MovieChat Forums > Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Discussion > Why do people so easily dismiss the poss...

Why do people so easily dismiss the possibility of aliens?

posted 8 years ago by cwg2779
45 replies | jump to latest

So many people I've known in the past and present seem to divert their attention or completely dismiss the subject when the idea of UFOs or aliens is brought up. I've seen a UFO myself on the job and I only brought it up to one supervisor. When I mentioned it, I was met with silence. Friends of mine say they think UFO specials on the History Channel are rubbish and some of them thought the last Indiana Jones movie was stupid just because it involved the idea of aliens.

[–] somesunnyday 7 years ago

There must be other intelligent life that exists in this vast universe but there's the problem of adequate means to travel at the speed of light, which would be required, that is so far out of reach that it's highly improbable.

[–] boogles 7 years ago

I think it frightens people to think that they might not be alone in the universe. It's a bit arrogant to think we're the only ones - what with the universe being so big - and that not even getting into the multi-verse theory.

I'm sure there's life on other planets, and also intelligent life - at least up to the standard of humans(with all our faults) on some of them. However, a race would have to be very advanced to be able to travel the interstellar distances. The chances of that are slim.

[–] Kawada_Kira (7269) 7 years ago

I'm absolutely convinced that life exists elsewhere in the universe. The same building blocks that created us no doubt exist elsewhere as well. It's laughably arrogant for us to assume that we're so unique we're the only planet in the entire, incomprehensibly vast universe that spawned life, intelligent or otherwise. Yes, there's life out there, and eventually we'll find it or it will find us, assuming we don't wipe ourselves out by climate change or war sometime in the next hundred years or so (and assuming that these other alien civilizations haven't done the same to themselves, or that they've even evolved to the point where they could... they could still be at their equivalent of the dinosaur stage, or earlier).

However, while i'm convinced that alien life exists, i'm highly skeptical of UFOs. Why would some intelligent civilization travel God knows how many light years to get here only to play hide and seek with us? Is that what we would do if we discovered the means to travel that far? Find some other planet and flit around it trying not to be seen? Unlikely. I think all UFOs can be explained as much more mundane phenomena.

[–] JosephQCat (706) a year ago

Aliens advanced enough to travel to Earth are smart enough in general to know not to interfere in the development of a lesser society/culture. There are exceptions to that of course but lets not overthink it for the moment.

[–] duckofprey (1535) 6 years ago

Why do people so easily dismiss the possibility of aliens?

Because the ones that DO easily dismiss the possibility are themselves...(queue Outer Limits music) ...aliens from outer space!

Simply, they do not want their cover blown and it's all part of their methods of remaining secretly here.

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 5 years ago

I'd bet my life there is life on countless other planets. But they are there, in their own galaxies. Just like we are in ours. So life on other planets, yes. Them visiting us? That's a big no.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

I sincerely hope there is life on other planets, and I had to guess, I'd say there is.

I just dismiss any reports of humanoid aliens given by crackpots. Life on Earth is incredibly diverse, I mean the mammals alone include both bats and whales! So why would other planets produce humanoids, instead of beings with tentacles or intelligent clouds of gas or something?

[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

The possibility of Aliens holds no interest for me. It won't put food on my table, it won't improve the US Constitution, it's even less relevant than Religion. Pointless speculation.

[–] TheArgentinian (6429) 4 years ago

Is that how your interests must measure up to? that's sad.

[–] Chris822cats (373) 2 years ago

Religious belief is the only thing I could think of which causes some people to dismiss the idea of aliens. Since this post was made the US government has confirmed the existence of UFOs, so the possibility of alien life already on Earth is no longer far fetched. UFOs have to be one of the following:

1. Top Secret experimental aircraft
2. Advanced drones from another country to spy on Americans.
3. Of Earth origin, but not human. They seem to come out of the ocean, so maybe they are from an Earth bound intelligence that lives underwater.
4. They are aliens from another planet.

1 and 2 are extremely unlikely because they have been described since the 1940s. Their propulsion system is well beyond what can be done today (that society knows of), much less what was possible in the 1940s.

3. Maybe the legends of Atlantis are true. Perhaps Atlantis wasn't a human civilization, but a way for the ancients to describe those who live in the sea. It is easier to observe the cosmos than the ocean after all.

4. As humans we assume space is too vast for any meaningful contact with aliens. However, perhaps they have technology that easily detects life across the galaxy and the technology to easily traverse the galaxy. If you tried to explain a thermal camera to someone from ancient Greece as a way to find animals at night, they'd probably think you were insane.

[–] moviechatterer (13270) a year ago

just becasue we invented the thermal camera it does not follow that we can therefore oneday invent a way of crossing the mid bogglingly vast distances of space.

..andthat is my reason for not believing in Aliens .
I'm pretty sure they exist
they just dont travel between galaxies with a magic tech in order to mutilate cows

[–] Chris822cats (373) a year ago

That would be like saying, why does an angler need to go hiking and fishing on some remote mountain river? He can just go to the supermarket and get some fish. We would have no way of related to their motivations.

[–] JosephQCat (706) a year ago

Because it upsets their sense of what the world is. Most people have a parochial sense of what is going on around them. They do not want to know any further. Every notice that a lot of towns do not take to newcomers or outsiders? When it gets right down to it most people are rather stupid so its no wonder that they want to learn as little as possible.

As to what people may see who knows. I think most people are lacking in terms of understanding scientific principles. I am sure that a number of UFO sightings have a logical explanation that is rooted in natural phenomena. But there are situations that have no ready explanation or fall outside the normal. The bottom line is it is certainly possible to see something which is extraterrestrial but other possibilities need to be looked at to know without a doubt.