More UFO Madness

[Monte Carlo]

I am a sucker for a UFO story, any UFO craziness brings out the Lone Gunman in me.

 

I so badly want there to be aliens. OK, I want them to be friendly aliens, not scary human-eating reptiles, but that's not important right now.

 

So check out this story in a not-very-good UK newspaper.

 

Does anyone here know anything about these guys or are they the real deal? And, if anybody here is of a scientific bent, why might a saucer be an optimal shape for a space-craft?

 

Cheers

MC

[Purkake]

*starts putting on tinfoil hat*

 

 

The Daily Mail? Who are you kidding here, Monte?

[Rosbjerg]

And, if anybody here is of a scientific bent, why might a saucer be an optimal shape for a space-craft?

 

Cheers

MC

 

Seems a good balance between aerodynamic in atmospheres and round (being a quite solid shape). Plus perhaps gravity is nearly impossible to create so you need centrifuge - and therefore a spinning ship.

 

Why would Aliens fly down and mess with ICBMs though? seems like a rather wasteful way to spend your time..

[Morgoth]

On a more serious note: Are you guys believers?

 

I am, but no, I'm not a nutsjob.

[Oblarg]

On a more serious note: Are you guys believers?

 

I am, but no, I'm not a nutsjob.

 

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

I don't think you can classify as "not a nutjob" while honestly believing that there are extraterrestrials visiting earth.

[Monte Carlo]

On a more serious note: Are you guys believers?

 

I'd describe myself as agnostic but in a very open-minded way.

[Morgoth]

Well, I don't know. But when you read something like this then you really have to make some serious explanation of how 62 children can come up with the same lie?

[Oblarg]

Well, I don't know. But when you read something like this then you really have to make some serious explanation of how 62 children can come up with the same lie?

 

Seems a lot more likely than an actual alien encounter.

 

The simple fact is that due to the distances involved and the fact that you can't travel faster than the speed of light, we're not going to encounter aliens. Ever. They may exist, but we'll never find them.

 

Similarly, they'll never find us.

[Monte Carlo]

^ I'm sort of with Morgoth, there gets to a point where several tons of circumstantial evidence starts soaking up the scepticism and makes you wonder what the truth is.

[Morgoth]

Well, I don't know. But when you read something like this then you really have to make some serious explanation of how 62 children can come up with the same lie?

 

The simple fact is that due to the distances involved and the fact that you can't travel faster than the speed of light, we're not going to encounter aliens. Ever. They may exist, but we'll never find them.

Well, like you can judge how fast Aliens can travel. Just because we can't fathom it doesn't mean it's impossible.

[Oblarg]

^ I'm sort of with Morgoth, there gets to a point where several tons of circumstantial evidence starts soaking up the scepticism and makes you wonder what the truth is.

 

Not if you truly have an understanding of just how improbable an alien encounter is.

 

And consider this: There are a lot of people in the world. People like getting attention. Only a small fraction of people in the world need to make up storied for the sake of getting attention for there to be "several tons of circumstantial evidence." Except it's not even circumstantial evidence - it's anecdotal evidence, which is completely worthless.

 

Well, I don't know. But when you read something like this then you really have to make some serious explanation of how 62 children can come up with the same lie?

 

The simple fact is that due to the distances involved and the fact that you can't travel faster than the speed of light, we're not going to encounter aliens. Ever. They may exist, but we'll never find them.

Well, like you can judge how fast Aliens can travel. Just because we can't fathom it doesn't mean it's impossible.

 

Unfortunately for people who like to believe in alien encounters, our understanding of that area of physics is fairly complete. FTL travel doesn't exist.

Edited September 26, 2010 by Oblarg

[Morgoth]

Unfortunately for people who like to believe in alien encounters, our understanding of that area of physics is fairly complete. FTL travel doesn't exist.

Laws of physics are made up by our limited brains. We still discover new and unexplained stuff.

[Oblarg]

Laws of physics are made up by our limited brains. We still discover new and unexplained stuff.

 

That's a very, very ignorant view that is a huge insult to the vast amounts of scientific knowledge we've acquired.

[Monte Carlo]

Unfortunately for people who like to believe in alien encounters, our understanding of that area of physics is fairly complete. FTL travel doesn't exist.

 

Hmmm. Victorians didn't buy into cars because they honestly thought that humans would literally explode if they travelled at speeds over 30mph.

 

Scientific paradigm shifts, when they happen, are dramatic. I have to defer to your knowledge - I am hopeless at physics - but isn't it slightly arrogant for us to believe that an area of science can never advance because of theoretical recieved wisdom?

 

Imagine telling a medieval scholar that you can travel in the air faster than an arrow and transplant a man's heart into another human being. His response might be a bit like yours, Oblarg.

[Oblarg]

Unfortunately for people who like to believe in alien encounters, our understanding of that area of physics is fairly complete. FTL travel doesn't exist.

 

Hmmm. Victorians didn't buy into cars because they honestly thought that humans would literally explode if they travelled at speeds over 30mph.

 

Scientific paradigm shifts, when they happen, are dramatic. I have to defer to your knowledge - I am hopeless at physics - but isn't it slightly arrogant for us to believe that an area of science can never advance because of theoretical recieved wisdom?

 

Imagine telling a medieval scholar that you can travel in the air faster than an arrow and transplant a man's heart into another human being. His response might be a bit like yours, Oblarg.

 

Except back then knowledge wasn't scientific so much as it was guesswork.

 

Our current understanding of the basic laws of physics is pretty solid - we have heaps and heaps and heaps of physical evidence for it - much more evidence than there is in favor of alien encounters, I'm afraid.

[Raithe]

The trouble is reminding yourself that there is so much stuff we don't know and have yet to understand.

Things change. Science changes.

 

Take the amount of simple "health" issues that have changed over the years, and biology is a bit easier to understand than physics.

 

Given the vastness of the universe, the odds of there being some other form(s) of intelligent life out there have to be fairly good.. but the question would be.. if some alien intelligence is advanced enough to travel through interstellar distances.. why would they want to visit us?

 

Apart from wanting to shut down the obscene amount of crappy reality-TV we've been beaming out into space for the last decade...

[Purkake]

Wow, I didn't realize I shared the board with a bunch of nutjobs(well, more nutjobs, anyway).

 

Sometimes it's just nice to keep a professional distance and only talk about video games...

[Walsingham]

Simple - they want to sell us stuff on account of our galactic scale greed.

 

Also, they may want some really well adapted mercenaries. (I stole this one from Alan Dean Foster)

[Raithe]

Simple - they want to sell us stuff on account of our galactic scale greed.

 

Also, they may want some really well adapted mercenaries. (I stole this one from Alan Dean Foster)

 

Hey, the "we advanced aliens can't commit warfare for ethical/philosophical/neurological reasons, so we're here to get you humans to fight for us" has been used in way more sci-fi then just ADF's...

[Tale]

The trouble is reminding yourself that there is so much stuff we don't know and have yet to understand.

Things change. Science changes.

 

Take the amount of simple "health" issues that have changed over the years, and biology is a bit easier to understand than physics.

 

Given the vastness of the universe, the odds of there being some other form(s) of intelligent life out there have to be fairly good.. but the question would be.. if some alien intelligence is advanced enough to travel through interstellar distances.. why would they want to visit us?

 

Apart from wanting to shut down the obscene amount of crappy reality-TV we've been beaming out into space for the last decade...

Let's put it this way. You better hope they either don't exist or can't visit us. If they can travel faster than light, nuclear weapons become redundant. An FTL lump of iron is a doomsday weapon.

 

If their ship so much as crash landed then you could say goodbye to cities.

Edited September 27, 2010 by Tale

[Orogun01]

Where I believe that aliens may indeed exists but there is no conclusive evidence to support it.

 

Actually, I'm sort partial to the life on earth came from another planet theories.

[Morgoth]

Aliens eat nukes for breakfast

[Orogun01]

Aliens eat nukes for breakfast

God I hope the Russians don't find out.

[HoonDing]

Wow, I didn't realize I shared the board with a bunch of nutjobs(well, more nutjobs, anyway).

 

Sometimes it's just nice to keep a professional distance and only talk about video games...

Why hello, there.

 

 

Anyway, in before Fermi's paradox and Drake's equation.

Edited September 27, 2010 by virumor

[Tale]

What about the berserker hypothesis?