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To: mdittmar

Let’s put UFOs into perspective.

The nearest star to Earth is Alpha Centauri. It is four years away at the speed of light. The nearest habitable planet is probably over 100 years away at the speed of light.

The age of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about 13.6 billion years. The age of our Earth is about 4.5 billion years. Life has existed on Earth for maybe 1 billion years or so, most of that time as microbial life only.

Intelligent life, in any way similar to us, is maybe 50,000 years, with modern intellect say 10,000 years. Our modern technology began about 200 years ago.

So how long will we last? If we stay exclusively on Earth, perhaps 30,000 to 50,000 years before some disaster or disasters wipes us out or reduces the few survivors to a primitive state, from which we may not recover.

So, let’s say this is not an unusual course of evolution for intelligent species, and that they last about 100,000 years.

This is just a tiny bit of time in our galaxy. Vast numbers of intelligent species might have evolved and died out in the past.

Some may exist today. But what are the odds they would be just 100 light years from us? From one side of the galaxy is between 70,000 and 100,000 light years. We are about 26,000 light years to the galactic center.

There are between 200 and 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, most of which are red dwarfs that would not support life.

So the bottom line is that a UFO would most likely have to cross an immense distance in space, even though they would have no idea where to look, other than for habitable planets. Nothing out there is close enough to have received any transmission we have made.

So I’m not holding my breath.


85 posted on 11/12/2007 7:18:28 PM PST by Popocatapetl
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To: Popocatapetl
Let’s put UFOs into perspective.

A hundred years ago most people used horses to travel.

87 posted on 11/12/2007 7:27:03 PM PST by dragonblustar (Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God - G. K. Chesterton)
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To: Popocatapetl
There are between 200 and 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, most of which are red dwarfs that would not support life.

I'll give you the first part, there's between 100 and 400 billion stars, but there is NO FIRM NUMBER and those are estimates. But I'm throwing in a BS flag on the "Most of which are red dwards that would not support life".

First off, MOST of the stars aren't red dwarves, and secondly, you're making a supposition that "they can't support life".

You're going to have to show some data to back up both of these statements, and I don't think you can.

In FACT, the EARTH supports life in areas which were previously thought NOT to support life, for instance deep in the oceanse beyond where any life was thought to exist because of the sheer pressure down there, has shown many types of life.

Around "black smokers", also deep in the oceans you will find volcanic vents, allowing extremely poisonous chemicals into the ocean. Around these vents, you will find life, under extreme atmospheric pressures, extremely poisonous environments, and yet there is life.

Under extreme desert conditions where nothing should be alive - temperatures in the Gobi hit 160 degrees in some places, which is enough to kill most bacteria, not to mention plants and animals, and as low as freezing at night -- there is ABUNDANT life forms, including higher life forms.

So the bottom line is that a UFO would most likely have to cross an immense distance in space, even though they would have no idea where to look, other than for habitable planets. Nothing out there is close enough to have received any transmission we have made.

Throwing another flag on this one as well. Again, this is supposition, and it is something that even the very "learned" folks with PHds aren't taking as gospel any more. There are, in fact, several theories in physics -- Not yet proven -- that can easily explain the travel of a space craft from one place in time-space, to another, without using vast amounts of energy, by bending time-space itself. For now, scientists don't know a way to DO it without vast quantities of energy, but they understand the theory of how to move from point A, to point B, by simply "warping" space. No, it's not science fiction or Star Trek, it IS a theory, but it's certainly not "traveling vast distances through space over long periods of time. ALL of that said, I'm not going to "hold my breath either"... but, let's all consider that this is just a speck of dust in a vast, vast Galaxy in an even vaster universe. There's life out there. Intelligent and otherwise. No DOUBT in my mind it got here riding on asteroids at this point. (look up the phrase panspermia) And I would posit that life exists not just here, but EVERYWHERE. Even places we're sure it doesn't.
131 posted on 11/13/2007 10:58:51 AM PST by Rick.Donaldson (http://www.transasianaxis.com - Visit for lastest on DPRK/Russia/China/Etc --Fred Thompson for Prez.)
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To: Popocatapetl
The nearest star to Earth is Alpha Centauri. It is four years away at the speed of light. The nearest habitable planet is probably over 100 years away at the speed of light.

As we measure it.

But what are the odds they would be just 100 light years from us? From one side of the galaxy is between 70,000 and 100,000 light years. We are about 26,000 light years to the galactic center.

Yes, as we measure distance.

We used to use sextants. ;-)

149 posted on 11/13/2007 12:33:00 PM PST by fanfan ("We don't start fights my friends, but we finish them, and never leave until our work is done."PMSH)
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