Siteadmin, Check users, Administrators
12,071
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 26:
Line 26: + + + + + + +
→Extraterrestrial life as a scientific hypothesis
Politicians (among them, former [[President of the United States]] [[Jimmy Carter]]) have openly speculated on the existence of extraterrestrial nation-states.<ref>Carter claims to have witnessed an unidentified flying object in 1969; he remains the only U.S. President to have formally reported a [[UFO]]. He filed a report with the International UFO Bureau in [[Oklahoma City]] after a request from that organization.[http://www.presidentialufo.com/carter_ufo_report.htm] See [[Jimmy Carter]].</ref> For further details, see the main article on [[Exotheology]].
Politicians (among them, former [[President of the United States]] [[Jimmy Carter]]) have openly speculated on the existence of extraterrestrial nation-states.<ref>Carter claims to have witnessed an unidentified flying object in 1969; he remains the only U.S. President to have formally reported a [[UFO]]. He filed a report with the International UFO Bureau in [[Oklahoma City]] after a request from that organization.[http://www.presidentialufo.com/carter_ufo_report.htm] See [[Jimmy Carter]].</ref> For further details, see the main article on [[Exotheology]].
=== Extraterrestrial Life: Likelihood ===
The scientific literature, and the popular culture, are rife with anecdotes purporting to testify to the existence of extraterrestrial life, both microbial and "intelligent"--that is, capable of building a civilization and a nation-state and possibly a vast military command. Stories of [[unidentified flying object]]s abound, and indeed the [[United States Air Force]] investigated the possibility directly over a period of twenty-two years.<ref>Anonymous, "[http://www.ufoevidence.org/topics/ProjectBlueBook.htm Project Blue Book]", ''[http://www.ufoevidence.org/ UFO Evidence.org]'', retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref>Anonymous, ''[http://www.bluebookarchive.org/ The Project Blue Book Archive]'', retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref>Fund for Unidentified Flying Object Research (FUFOR), ''[http://www.nicap.org/index.htm Official Site of the National Investigative Committee for Aerial Phenomena]'', Francis L. Ridge, editor and Webmaster, December 15, 1997 to present. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref>
However, no definitive evidence exists that these objects are anything other than misinterpreted weather phenomena or perhaps super-secret military aerospace prototypes. Neither has any [[Astronomy|astronomer]] or [[astronaut]] reported a definite sighting of, much less contact with, any carrier-like vessel that would have been capable of launching any of the alleged two-seater or similar small-crewed craft that various "witnesses" report having encountered. Nor has any [[physics|physicist]] yet suggested a method by which such a craft could have visited our [[solar system]], given the fixed speed limit set by the [[Special Theory of Relativity]].
Nor has any microbiologist demonstrated the finding of microbes having a definite extraterrestrial origin.
== Extraterrestrial Life in Science Fiction ==
== Extraterrestrial Life in Science Fiction ==