There's definitely other life out there, but given a basic understanding of space and light speed travel, there is a zero chance we've made contact with non Earth life. The government has a direct benefit in claiming aliens or UFOs when testing their super military tech so our enemies are mislead on our militaries capabilities.
Like when trump posted a classified satellite image. Our population and all other governments had no idea we were capable of such clear satellite surveillance.
On the contrary, I'd recommend looking up the Fermi paradox. It exists because if we assume that ftl is impossible, both in a literal and effective sense, a civilization with the capability of long-range subluminal travel would still have the ability to colonize the galaxy within a few million years.
Now, you might be tempted to think, "okay, so a few million years from now is when we'll start seeing them", but that's assuming they took as long as we did to evolve intelligence. If I'm not mistaken, there's some speculation that dinosaurs were a significant contributor to delaying the rise of mammals, and those were around for over 100 million years. What if a civilization skipped the "oppressed by giant lizard-birds" stage? The result is that they'd potentially be millions of years ahead of us technologically.
Also, because I regularly see this question pop up in any conversation involving aliens,
"why would they come to our world? They've probably got everything they want!"
Why does a human want to explore the ocean? Why does a human want to explore space? Curiosity. Maybe they want to see it for themselves instead of looking at pictures that their friends posted on Spacebook. Maybe we're small and adorable to them. There are plenty of reasons why they might check our world out that don't involve conquest, genocide, slavery or other symptoms of rampant capitalism and authoritarianism.
The Fermi Paradox is based on our understanding of physics, largely based in a 3 dimensional universe/reality. If these things are inter-dimensional, do those same rules apply?
What if physical distance, as we perceive it, is something unique to us as beings that perceive and navigate the universe in only 3 dimensions?
What would the point of that be? Just because something is possible doesn't mean it'll be done.
And do probes flying around in navy training ranges make sense? If they wanted to be visible they would be. If they wanted to hide there wouldn't be footage of them.
People tend to misapply this argument frequently. It is definitely a bit excessive to say there is zero chance, but still.
It's less about what is possible, and more about what is likely. Our understanding of physics (and by extension, reality) is extremely advanced. There isn't much that is going to surprise us going forward. Even relativity and quantum theory didn't make Newtonian mechanics obsolete, they simply covered the fringe cases.
I just hate when people imply that we might suddenly learn that we were completely wrong about everything. It's dismissive of the scientists who have given their lives to bring humanity to this level of understanding the universe.
If an alien civilization was developed by the same survival mechanism as on earth, they'd value survival and expansion over things like discovery. So if an alien civilization had gotten to earth, it'd be advanced enough to have strip minded or taraformed the whole planet by now. And why wouldn't they, since we'd be the intelligence of ants comparatively
The government has a direct benefit in claiming aliens or UFOs when testing their super military tech so our enemies are mislead on our militaries capabilities.
They technically are UFOs. They are objects, they fly, and they are unidentified.
I still vote we are some sort of experiment for aliens to observe, and have been under the microscope as they watched us evolve from primal creatures to the death of the world as we advance with our destructive technologies.
One thing that doesn't sit right with me is the fact that galaxies cluster together in similar ways that neurons do. Reminds me of how individual ants are just one cog in a collective hivemind. We're all just ants doing our part to power a giant alien's brain.
At least that's the answer to life, the universe, and everything that I'm going with. It also explains multiverses. Multiple aliens, all living in their own society. Maybe their universe is the same. Just brains inside of brains inside of brains. Who knows how deep it goes.
Personally my money's on we're one of the first, or our solar system is the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone of the galaxy and anybody who gets too close melts.
bruh you can use an old DishNetwork and a cyberdeck to download those satellites images directly from the comfort of your home. also wierd satellite stationz
secrecy by obscurity of knowledge i believe it is called
From classified spy satellites? No shot. Unclassified stuff maybe, or civilian satellites. But anything military and/or classified is going to be encrypted, so unless you know the key you may be able to intercept the data but not make an image.
These are the sorts of things where the line between zero and practically zero gets blurry, so people feel the need to emphasize that it might not be zero. Like, the chances of me finding a winning lottery ticket on the street without buying one might not technically zero, but the odds are low enough that not only is it not going to be part of my financial plan, but I also don't feel the need to justify why.
The odds of hyper drive aliens being on earth is zero. There might be an error bar on that number, but it doesn't practically matter
A former intel officer testified to a house committee that the US has had a UFO retrieval program for years, and that we've recovered non-human "biologics" from the crash sites. He has no direct knowledge of anything, by his own admission, but he's willing to provide more detail to congress in a secure facility.
I'll keep the possibility open, I guess, but it sounds like absolute bullshit for a variety of reasons.
It’s also funny how all these aliens keep crashing into the US, where three-letter agencies are fantastic at coverups, and none of ‘em end up in countries where it’d be much harder to hide something like this.
The U.S. recently passed a law requiring the government to start disclosing all known(lol) information on UFOs/UAPs. The first congressional hearing was yesterday but was basically a verbal redacted/censored CIA document from the 60s.
About half of what was asked was responded with "I can't say in public."