• Question: Do any of you believe that UFO's exist ?

    Asked by emmaandizzy to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Hi emma and izzy – UFOs can exist, because it just means any flying object that we can’t identify. If you mean do I believe that there have been alien ships on earth then no, I don’t, because I’m sure we’d all know about it if they had – no-one could keep that a secret for very long!

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      It depends what you mean by UFO. If you mean an object, that flies, that hasn’t been identified, then yes. If you mean an alien spaceship, then yes and no.

      There has never been any evidence of UFOs visiting earth. There are crazy stories, most of which are told a long time after they were suppost to have happened, but they lack credibility. Annecdote is not evidence.

      On the other hand, the universe is SO vast, with hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars, then I would be very surprised if we were the ONLY intelligence species to have to have aquired the capability of space flight. However, they would probably be so far away that it would take millions of years for them to reach us. The nearest galaxy, Andromeda, would take 2.5 million years to get to if you were travelling at the speed of light, so I really don’t believe that any aliens have ever visited earth.

      Anyway, I can’t express myself better than Arthur C. Clarke: “Sometimes I think we’re alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case the idea is quite staggering.”

    • Photo: Gioia Cherubini

      Gioia Cherubini answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      …I don’t really!

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Until strong evidence has been found of the existence of extra-terrestrial life, then, as scientists, we have to remain sceptical. Saying that, given the scale of the universe, and that we know that life has evolved at least once (on earth), there is a possibility of life existing elsewhere. For the moment, though, the only life in the universe that we know of exists on earth.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I have a problem with the word ‘believe’ here – as a scientist, I try to base things on evidence. I’ve never seen any evidence to convince me that UFOs exist. But at the same time, I certainly don’t rule their existence out, I think it’s quite possible!

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