Aliens?

[Spockydog]

Does anyone have any theories as to why there is suddenly an explosion of media coverage, with several reputable news organizations discussing the UAP phenomenon without any hint of the sarkiness previously associated with reporting on the subject?

And why has the official US line suddenly changed from absolute denial to what it is today? 

It almost feels as if we're being primed.

 

[Free Northman Reborn]

31 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Does anyone have any theories as to why there is suddenly an explosion of media coverage, with several reputable news organizations discussing the UAP phenomenon without any hint of the sarkiness previously associated with reporting on the subject?

And why has the official US line suddenly changed from absolute denial to what it is today? 

It almost feels as if we're being primed.

 

Joe Rogan.

All the serious guys driving this new narrative - Chris Mellon, David Fravor, Jeremy Corbell and others have appeared on his podcast. Joe has great power, and the mainstream media has been forced to tag along or get left behind.

I actually believe we are dealing with something real here. Maybe even aliens. Although I would guess time/dimensional travellers before I pick ET, due to the Rare Intelligence hypothesis, as previously stated.

[maarsen]

9 hours ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

It is becoming increasingly likely that we are the only intelligent life in the galaxy and potentially the observable universe.

Simply put, given the billions of years available for intelligent life to have arisen before us, and given the immense progress we have made in a mere 200 years, the universe is simply too natural and pristine on galactic scales for billion or even million year old civilizations to have existed. We should be seeing their signs all over the place. But instead we see absolutely nothing, no matter which stars or galaxies we look at.

Lack of evidence is not evidence of lack. Our Earth is a sample size of one so almost nothing can be derived from looking at us. What we do know is that life seemed to have evolved here with astonishing rapidity once the earth was actually formed. Not only that but it has persisted even with regular mass extinction events.

Consider other planets and suns formed from the same nebula that hatched our solar system. they would have basically the same mix of materials that exist in our system, which as we know, is amenable to life. those systems could now be on the other side of our galaxy, and if they developed life at more or less the same rate as Earth,  it could take 200,000 years from now to receive any evidence of intelligent life. We have only had the ability, much less the inclination to search for life on other worlds for less than 100 years. When we peer into space we are peering into the past, not the future.

There is nothing special about our sun, our planet or our solar system that makes it especially amenable to life. Planets are everywhere in other systems. Earthlike planets are still very hard to detect with present technology, and detecting life on other planets also requires new techniques. we still do not have the tools in place to determine if life existed, or exists on Mars, let alone anywhere else.

[polishgenius]

7 hours ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

A billion year old civilization would have engineered STARS and GALAXIES to suit their needs.

 

I'll be honest your whole post reads like you really want aliens to be cool like this and because we don't see the signs of that you're taking your ball and going home in a huff, denying that they can exist at all. You talk of lack of imagination but you imagine all life must be like us: and you refuse to acknowledge that engineering whole systems and galaxies might not actually be possible, or useful if it is.

[Spockydog]

46 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

I would guess time/dimensional travellers before I pick ET, due to the Rare Intelligence hypothesis, as previously stated.

Not sure about this Rare Intelligence Hypothesis. I mean, humans have made it into space and we're probably not even the most intelligent species on Earth. 

 

[DaveSumm]

I genuinely don’t understand the Fermi paradox. Our radio signals have travelled about 100 light years so far, which covers about 2300 solar systems (very rough estimate). When you’re talking about the probabilities of everything aligning to produce an intelligent species on a planet, 2300 is a pathetically small number. Even the most optimistic alien enthusiast wouldn’t bank on finding anything in such a tiny sample size. And here’s the real kicker:

Quote

The first intentional radio transmission to space, called the Arecibo message, wasn't until 1974, but we've been leaking radio signals into space for over 100 years.

Many of those are probably garbled by the ionosphere. Even those that aren't (like Earth-space communications), by the time they're 100 light-years away, are so attenuated and weak that they're basically undetectable anyway.

So, if there are any intelligent aliens beyond that radius, and if they have radio technology, they probably couldn't pick up what we're putting out there.

So why do we expect to hear from anyone else? It assumes that all technology from here on out will be inherently ‘noisy’, that it’ll broadcast loud and clear and overcome this degradation problem. And I’m not even talking about whether a species desires to be heard, just whether it’s even possible to be heard. It seems like you’d need to laser-focus a message like the Arecibo and then pray for the staggeringly unlikely eventuality that someone was actually there.

[Fez]

I'd also note that we may have already found proof of distant alien life anyway. As far as I know, none of the natural explanations for the light diming of Tabby's Star have been found satisfactory yet. It probably is one of them, rather than being the result of an alien mega-structure. But if it were an alien mega-structure, this kind of hazy, unconfirmed evidence is likely all we'll have for the next several centuries at least.

Another example is the Oumuamua object. Most scientists say its probably natural, and it probably is. But the proof isn't as good as you'd like, and its got a bunch of weird properties it. I wonder how many scientists are just afraid of being ridiculed for suggesting it might be an alien solar sail. 

[Spockydog]

My sister got me Avi Loeb's book on Oumuamua for my birthday. Fascinating stuff. It's clear that it wasn't a comet or asteroid from the way it accelerated and changed course around the sun. 

In his book, Loeb compares his colleagues' unwillingness to properly engage with this evidence with that of Galileo's Catholic accusers' refusal to peer into his telescope.

And yeah, the dimming of Tabby's Star is more likely caused by an alien megastructure than anything else. 

ETA: Just to add that Loeb is in no way a crackpot. Dude is head of astrophysics at Harvard. 

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

My sister got me Avi Loeb's book on Oumuamua for my birthday. Fascinating stuff. It's clear that it wasn't a comet or asteroid from the way it accelerated and changed course around the sun. 

In his book, Loeb compares his colleagues' unwillingness to properly engage with this evidence with that of Galileo's Catholic accusers refusal to peer into his telescope.

And yeah, the dimming of Tabby's Star is more likely caused by an alien megastructure than anything else. 

ETA: Just to add that Loeb is in no way a crackpot. Dude is head of astrophysics at Harvard. 

Another reason to be excited for the James Webb Telescope.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Does anyone have any theories as to why there is suddenly an explosion of media coverage, with several reputable news organizations discussing the UAP phenomenon without any hint of the sarkiness previously associated with reporting on the subject?

And why has the official US line suddenly changed from absolute denial to what it is today? 

It almost feels as if we're being primed.

 

I'd venture to guess it's that some in the media have wanted to talk about it for a while and have done so privately, but previously you would risk being labeled a nut if you did so. 

Quote

Not sure about this Rare Intelligence Hypothesis. I mean, humans have made it into space and we're probably not even the most intelligent species on Earth. 

Intelligence is multi-faceted construct. Humans have the highest raw intelligence, but that doesn't mean we have the best empathetical intelligence, for example.

[Week]

5 hours ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Joe Rogan.

All the serious guys driving this new narrative - Chris Mellon, David Fravor, Jeremy Corbell and others have appeared on his podcast. Joe has great power, and the mainstream media has been forced to tag along or get left behind.

This encapsulates the best argument against intelligent life existing anywhere in the universe, including Earth. 

I cannot wait for the carnival barker from Fear Factor to unceremoniously fuck off. What a useless individual.

[A wilding]

I have to say that Loeb didn't convince me. The argument seems a bit weak, that this first object of a new type that we happened to spot behaved subtly differently to how we would have predicted, and so therefore it must be an alien spacecraft. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

And frankly, much of his shtick seemed borrowed from the pseudoscientists and their ilk. Basically railing that those who disagree with him are closed minded little people who don't have the brains to appreciate his genius, and that history will prove him right.

 

[Soylent Brown]

3 hours ago, Spockydog said:

My sister got me Avi Loeb's book on Oumuamua for my birthday. Fascinating stuff. It's clear that it wasn't a comet or asteroid from the way it accelerated and changed course around the sun.

I'm not sure interpreting the movements of random space rocks is the way forward for our species, unless you're determined to follow the Starship Troopers timeline!

[Clueless Northman]

17 hours ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

It is becoming increasingly likely that we are the only intelligent life in the galaxy and potentially the observable universe.

Simply put, given the billions of years available for intelligent life to have arisen before us, and given the immense progress we have made in a mere 200 years, the universe is simply too natural and pristine on galactic scales for billion or even million year old civilizations to have existed. We should be seeing their signs all over the place. But instead we see absolutely nothing, no matter which stars or galaxies we look at.

Ah, yes, "Reapers"...

 

More seriously, it's very possible that the highest intelligent forms are at such a level that we don't even notice their existence and their actions anymore. Of course, this leaves us with intermediate species, which we could have spotted. Maybe the highest intelligences around are actually keeping us safe / isolated from the influence and knowledge of advanced technological species.

That said, I don't expect a shitload of advanced species all across the galaxy. I wouldn't expect more advanced aliens in most surrounding systems, for instance. This should be moderately rare, I suppose.

 

2 hours ago, A wilding said:

I have to say that Loeb didn't convince me. The argument seems a bit weak, that this first object of a new type that we happened to spot behaved subtly differently to how we would have predicted, and so therefore it must be an alien spacecraft. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

We just need to wait a few decades to have all the evidence. After all: The Ramans do everything in threes.

[Spockydog]

1 hour ago, Soylent Brown said:

I'm not sure interpreting the movements of random space rocks is the way forward for our species, unless you're determined to follow the Starship Troopers timeline!

It was almost certainly a metal object. A shiny metal object.

[Spockydog]

3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'd venture to guess it's that some in the media have wanted to talk about it for a while and have done so privately, but previously you would risk being labeled a nut if you did so. 

You only have to look at what happened to Phoenix councilwoman Frances Barwood to see why people might be reluctant to speak out. I mean, the Phoenix Lights was an event witnessed by tens of thousands of people in Arizona and Nevada, including the Governor of Arizona, Fife Symington. 

According to Symington, there was mass panic at the time (some of the 911 calls are absolutely wild). Barwood told her constituents she would get answers, she tried to get answers from the Air Force and was subsequently tarred and feathered by the US media and hounded out of office.

This should have been a massive worldwide news event. I wonder what would happen if the Phoenix Lights returned today.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

18 hours ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

It is becoming increasingly likely that we are the only intelligent life in the galaxy and potentially the observable universe.

Simply put, given the billions of years available for intelligent life to have arisen before us, and given the immense progress we have made in a mere 200 years, the universe is simply too natural and pristine on galactic scales for billion or even million year old civilizations to have existed. We should be seeing their signs all over the place. But instead we see absolutely nothing, no matter which stars or galaxies we look at.

Fermi Paradox

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

This should have been a massive worldwide news event. I wonder what would happen if the Phoenix Lights returned today.

Social media would have made it one of the biggest stories in the world.

[Varysblackfyre321]

22 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Does anyone have any theories as to why there is suddenly an explosion of media coverage, with several reputable news organizations discussing the UAP phenomenon without any hint of the sarkiness previously associated with reporting on the subject?

And why has the official US line suddenly changed from absolute denial to what it is today? 

It almost feels as if we're being primed.

 

Um if I had to guess it’s a manufactured hysteria.

The government has this history of hyping up talk of aliens when they want a distraction from something they’re doing.

 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-07-22/area-51-secrets-environment-toxics-ufos-aliens%3f_amp=true

I don’t think We’re not going to see ET soon.

[Loge]

20 hours ago, Fez said:

Another example is the Oumuamua object. Most scientists say its probably natural, and it probably is. But the proof isn't as good as you'd like, and its got a bunch of weird properties it. I wonder how many scientists are just afraid of being ridiculed for suggesting it might be an alien solar sail. 

And what would a solar sail of alien manufacture  do in the solar system? It would be a damn shitty solar sail, BTW, as the acceleration it produces is tiny. The deviation from a strictly hyperbolic trajectory is barely measurable.