Do YOU believe in space aliens?

[scaeagles]

With all the Tom Cruise and scientology stuff in the news lately, most recently him saying he believes in intelligent life on other planets, I was wondering how many do.

I can't fault him for believing it - I find it hard to believe that we would be the only intelligent life with the billions of stars within our own galaxy and the millions of other galaxies out there.

However, it's moot to me. I don't think we'll never meet any. These other stars are tens or hundreds of light years away at least, and based on Einstein's theories, travel at light speed is simply not possible. I won't bother to go into them for those that don't know them, but it isn't going to happen. We cannot overcome physical laws with new technology.

[Matterhorn Fan]

I'm sick of Tom Cruise's "pick me! pick me!" attempts at staying in the news.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Odds are that there is other life out there. I also tend to doubt however that we will ever actually encounter any of it or have any sort of proof that it exists. Not in my lifetime anyway.

As far as Tom Cruise goes:

Unbelievable that the media thinks that there is anything newsworthy about this story. Unlike last weeks interview which, if nothing else, shows TC to be an arrogant ass who has no understanding of mental health issues, there is nothing shocking or even interesting about the fact that TC believes there is life on other planets.

[Ghoulish Delight]

While Einstein's basic theories of relativity pretty conclusively prove that linear travel at speeds greater than the speed of light is impossible, his further theories about gravity wells and the fact that space is NOT linear when mass and gravity are introduced leave the question of interstellar travel far more open ended than at first glance. Steven Hawking said it best as he visited the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation and commented as he passed the engineering deck set, "I'm working on that."

The odds are slim that there isn't SOME other form of life out there. Possibly intelligent. But even so, and even assuming the plausibility of interstellar travel, there are more stars and solar systems than we could possibly ever explore, the odds of getting out there at all are slim, then the odds of picking the right star system out of the billions available are even slimmer.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Uh, what Greg said.

And, it's no surprise that T.C. believes in aliens when one considers the Scientologist belief that we *are* transplanted aliens.

For a heavily biased but funny look at Scientology, go here:

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=13157

[BarTopDancer]

I believe it is highly egotistical to believe we are the only intelligent life the galaxy let alone the universe. I also believe that it is possible for us to meet this life if not by our technology by theirs. I think the government knows more than they're telling us, and I believe that there is something at Area 51. I don't believe the stories of abudction from Po-Dunk, IN, but I do believe some of the unexplained lights in the sky are not from us or this planet.

As for Tom Cruise, maybe it's because he hasn't been on TV much before but he is SO ANNOYING! And that was before he went off on his ignorant tangent about mental health issues. He 'knows psychology' because he read an old outdated book. "Ritlian is now a street drug' ummm Der, it's a form of speed, and has been a street drug for decades.

[scaeagles]

It is certainly true that gravity bends space. The problem then becomes creating something massive enough - as in a black hole - to curve space in a usable fashion. And then if that were possible, there would not be enough energy available to escape the gravity required to created the curved space, so anything attempting to use such curved space would be crushed.

Unless I'm missing something. Probably am.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I don't buy government cover-ups for a second. Among other things, IF an alien race were intelligent enough to have technology to reach us, how in the hell would any government on this planet be close to intelligent enough to conceal that?

Just as you're probably missing something, Leo, so am I. I don't have an answer as to the specific dynamics of it, but it's an open ended enough question that it's being research seiously, not just written off as impossible.

[mousepod]

I'm with scaeagles on this one (except for your unfortunate political views, you're an all right guy!). I'm a dyed-in-the-wool skeptic who'd love to believe in all sorts of supernatural stuff, aliens included, but I find myself more in the Carl Sagan / James Randi camp most of the time... like Randi says, "I believe in the possibility of aliens, but not in 'aliens'."

[scaeagles]

Well then, mousepod, I will need to think of some way to offend you socially as well!