This week there is an international UFO convention in Mexico City. I passionately believe that there are UFOs - unidentified flying objects - I remember vividly being hit by a UFO - my sister threw it with such force that it disintegrated on impact and to this day I have not been able to identify it.
So there! All you sceptics who say UFOs are a lot of hogwash what more proof do you need?
The problem of extraterrestrial intelligent life is another question entirely.
It seems that here we are saddled with an inferiority complex - Sagan has done the maths and has worked out that there must be other life forms out there. Yet they haven't dropped in for a cup of tea. Is trhere something wrong with us? After all we would visit them if we could - just ask any indigenous people on planet earth about how we delight to visit exotic people.
But maybe that is the answer why they haven't visited - after all the fact that they have not visted is surely proof positive that there is intelligent life out there?

Baygon our closest star Alpha Centuari is over 4 light yrs away.Now physics says that as you approach the speed of light @ 300,000 km/sec your mass approaches infinity.

So in our present form, we cannot get near the speed of light.Now it may only be possible for 1 in 100,000 stars to have life as we know it.We are looking at hundreds of light yrs to get to stars with possible life.Unless there are intelligent creatures who have found ways of exceeding the speed of light, it in my mind is doubtful.

That said ,yrs ago on the way to the Warrumbungles I witnessed strange lights on the horizon moving at fantastic speeds and changing vectors.This could be explained by light energy eg arora borealis, however they were distinct light spheres moving independantly.I really don't know.

There have been thousands of sightings but why haven't we seen a clear unambigious photo demonstrating that they are real? Distant lights moving on the horizon prove nothing.They may be just some light energy source we have yet to discover.Much of what is on youtube looks concocted.Space craft that look like aluminium saucers from someones kitchen, do not reflect the origins of higher life forms.

Baygon

I really hope there is intelligent life out there somewhere. But I think we may never know - intelligence being rare and precious - just look at Earth.

Severin,

Nice paraphrasing of the last passage in Monty Python's Universe song...

"...and pray that there's intelligent life, somewhere out in space; because there's bugger all down here on earth".

hugoagogo

Heheh, you were in my thoughts. Now please leave - there is only enough room for me.

I do rather believe there is sentient life out there. Whether we make contact or not is the basis of many a sci-fi narrative. As for appearance, well, the human primate opposable thumb is way overrated. For my money, tentacles would be far more dexterous - therefore, in order to put paid to the entire "image of god" up-ourselves-centre-of-the-universe B/S, I'm betting on intelligent aliens appearing not unlike octopuses.

Bit arrogant for anyone to state there are NO aliens out there. The argument regarding existence versus non-existence is redundant until we can access all corners of the universe. Really, it's an bet regarding odds, and the odds are on existence.

One of the most powerful arguments against 'intelligent design' IMHO, is the fact that far from being the pinnacle of evolution, we actually owe our success to being rather pitiful.
No fangs or claws, can't run as fast or far as any four footed predator, can't climb as well as a monkey, not as strong as a chimp, much less a gorilla, able to tolerate only a small range of temperatures without artifice... Without our brains, we'd be dog food.
So I think it's a fair bet that the most intelligent aliens will be pathetic creatures, from a most inhospitable and hazardous environment, and have an extremely well developed sense of self preservation...
Would their planet be called 'Campus', or 'Nerdsville'?