Content Editor Hudson Villeneuve

Life outside of Earth is a real possibility. Look at the facts and studies, not the science-fiction

Since the beginning of man, our species has been baffled by what lies beyond our world. The sun, the stars, the moon and the planets were focal points of early civilization. Humans as early as the Egyptians and the Greeks attempted to find answers to what is beyond our eyes. While many have tried to comprehend the infinite space that surrounds our tiny home, only one thing is a common theme. There is life out there somewhere.

The immensity and sheer size of space makes it difficult to understand what our earth is here for. Is there a purpose to life on Earth? That, we do not know, but what we do know is that we are not alone.

What we do understand about the universe is that it is ever expanding, ever growing and ever creating new possibilities. This means our universe is infinite. There is no limit to the number of suns, stars, moon or planets that are out there. With an infinite universe, there are infinite realities, and infinite opportunities for planets to sustain life.

Not to say that the life out there is the stereotypical green alien with an antenna and one eye, with infinite planets out there, there has to be some planets with intelligent life just based on the odds. Aliens exist, just maybe not in the way society thinks of them.

The disbelief regarding aliens is built up from a sort of fear, a mass hysteria derived from popular culture. Myths such as those surroundings “Area 51” and fictional tales such as H.G. Wells “War of Worlds” have created an image of extraterrestrial life that appears to be so unrealistic and so scary that people have chosen to not believe in it. When Wells’ novel was read on a popular radio station, people tuning in late believed it was a news report and aliens were actually invading Earth.

Society has made it hard for the average person to separate science fiction from scientific reality. It is critical to understand the difference in order to understand the universe and its potential to support life.

Even in our own solar system we have examined possibilities for life. Hydrothermal vents, a type of underwater volcano that releases heat and minerals has been discovered on Mars. They are similar to ones on Earth, and are believed to once have supported mycobacteria, the building block of all life on our home planet. It is crazy to think we are alone in such a huge universe, just as it is crazy for a person to be lost in the jungle and think they are the only person on Earth.

Evidence of life in space is everywhere. On one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa, traces of sulphur were discovered by Italian scientists in 2003. This mineral is a waste product of bacteria. Methane discovered in the atmosphere of Mars is evidence of life. All methane here on Earth is produced from bacteria or other life forms. With traces of life scattered throughout our own solar system, its illogical to think that life does not exist when there are 300 billion known solar systems.

Life is out there somewhere, we may never have the technology to find it, but just because you cannot see it does not mean it is not there. Seeing is not always believing. But by understanding how our universe works and the science of life it is easy to see that life exists in other places than our home planet.

Writer Cameron Mathews

There is not enough fact to prove the existence of aliens, therefore their existence cannot be assumed

The myth about aliens is an everlasting tale, and has been told through many different types of media in books, popular movies, as well as TV shows made for all ages of all genres over the years. There have also been stories on the internet to tell whether or not this fictitious tale is true. But, people have been taking this concept too far and believe that aliens actually do exist, when that is not the case.

A conspiracy theory is defined as “a belief that some covert, organization is responsible for an event.” Most conspiracies are just developed by a person or a group of people who believe certain events happen for a reason. The topic of aliens is a conspiracy known to many people and was fabricated the government to keep the real truth of Area 51 a secret from the public.

While most everyone knows about Area 51, for those who don’t know, Area 51 is a facility located in a desert north of Las Vegas, Nevada, that is allegedly used to conduct top secret research for the government. The main purpose for Area 51 was merely a testing site for government aerial surveillance programs. People are unable to access the ground surrounding it because the government would like to maintain the secrecy.

It’s believed that the government first started using Area 51 in the early 1940s. At this time, they were creating spy planes. In the late ‘40s, there were reports of a mysterious plane crash, and people reported seeing alien life forms at the crash sightings. That belief, on its own, is not enough to prove that there were actually aliens in the crash.

People don’t believe in aliens because mostly everything surrounding the subject is made up by others. Crop circles, for example, are made by people, who are looking to make other people believe. People have also mistaken lanterns and other light decorations to be UFOs; that is because when they are grouped together, they move in unison and tend to look like something other-worldly. There are many other reasons to contribute to the belief that aliens don’t exist.

There is also the fact that life on other planets is not possible. Planets like Mercury and Venus are so close to the sun, it would be impossible for them to support human life. Other planets like Saturn and Neptune are made of gases and are too far away from the sun, and therefore can not support human life, as well. If there is life in the many galaxies within the universe, there is absolutely no way of knowing, because these galaxies are too far away for people to realize the mere possibility of life in the universe.

Most movies and other visual representations of aliens today have been perpetuating the myth of aliens. I would never believe that they would actually exist in our world. The fact that there are many people who believe in them, some believe more than others, it amazes me. Aliens don’t exist and is just a story developed by the government decades ago; people need to stop believing in their existence and look at the reality that is the real world. This is real world, where there are real ideas and objects, not silly ideas to be spoken of.