Separating belief in ET life from belief in UFOs

We are but one tiny planet on one tiny sun in a galaxy of 100 billion stars. We estimate that there are at least 100 billion other galaxies visible to us in the universe. 100 billion x 100 billion is a bloody lot of stars (of course I'm generalising, the actual figure is probably orders of magnitude higher). Given this evidence, I find it highly unlikely that we would be the only bastion of life in the universe. Quite the contrary, I am confident the universe is teeming with life.Now... why is it that laymen seem to think this means that I believe in UFOs? To my way of thinking, the idea that we, on this tiny speck of a world, would be visited by advanced extraterrestrial life, presumably for no purpose more nefarious than to watch our television and cuddle up to our politicians, is ludicrous.This may not warrant being a topic, but I'm just curious if anyone else has encountered this anomaly, and/or how you would respond to it. My standard response is that, short of some sort of warp-drive technology, the distances are simply too great to travel. To go one step further, even with some form of FTL travel, the immensity of our galaxy alone would make visitation astronomically (literally) unlikely.

That makes a lot of sense. There is a chapter in Sagan's book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark devoted to the subject of alien abduction stories that agrees with this interpretation.Given the premise then that life may be abundant and intelligent life very scarce, what a treat it would be to get a glimpse at the mid-level stuff out there. As much as I like to imagine that I'm educated (on any of this stuff), I'm not. I struggle to imagine what another earth-like world might have on it. Would such life have DNA, or some facsimile thereof? (It seems that it must by necessity, in order to procreate.) Would many of the same forms we are accustomed to seeing here on Earth be likely to develop on other worlds? (Things like binocular vision seem very useful indeed and thus likely to develop in other long evolutionary chains.)If anyone wishes to shed any light on these issues, or point me to a thread that does, I'd be grateful.

slevesque wrote: In line with what Perdition said, I'd suspect that the gap would be filled with other "visions" not related to alien abduction, but it's an interesting question. Along those lines, I'd be curious to know how far back in history "alien abduction" stories have been reported, and what ties there might be between the culture of that day. For example, might native Americans have had "abduction visions" that took the form of being carried off by a great bird (rather than a space ship)?

onifre said: That's fantastic lol. I must admit to having close relatives in my state of birth (Texas) that would have the same reaction.Nice story, and actually on topic in a tangential way. I didn't really expect this topic to go anywhere anyway, but the cosmology and exobiology stuff fascinates me the most and there seems to be a paucity of threads on these matters Edited by Briterican, : "actually on topic in an obtuse way" was wrong: more like in a "tangential" way. I so wish I had a better command of the English language.

I suppose that I have really only encountered this specific thing with one person: Robert R. Laymen. Just kidding that's not really his name.I think that it's simply the case that I find these two points, my position (the conviction that life exists elsewhere in the universe) and the pop culture position (that it visits us regularly) to be distinctly separate and I wish that distinction was more clearly defined. Well you've got me cornered here, as you have probably already guessed what my thoughts would be. I would be far more inclined to attribute a clearly defined black triangle craft to some sort of earthly origin (military gadget or hoax). These black triangle reports get the Aurora guys all excited hehe:Aurora (aircraft) - WikipediaThanks very much for your reply and for a great forum. I'm still just getting my feet wet.

tuffers said: With regret I must agree.Another story was out the other day about exoplanets (of which none exist according to Calypsis4). A big new batch was announced, bringing the total on record to over 400. -- BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Scientists announce planet bountyThis received very little coverage, but the trusty BBC ran it for a day as a main page story. I guess you have to put these things in perspective and realise that perhaps a person's health insurance future is more newsworthy, or stories about how their MP claimed expenses back for a luxurious garden at his second house. To me, however, and probably to many of you, this is good stuff.

NosyNed said: Agreed.I can appreciate the view Catholic Scientist takes, but in the absence of some sort of tangible evidence, the whole "flying saucer" thing strikes me as the 21st century version of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster (MHFABB - May His Fish-Like Appendages Be Blessed).I don't doubt that many people see something on these occasions, but I cannot bring myself to suspect that said "something" is from another world on another star many many many light years away. I still think aircraft is the most likely explanation for these types of sightings.I also think that the balloon boy family got the reality show they wanted. Unfortunately it'll be on CourtTV.