I am frequently asked if I believe in aliens and UFOs. I shock most people by saying "Yes, and no." Alien life, somewhere in the Universe? Sure! But flying saucers whizzing by Earth, stopping just long enough to trample our wheat stalks and to pose for blurry photos?
Nope.
My friend David Mosher over at Discovery Channel's blog collective asked me to write up my thoughts on this, and I obliged. Pardon this rather rude redirect, but you can read my thoughts over there.
Here's an excerpt:
As far as aliens go, I suspect pretty strongly that there's life in space. We know of over 300 planets orbiting other stars, and we've only just started looking. In our Milky Way Galaxy alone there are probably literally billions of planets. Life on Earth got started pretty rapidly, relatively speaking, after the crust cooled and liquid water formed, so we know it's not tough for life to get its start... and it's entirely possible there is microbial life inside icy moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn.
So thinking aliens exist has a pretty decent scientific basis. But them coming here is an entirely different beast.
I'm amazed at how much heat I take from the UFO community over this sentiment. As I have said over and over again, all I really want is evidence. You know, something solid to hold in my hand that says, "This came from out there." Evidence.
I suspect that'll never satisfy people who believe UFOs are alien spaceships. But maybe my post at the Discovery Channel blog will help; I simply and briefly lay out my reason for thinking that if aliens exist, they have better things to do then imitate Venus or hot air balloons.
At least, I hope so.