I majored in math and physics. As far as UFOs are concerned I have a problem with the whole faster than light thing, which capability would be absolutely needed to get across the huge spans of space to get to other planets in less than an occupant's lifetime. Also, the abrupt turns at thousands of mph violate all standards of inertia. Nonetheless, I think there is something there - too many reports from too many people over too many years to be a total hoax, even if some of it is people or governments spoofing.
I think that it is quite possible that there are spacecraft out there that can do things that we do not understand, and maybe in ways that we have no conception of. Our tendency is to envision travel in speed plus distance, and how long it takes to get somewhere that way. Even stars close by could take whole lifetimes for a spaceship to reach going as fast as possible. What if there is some kind of a Stargate that ships can pass through and instantly be somewhere else ? Just because we can’t do that does not mean that it isn’t possible. If you asked some person from a primitive South American tribe how long it takes to go 20 miles (or equivalent) he would say that it takes most of the day, but we jump in our car and go the 20 miles in less than a half hour, because we have the knowledge and equipment to do this. They have no concept of how it would work, even if they saw a car driving by. Not that much different than if we see some kind of UFO, going faster than our aircraft, and doing things that are amazing to us.
Yeh, when every rendering of aliens is shaped like humans, including a head with 2 eyes and a body with 2 arms and 2 legs, I kinda wonder as to the authenticity. Why are there never any sightings of truly alien aliens?
Because it would scare the - - - - out of everyone ,and destroy a lot of our cherished beliefs about this world. There are a lot of pictures of spacecraft back for a few hundred years, so I think that it is quite possible that we have people here who are actually not human (or at least completely human), and they either look like us or are able to cloak their appearance so that we can’t tell the difference. Some of the people who have been considered as possibilities of either aliens or time travelers, might be Nikola Tesla, Jules Verne, and Leonardo da Vinci. There are probably more. Even the pictures from places like ancient Egypt, India, and South America show people that look like some kind of an astronaut. I think that it is entirely possible that our history has been misrepresented to us, and that there was at least one (or more) early advanced civilizations. If you read about Tartaria and the mud floods, there is some pretty interesting information about our past history being changed, or hidden from us.
I suppose I have generally rejected the idea of UFOs but what is happening recently as reported by our own pilots is interesting.
People trained in the physics of things have imagined the possibilities you mention, Yvonne. I no longer remember enough math to discount or support any of them. A stargate or wormhole between two distant points is fascinating to think about, though. But if such a thing as a wormhole occurs in nature it's likely to be a violent experience for anything passing through it. I'd not like to be separated into my essential quarks along with my spaceship. All that said, I much enjoyed all the sci-fi I grew up with and wouldn't want those writers to have been more realistic.
It ain't the separation that hurts, it's the reassembly that gets touchy. Most of the sci fi I read growing up was the dystopian stuff. I was more into "humans are sheep" rather than "intergalactic travel is cool."
It ain't the separation that hurts, it's the reassembly that gets touchy. John, I've asked you before to not read my divorce papers.
Ego ergo sum. I am, therefore I am. Sort of a reducio absurdum deal there. Ego magnus ergo sum. I'm great, therefore I am. I suspect that that's the way they really think. I think a lot of the going into space thing is symbolic and fairly direct. Someone in orbit is 'above' the rest of us, literally and figuratively.
I agree. I doubt that many Americans know that a Russian was the first man in orbit around the planet...but I bet all the Russians know it. I know that lots of technology fell out from the space program. I guess one could argue the costs, as well as the likelihood that the private sector would have developed them eventually... But you're right in that it must be heady stuff to have those vast resources (and sums of money) at one's command.
I'm not convinced that the advances would have come from the private sector. Putting a man on the moon, for instance, was an overarching goal that brought together many technological threads. A spacesuit that could take full sun had to work together with an air supply that was dependable. One private sector endeavor might pursue a good spacesuit and another might develop a good air supply, but they would have to work together towards a common end to meld the two. I'm not making my point well, John. Sorry to be obscure.
No, I understand. I was thinking of things like air conditioning, advances in plastics, etc. And there is that "common goal" versus "competing interests" thing. But it's all conjecture...
When I was on my honeymoon, I witnessed a huge spacecraft moving silently over the motel building. I was standing on the second floor landing waiting for my husband to return with a pizza. This spacecraft was immense and looked like something from a movie. Suddenly, it zoomed out of sight. I’ll never forget all the lights it had underneath.
I once saw a large orange object that I first took to be the moon...until it disappeared. It was on a drive with my girlfriend at the time in 1965.