Vatican Says...

[ShiroiHikari]

I don't know why we're so obsessed with life out in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, myself. Sure, there could be something or someone out there, but we'll probably never find out in our lifetime. Heck, we're still discovering stuff within the depths of our own oceans!

Also, I don't like the idea of having discovered extraterrestrial life before we get flying cars. XD I demand flying cars by 2015.

[CAAOutkast]

I do. I'm the resident hater of Revelation. I think it should never have been included in the Bible and see no reason for it to be there aside from just to give the Bible an "ending."

I'm going to find an uninhabited island and name it "Babylon." Just to mess with people.

Does that mean you Don't believe in the 2nd coming?

Anyway,back on topic,I Do believe in other lifeforms,besides the ones on earth. I think God Did create life for some of the other planets. However,I also believe that Earth is the only planet in this Solar System with intelligent life.

[Syreth]

Also, I don't like the idea of having discovered extraterrestrial life before we get flying cars. XD I demand flying cars by 2015.

But what if the aliens come in flying cars?

[LadyRushia]

Also, I don't like the idea of having discovered extraterrestrial life before we get flying cars. XD I demand flying cars by 2015.

You have six years, starting. . .NOW!

I think God could create intelligent life on other planets if He felt like it. What would stop Him from doing so? Then again, when I think about this I think about other human life forms being on these planets. If this were the case, and the people on those planets were as messed up as we are, I don't see any problem with Jesus coming to those worlds and all that (it's actually a very fun idea to play around with. Imagine meeting Christians from other planets, XD). If that's even true, though, then for whatever reason God hasn't enabled us to contact those people and I don't think we should be worrying about it too much because it most likely won't happen in our lifetime.

[uc pseudonym]

Does that mean you Don't believe in the 2nd coming?

No. I'm not speaking for Nate, here, I'm speaking for this position. However, given that I want this discussion to end I'll try to state this somewhat neutrally. All responses should be via PM.

The return of Christ is spoken of at multiple points in the New Testament. The fact that you don't believe in a specific interpretation of how that is supposed to happen does not mean you do not believe in this doctrine, especially when the interpretation in question is one of those that has been crudely patched together from unrelated verses with no concern for the historical context.

Furthermore, there are also Christians who don't think the second coming is a doctrine that originates with Christ, though those are fewer. You can reach your own assumptions about them.

However,I also believe that Earth is the only planet in this Solar System with intelligent life.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but can't we be basically certain of that? The area in which life is possible within our solar system is relatively small and it is conveniently near our planet. Where could ET life be? Planet X orbiting on the opposite side of the sun isn't exactly going to cut it anymore.

[Tsukuyomi]

Wouldn't it be cool though ^^ If they were Aliens, Time Travelers, and Espers ^______^

Yes, I have seem The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ^__^

[CAAOutkast]

No. I'm not speaking for Nate, here, I'm speaking for this position. However, given that I want this discussion to end I'll try to state this somewhat neutrally. All responses should be via PM.

The return of Christ is spoken of at multiple points in the New Testament. The fact that you don't believe in a specific interpretation of how that is supposed to happen does not mean you do not believe in this doctrine, especially when the interpretation in question is one of those that has been crudely patched together from unrelated verses with no concern for the historical context.

Furthermore, there are also Christians who don't think the second coming is a doctrine that originates with Christ, though those are fewer. You can reach your own assumptions about them.

Thanks for clearing that up for me,UC.

[minakichan]

Wouldn't it be cool though ^^ If they were Aliens, Time Travelers, and Espers ^______^

Yes, but then a bored and slightly insane high school girl would be God, and we'd all be doomed =D

[ashfire]

I was watching the History Channel this morning. The show UFO Files was on and there was a story about a UFO crash in 1897 in a small town out west which made the newspapers back then. There were people who were children who are now in their 80s today who said they seen the UFO crashing but were not allowed to go to the crash site.
They say a alien from the UFO is buried in the town's cemetery but the people who live their now won't let anyone dig up the body.
They say the parts of the UFO were put into a well and someone bought the property clean out the parts and has been using the well which may have cause the man and his family to have deforming body parts.
I didn't see the rest of the show to see how it ended but it does make you wonder what is hidden from the public by others.

[minakichan]

They say a alien from the UFO is buried in the town's cemetery but the people who live their now won't let anyone dig up the body.
They say the parts of the UFO were put into a well and someone bought the property clean out the parts and has been using the well which may have cause the man and his family to have deforming body parts.

Whoa, what? o_O Well, I think that cemetaries usually don't let anyone dig anything up, and what will they do with a UFO? XDDD

Anyone heard of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio show? He had a show in the 30s recorded to sound like a news report, and in the actual invasion episode, he recorded it so vividly with such strong effects that tons of people broke into mass hysteria, thinking they'd be killed by the aliens =D I guess there are more alien-believers out there than one would think.

[Mave]

I don't know why we're so obsessed with life out in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, myself. Heck, we're still discovering stuff within the depths of our own oceans!

I second that. As it is, we have enough problems of our own. But noooo....we just have to go stick our noses into some other planet's issues. XD

Does what the Vatican say bother me? No. The Bible hasn't explicitly told us to beware of aliens from other planets [unless you personally wish to interpret some words otherwise]. I haven't seen much value of exploring this as part of serving God's Purpose...yet? Even if we had aliens of the same level of intellect with us, doesn't that mean our evangelizing tasks become bigger? Space mission trips will take on another meaning altogether.

I'm off for a mission trip to Planet Yabooboo. Pls pray that we'll be able to communicate the Good News with the residents for there are obstacles such as planetary differences. First and foremost, they are psychic......

[Doubleshadow]

I don't know why we're so obsessed with life out in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, myself.

To quote a sagacious article I recently read:

"We all have our obsessions nobody cares about."

[Tsukuyomi]

I'm off for a mission trip to Planet Yabooboo. Pls pray that we'll be able to communicate the Good News with the residents for there are obstacles such as planetary differences. First and foremost, they are psychic......

Have fun these next two weeks ^___^ Tell us if you find any Aliens, Time Travelers, and/or Espers ~(O__O)~

[mitsuki lover]

First we need again to distinguish between LIFE and INTELLIGENT LIFE.There is undoubtedly some form of life in our own solar system but this life would be in the form of microbes.This is what space scientists talk about when they talk about looking for extraterresterial life in the solar system.The fact is that there have been several places in the solar system,such as certain of the moons of Jupiter that have what might be considered the perfect storm for creating and sustaining microbial life.
INTELLIGENT LIFE,what the Vatican was talking about is another thing altogether.
There are probably a really limited number of planets in the universe at large where conditions for intelligent life to develop are rife.
This is one of the major problems in the search for not only exterterresterial but also extrasolar intelligent life or even extragalactic.
Even IF the right conditions prevail there is the question of wheter or not the beings are capable of communicating with us.
Communication is the big problem we have IF and WHEN we do find intelligent life.
I'm not just talking about level of technology but also the ability to understand and interpret each other.
Remember the STNG episode DARMOK?
In that episode an alien starship captain had to use really drastic means to
help Picard understand him.
So even IF and WHEN we do find the aliens HOW are we going to talk to them?

[Technomancer]

There are probably a really limited number of planets in the universe at large where conditions for intelligent life to develop are rife.

Possibly, but also consider that many places that can harbour at least primitive life may have a good chance of becoming suitable for more advanced forms of life as large-scale biological processes act on them. For example, the early earth was suitable for microbial life and not much more. The actions of these microbes however, produced the oxygen atmosphere that we have today. In turn, this new atmosphere facilitated the evolution of larger, more complex life forms that would ultimately give rise to our own species.

So even IF and WHEN we do find the aliens HOW are we going to talk to them?

I would imagine that at least at first, we would communicate fundamental mathematical ideas, since that is one thing we will have in common with any technological civilization. Such communication would hopefully form the basis for a more complicated exchange of ideas. On the other hand, there have been practical attempts at solving this problem such as the Arecibo message and the material NASA placed on board the Pioneer and Voyager probes.

[Doubleshadow]

It's not so much the probability of extraterrestrial life's existence, it is the necessary time overlap and proximity of such two civilizations to be close enough to communicate with each other in an intelligible way while simultaneously being advanced enough to make and decipher such communications. Given the size of a plant, or even an inhabitable stretch of solar system, there is only a narrow target of livable space; it would be very easy to aim a message at a target and mix, and there is still a lot of universe to get messages to. Not only do you have to find a way to both reach and cover near limitless space (the energy cost alone would be huge) and then pick a suitable direction or target, you also have to get messages timed correctly; the information could pass a civilization before it is technologically ready or after it is dead. You also have to pick a medium and language. We assume intelligent life forms will check the infrared spectrum like we do, and will recognize a mathematical code. But how easy would it be to miss a message by dismissing it as celestial noise?

[Technomancer]

I agree, the problem of looking in the right direction at the right time is a significant challenge. It is hoped that any civilization that is broadcasting, will like ourselves, be doing so pretty much continuously (we're a pretty loud planet!). Modern radio astrononmy equipment is also pretty sensitive these days. With the appropriate equipment, it is also possible to scan a very large frequency range for possible signals. This can be done using basic pattern recognition software which looks for the kind of signal modulations that an intelligent source might produce. If enough of the criteria have been met, the computer passes the information along for further study, either by the system or by human operators.

If you ever read Carl Sagan's novel Contact he does a good job of explaining some of the issues involved both in detection and subsequent communication.

[ashfire]

I was looking for some info for a friend and found this info.
http://flashovertv.firerescue1.com/Clip.aspx?key=415CD09FD5E2C8E0

[NekoChan_C]

I have a completely random thing to throw in, just for contemplation... In the gospels, when Jesus is talking about the end times, he says that "this generation shall not pass away until these things have come to pass"... then there is that little footnote which can subsititute "race" for generation... Now, of course that could mean race as in nationality, but could it also mean "race of beings"?

[Azier the Swordsman]

I would probably be more skeptical of this topic myself had my parents not actually viewed one of these UFO's close up. And believe me, nothing comes from a more credible source than my mom. It happened in Oklahoma a long time ago, at my grandparents house back when they lived out in the country.

I was just an infant at this time, which is sad, since I would have very much enjoyed witnessing this event for myself. The alien craft that they saw was not merely something so simple as lights in the sky, but an actual small craft that was literally only several feet above them the whole time. If I'm remembering the description right, it was like a round orb with flashing lights all around it.

The movement pattern was unusual. It would at regular intervals dart around the area, being still one second, and in half a second darting over to another area at literally light speed and stopping still for a bit before repeating the process. After awhile of doing this, the craft suddenly shot off into the sky (space) at literally "warp" speed.

Alien or not, something sure as heck is going on that we don't know the full details about.

[Tyrel]

I have a completely random thing to throw in, just for contemplation... In the gospels, when Jesus is talking about the end times, he says that "this generation shall not pass away until these things have come to pass"... then there is that little footnote which can subsititute "race" for generation... Now, of course that could mean race as in nationality, but could it also mean "race of beings"?

I would try not to take the Scriptures too far out of their author's context. The Scriptures aren't magical, they are mystical.

Still, effort appreciated

[Nate]

I would probably be more skeptical of this topic myself had my parents not actually viewed one of these UFO's close up. And believe me, nothing comes from a more credible source than my mom.

This is not to besmirch the name of your mother, nor is it an attempt to discredit her story, since God is truly the only one who knows what she saw.

Even so, a person who is reliable, never lies, is always truthful and trustworthy, can only be so on subjects that they believe are true. If they are mistaken, then they are not lying about what they believe it was, but that does not make their story true.

Example. Someone I know creates a completely lifelike dummy of themselves and pushes it off a cliff. I see the dummy fall. I tell everyone that I saw this person fall off a cliff. I'm not lying; I saw what I saw. The problem is, they didn't fall off a cliff, it was a lifelike dummy of them. It doesn't matter how truthful I am or how trustworthy, I am not correct in my assessment, even though what I say is the truth in my eyes.

[Azier the Swordsman]

I understand what you are saying.

Note that I never made any claim where I claimed to believe that the object was an actual alien craft. I merely recounted an event that she witnessed personally, as described by her, which is an exact match on various other sightings of which people believe are of alien origin, whether they are or not.

My point was, I am a little less skeptical of the possibility of "alien craft", though I am open minded enough to consider any other types of possibilities. At any rate, something occur which has no explanation, which ended up with the small craft blasting off into space at the very end at a very high speed.

[ashfire]

The latest story out there is that there is a man who has videoed a space alien running from his house who was peeking in his windows.
His daughter for a week told him that someone was looking in her window.
He set up a camera and when his daughter yelled he ran outside and got it on video. He said when it ran it was not the way a human would run and it didn't look human and it turned and look at him and blinked. He said the space alien looked like most of them do. Big black eyes, large head and thin body gray or white.
He had been on Larry King show. I heard the video is being examed by people in the government.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I dunno... If there is an evolutionary process controlling the development of life in the universe, it seems a far stretch that what other rare intelligent life form that existed in the galaxy in the exact same timeframe as us would actually be humanoid. Doesn't mean aliens don't scare the ever-loving bejeebus out of me, though.

[Tsukuyomi]

Kinda off topic (sorry Mods), but I had a dream (well, kinda in between sleep and being awake) that this gray alien was standing over me as I slept o.o It had hollow eyes- Meep, now I freaked myself out >_>.. xD;

Aliens, Time Travelers, and Espers.. OH MY D8

[Nate]

I dunno... If there is an evolutionary process controlling the development of life in the universe, it seems a far stretch that what other rare intelligent life form that existed in the galaxy in the exact same timeframe as us would actually be humanoid.

Well they exist in the same timeframe, but they would obviously have to be FAR more advanced than us to reach us, probably a few hundred thousand years older than humanity.

At any rate, while I don't deny there could be life out there somewhere else, I find it unbelievably unlikely any of them would come here. First, they'd have to know we lived here, and given how immense the universe is the odds that they would find us is astronomically low, and two, they'd have to find a way to reach us, which means they'd have to find a way to break the speed of light (also extremely improbable) or have ridiculously long life spans to journey for decades/centuries (and that brings up the problem of food/water/etc.)

[Tsukuyomi]

But.. what if aliens already exist amongst us already >_> As far as you know.. I'm an alien who has come to suck out your brains ~(O__O)~

[Fish and Chips]

The more I learn about the universe, the more I am increasingly convinced we are all alone in it. I am not against the idea of aliens, but the parameters of life are extensively narrow, and I could easily see the entire universe as a disproportionately large bit of clockwork keeping our planet at just the right time in just the right place to support life. And if there are aliens out there, they'd have to be considerably more advanced than us by several hundred (if not thousand) years for sufficient space travel, know of our planet, and have reason to care about it.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

And if there are aliens out there, they'd have to be considerably more advanced than us by several hundred (if not thousand) years for sufficient space travel, know of our planet, and have reason to care about it.

I thought of this just now... actually.

I find it funny how as always assume that any potential alien lifeform is more technologically advanced than us. But why do we think that? What if there are aliens or other lifeforms out there in other planets that are NOT as advanced as us? What if they're like... Alien-cavemen or something?