Against Ufos Essay, Research Paper
UFOs: Neither Here nor There
Throughout the past, the existence of unidentified flying objects and aliens has been disputed over and over. Many different platforms and viewpoints have been taken in order to support the respective sides of the issue. The main argument against intelligent life existing somewhere other than Earth is that of where they derive. The truth of the matter is there is no place in the universe that UFOs and aliens could exist. Skeptics are faced with the fact that modern science has stated that no other orbital body in our solar system or immediate surrounding area is able to sustain life (Blum, 1990).
Our solar system is a collection of planets, comets, and assorted chunks of rock. Despite the similarity in appearance, there are startling differences between the various bodies in the solar system, and especially between the planets(David, 1967). Mars, the planet most often associated with aliens, has been tested by scientists with an instrument called the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer and ?. . .it found no signs whatever of any organic compounds on Mars (Man, 1985, p. 69).? This was a great leap in the debate over intelligent life as it finally put to rest the idea that Mars was the home of alien life(Man, 1985). Debaters now quickly jumped to the idea that life existed on any number of the other planets.
Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, has no way of sustaining life as it is an airless and waterless mass. The planet also exhibits extreme temperatures up to 660 degree Fahrenheit thanks to its location relative to the sun(Rivera, http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3852/mercury.htm [2001]). It is unlikely that life exists on Venus because of it?s atmosphere and temperature. The green planet?s atmosphere exerts 90 times the pressure of Earth?s and traps all the sun?s heat that enters it causing extreme and intolerable temperatures that average 900 degrees Fahrenheit(Hamilton, http://www.solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm [2001]). Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are made of almost entirely the same substances as each other. Made up of liquids and gases, the outer planets make it simply impossible to land a spacecraft on any of them(Man, 1985).
After availing themselves to these facts, supporters still argue with the new conjecture that aliens come from outside our solar system. However, any immediate object outside our solar system that is vast enough to possibly maintain life has been investigated and shown to have no life(David (Ed.), 1967). In addition, all celestial bodies outside of the direct rays of the sun show alarming similarities in that none of which have enough solid mass to support the landing of any spacecraft, and that they show no method for sustaining life(Man, 1985). This pattern seems to be true for the rest of space, but, even with skeptics pushing the envelope further and further, scientists now have yet another way of disproving the existence of extraterrestrials. After disproving theories up to a certain point in space, scientists state that in order to subsist further away than what is known would force spacecraft to travel at speeds greater than light. This type of travel is simply impossible, due to the needed technology to produce vehicles that are able to maneuver the universe immaculately and without crashing at speeds exceeding 700,000,000 miles per hour(Setter, http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/AndyPage/WWWUFO.htm [2001]).
The skeptics who state UFOs and aliens exist are faced with the simple fact that there are no hard facts to support their case(Vallee, 1966). Never in history has the government, along with the top scientists and astronomers in the world, of any country filed any flying saucer sightings as Alien Species(David, 1967). One point is illustrated best by an excerpt from The UFO Enigma in which the author tells us that a typical UFO observer would be an ?. . .unstable single or unhappily married clerk . . .a college student filled with youthful enthusiasm, or some spiritualistic soul in quest of unearthly experiences(Vallee, 1966, p. 160).? I believe this statement sums up why there are still people in this world who believe in Aliens and UFOs. Also, with the amount of media existing today, it is extremely difficult to believe that no news show or media broadcasting company has ever recognized any UFO report on national TV.
References
Blum, Howard. (1990). Out There. New York: Simon and Schuster.
David, Jay(Ed.). (1967). The Flying Saucer Reader. New York: The New American Library, Inc.
Man, John. (1985). The Encyclopedia of Space Travel & Astronomy. New York: Crescent Books Inc.
Vallee, Jacques & Janine. (1966). Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company.
Hamilton, Calvin J. (1999). Venus Introduction. http://www.solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm
Rivera, Juan. (2000). Mercury. Owned by Geocites Inc.
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3852/mercury.htm
Setter, Andy. (2000). The Ultimate UFOlogist WWW Site. Owned by Compuserve Inc.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/AndyPage/WWWUFO.htm