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"The astonishing thing would be if they did not exist." Jean Cocteau, poet
Many ancient Greek philosophers have contemplated the issue of extraterrestrial life. As Metrodorus, an Epicurean philosopher in the 3rd and 4th century B.C., once argued:
'To consider the Earth the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field sown with millet, only one grain will grow.' (1)
Today, more and more scientists are coming to the view that ETs probably do exist, somewhere in the universe, so much so that the search for extraterrestrial life has now turned into a legitimate scientific study. For example, Dr Wolfram Thiemann of the University of Breman, West Germany, was quite positive in his view on ETs when he said:
'Chemical evolution is definitely growing on other planets and in interstellar material. There is more and more evidence that there are other planets like Earth in outer space.' (2)
Of course, the big question on everyone's lips is, "Where?" And, "How do we contact them?"
There is a general scientific consensus that a careful and systematic search of the heavens for signs of extraterrestrial activity using radio telescopes will reveal the answer. However, the radio telescope method has been going on for quite some time now, and despite all this work there is still a lack of clear-cut evidence for the existence of ETs. This has surprised a number of scientists, including the late Dr Carl Edward Sagan and Dr Paul Horowitz (3). Are ETs prevalent throughout the universe?
Perhaps, as the Australian CSIRO astronomer Dr Kelvin Wellington has noted:
'There's a joke around that everybody might be listening, nobody
sending.' (4)
Or could there be another reason, perhaps one that may force scientists to expand the search into other areas of possible ET activity?
Free research
We present below the latest scientific arguments for and against the existence of ETs together with a final analysis showing what is likely to be the answer:
- INTRODUCTION (1.1MB)
The search for ETs has already begun
- WHAT CONSTITUTES SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR ETs? (1.9MB)
Is life all around us? Or is DNA the beginnings of life?
- THE SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENTS FOR ETs (13.6MB)
What the indirect evidence is telling us today
- THE SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENTS AGAINST ETs (<1MB)
Do ETs really exist?
- COMMUNICATING WITH ETs (4.3MB)
Would direct communication solve the problem?
- THE PRINCIPLE OF NON-INTERFERENCE (1.5MB)
Are ETs already here, watching us in our natural environment?
- CONCLUSION (3.2MB)
Are we alone?
CD Available
 The full results are available on our CD (ISBN 978 0 957735 01 9). It contains the following information for all researchers and scientists:
- An interesting new twist in the SETI debate towards the end making it more than scientifically possible for ETs to be already here
- Rare and important documents and articles on the subject
This CD is sold as non-profit (to recover research and publishing costs).
NOTES
- Encyclopedia Britannica 1988, Volume 22, p.1001.
- Blundell & Boar 1984, p.88.
- Horowitz 1993, p.7.
- Mussared 1994, p.14.
SAMPLE REFERENCES
Blundell, Nigel & Boar, Roger. 1984, The World's Greatest UFO Mysteries. London: Octopus Books Limited.
Horowitz, Paul. Project META: What Have We Found?: The Planetary Report. 1993, Volume XIII, Number 5, pp.4-9.
Mussared, David. First Contact - The Hunt for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Gets Serious: The Helix. December/January 1994, Number 39, pp.10-16.
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