The fact that theRoswell incident was soon explainedas the crash landing of a military high-altitude balloon didn’t stem a tide of new sightings. The majority of UFOs appear to people in the United States. It’s curious thatAsia and Africa have so few sightingsdespite their large populations, and even more surprising that the sightings stop at the Canadian and Mexican borders.
Most UFOs have mundane explanations.Over half can be attributedto meteors, fireballs, and the planet Venus. Such bright objects are familiar to astronomers but are often not recognized by members of the public. Reports of visits from UFOs inexplicablypeaked about six years ago.
Many people who say they have seen UFOs are eitherdog walkers or smokers. Why? Because they’re outside the most.Sightings concentrate in evening hours, particularly on Fridays, when many people are relaxing with one or more drinks.
A few people, like former NASA employeeJames Oberg,have the fortitude to track down and findconventional explanations for decades of UFO sightings. Most astronomers find thehypothesis of alien visits implausible, so they concentrate their energy on the exciting scientific search for life beyond the Earth.
Are we alone?
While UFOs continue to swirl inpopular culture, scientists are trying to answer the big question that is raised by UFOs: Are we alone?
Astronomers have discoveredover 4,000 exoplanets, or planets orbiting other stars, a number that doubles every two years. Some of these exoplanets are considered habitable, since they are close to the Earth’s mass and at the right distance from their stars to have water on their surfaces. The nearest of these habitable planets areless than 20 light years away, in our cosmic “back yard.” Extrapolating from these results leads to a projection of300 million habitable worldsin our galaxy. Each of these Earth-like planets is a potential biological experiment, and there have been billions of years since they formed for life to develop and for intelligence and technology to emerge.
Astronomers are very confident there is life beyond the Earth. As astronomer and ace exoplanet-hunterGeoff Marcy, puts it, “The universe is apparently bulging at the seams with the ingredients of biology.” There are many steps in the progression from Earths with suitable conditions for life to intelligent aliens hopping from star to star. Astronomers use theDrake Equationto estimate the number of technological alien civilizations in our galaxy. There are many uncertainties in the Drake Equation, but interpreting it in the light of recent exoplanet discoveries makes itvery unlikely that we are the only, or the first, advanced civilization.
This confidence has fueled an activesearch for intelligent life, which has been unsuccessful so far. So researchers have recast the question “Are we alone?” to “Where are they?”
The absence of evidence for intelligent aliens is called theFermi Paradox. Even if intelligent aliens do exist, there are anumber of reasonswhy we might not have found them and they might not have found us. Scientists do not discount the idea of aliens. But they aren’t convinced by the evidence to date because it is unreliable, or because there are so many other more mundane explanations.
Modern myth and religion
UFOs are part of the landscape of conspiracy theories, including accounts ofabduction by aliensandcrop circles created by aliens. I remain skeptical that intelligent beings with vastly superior technology would travel trillions of miles just to press down our wheat.
It’s useful to consider UFOs as acultural phenomenon.Diana Pasulka,a professor at the University of North Carolina, notes that myths and religions are both means for dealing with unimaginable experiences. To my mind, UFOs have become a kind ofnew American religion.
So no, I don’t think belief in UFOs is crazy, because some flying objects are unidentified, and the existence of intelligent aliens is scientifically plausible.
But astudy of young adultsdid find that UFO belief is associated with schizotypal personality, a tendency toward social anxiety, paranoid ideas, and transient psychosis. If you believe in UFOs, you might look at what other unconventional beliefs you have.
I’m not signing on to the UFO “religion,” so call me anagnostic. I recall the aphorismpopularized by Carl Sagan, “It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.”
This article byChris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy,University of Arizonais republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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