Aliens: The Truth Is Out There?

Author: Briony

The existence of alien life has been debated since we first acknowledged the fact that there are other planets out there, and we may not be the centre of the universe after all. But if there are others – when will we get to meet them, where will the rendezvous point be, or do they walk amongst us already?

There are millions of websites, publications, and organisations dedicated to proving the existence of alien life. The media do nothing to dispel the notion, in fact, tabloids thrive off it, and popular culture has made a fortune out of the science fiction genre – the X Files, Star Trek, Avatar, Star Wars, E.T, Dr Who, The Men In Black, Alien, The War Of The Worlds, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Superman… you get the gist!

Conspiracy theorists are convinced that alien life exists and has made contact with earth, and it’s all a governmental cover-up. The most controversial, and enduring, incident happened near Roswell in 1947, when an object widely believed to be a spaceship containing extraterrestrial life crashed on a ranch in the state of New Mexico. The ensuing secrecy, plus government and military involvement, led to further speculation and suspicion, despite officials stating it was a military surveillance balloon that had fallen from the sky.

In November 2011, the White House was forced to release official communications to petitions requesting the Government disclose all they know about alien life, and any interaction it may have had with visitors from outer space. In its response, the U.S. government accepted the likelihood of life on other planets, but denied ever having contact with any of them to date.

Scientists agree that extra-terrestrial life is highly plausible given the vastness and physical environments of the universe, and although they are looking for it, as yet, there has been no real evidence of its existence.

Of course, if the movies are to be believed, if there is intelligent life beyond our galaxy their first point of call is always going to be the United States, and the odds makers agree, although they have them at level pegging with Russia, closely followed by China, Canada, Sweden, and Finland – apparently Britain will be of little interest to E.T if he ever gets to our stratosphere!

In a galaxy, far, far, away, who knows, there probably is life, it would be pretty conceited of us to think it was just us in the universe – but can they be bothered coming all the way over here, and if they do, what will they bring? Will they be little green men who come in peace, or in a form of deadly bacteria that will destroy the human race a la Hollywood style? The truth is out there, but will we ever find it?!