Post by LanceThe universe is unimaginably large. If a God made it, why would she
confine herself to life on just tiny earth? I think the reason few
religious folk think aliens likely is that they are still stuck in
pre-Copernican beliefs and think this little world is the centre of the
universe. But anyone who accepts the immensity of the universe and the
insignificance of our planet and solar system must think that life
could be found elsewhere in the universe. Intelligent life is another
matter, of course. Our own evolutionary history suggests that evolution
tends to select against intelligence, and anyone looking at our recent
population explosion, nuclear weapons, lack of respect for our own
environment, and the like, might guess that our own fate will be
extinction, and quite soon at that. So whilst it is likely, given the
immensity of the universe, that intelligent life has evolved elsewhere,
it is probably unlikely that we would be alive at the same time as
another intelligent life that evolved elsewhere. Still, I suspect that
a good scientist would try to look for evidence, don't you apree? So I
think this is the source of your magical thinking.
UFO enthusiasts don't strike me as very scientific and rational. Rather,
the activity bears a resemblance to cultic worship. They gather in the
night and look to the sky, waiting for the UFO gods to reveal
themselves.
Anyway, I once observed a UFO phenomenon above lake Mälaren outside
Stockholm. There were three strong lights in triangular configuration
inside a cloud. The lights could be seen on the underside of the cloud.
No sound was heard although I observed it during a long time. I can't
explain it. Soon a Cessna plane came and flew back and forth under the
cloud, but only after the phenomenon had disappeared.
M. Winther
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