Originally Posted by
DevilHorse
Interesting thread.
I hope to contribute a few thoughts, first to the questions and a few thoughts outside the questions.
My qualifications are 3 Science degrees, BS Physics/Math (University At Albany). Master/PhD Physics (Duke)(same Physics group as Bob Richardson, Duke PhD Nobel Prize winner). PostDoc at Duke. , NASA Grant.
I’m very curious about where most people stand on UFO/ET. So, my questions would be:
1. Do you believe UFOs have visited earth? Why? Sure, why not. Not Convinced though.
2. Do you believe extraterrestrials have visited earth? Why? See 1)
3. If you believe extraterrestrials have visited earth, do you actively search for information? Used to read a lot about it. Nothing convinced me.
4. If you don’t believe extraterrestrials have visited earth, are you open to believing it? Yes
I eat a steady diet of SciFi shows/books/comics/etc.., so I am open to what works, and I point out media that are not consistent with the laws of physics.
I attended James Doohan in Card Auditorium when he was there, with other Physics Grad Students and he pish toshed any serious science questions. But was entertaining nonetheless. Hey, he was Scottie, not Doohan.
I think it was alluded to that there is a distinction between UFOs (things not recognized as terrestial objects) and aliens (sentient beings from within or without our planet or dimension). I'll confine my comments to aliens because they would arrive in UFOs, and UFOs without aliens is just poor perception.
Why would aliens come here? Surely not for our dear earth. If anything our probes have shown us is that water and minerals are available in abundance in the moons and planets, everywhere. Unless they need BRAINS. What they need is probably available locally to them, and without a fight. If they had such great technology, they could probably build a planet that has the same mass (to keep an atmosphere) and place it at the right distance to satisfy Bode's law (so it doesn't break up due to gravitational effects relative to other planets. In our infancy, the Hubble and Kepler telescopes, in just a few short years, have discovered 4000 exoplanets. Imagine the choices available for mining to an advanced civilization with a myriad of tools. We are not needed for mining or colonization!! Maybe Bagels or Deli.
What about traveling to get here? There has been some great speculation about traveling near the speed of light. What about a couple of other options. The relativistic equations of Einstein allow some other possibilities.
The special theory of relativity suggest that there can be Faster than light travel. You Star Trek lovers have heard of Tachyons right. These are particles that travel faster than the speed of light (that's right). Einstein's equations suggest that particles can't travel at the speed of light, but when properly viewed, the speed of light is the barrier. Traveling slower or faster is allowed; just not AT the speed of light, nor crossing the speed. Yes, there is a little problem of going from slower to faster that "C" (the speed of light), but what is one problem among friends (aliens)? Still physics laws/techniques/processes to be discovered. Tachyon research suggests (for those of you who are nimble with math) that Tachyons are imaginary, as is their Mass, but more recent papers suggests NOT SO FAST (sorry, my interpretation). There are papers who say that Tachyon Mass and Speed can be real.
I haven't seen Wormholes mentioned. Einstein's General Theory of Relativity allows for the formation of Wormholes in the universe. What is a Wormhole? It is a tunnel from one place in the Space/Time Universe to another place in the Space/Time Universe. Think a super-duper Chutes and Ladders over vast distances in space. The real equations of physics allow for these things. I would note that no one has every seen evidence for a Wormhole. But then, until they theorized a Black Hole, they didn't know to look for one. Such objects were theorized in the 1700s, named Black Holes in the 1960s, identified Cygnus X-1 in the 1970s as an X-Ray source as a probable Black Hole, but only in 2019 was a picture of a Black Hole first made. There are often big gaps between theories in Physics and the proofs; sometimes the proof never comes (still looking for the magnetic monopole Mr. Dirac). There has BTW been recent progress on the Wormhole front. There have been predictions on what to look for in star formations that would be adjacent to Wormholes; this may allow Astronomers to start looking for Wormhole candidates. Very exciting stuff.
So, although there are issues, there are mechanisms available, that were unknown 100 years ago to us, for advanced civilizations to employ to get to our side of the Galaxy or inter Galactic travel.
Larry
DevilHorse