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Extra-terrestrials?  Puleez!

Extra-terrestrials?  Puleez!

I happen to be among those who believe that there are life forms on other planets. 

Consider the size of the universe and the billions of galaxies.   There are approximately 200 sextillions (give or take a few quadrillion) stars.  That is 200 with 21 additional zeroes.  Give each star a few planets, and you have some mind-boggling numbers.  I think the odds of life are actually pretty high.

There may be even intelligent life – technologically advanced life.  Maybe even life not based on carbon, like us.  The possibilities are as endless as the universe.

But I am very sure none of those other life-forms have come even close to our planet.  We do not have extra-terrestrials flying around in our stratosphere.  They have never visited earth.  No ancient aliens like the Discovery Channel promote.

There is not one scintilla of evidence to establish that extra-terrestrials have visited the earth or are flying around it.  Yes, we have some unexplained events.  But they are just that … unexplained. 

I always get a kick out of the ancient alien shows when the host tells of some unexplained situation and then says, “What else can it be?”  That answer is … many reasons, and a lot more likely than ancient spacemen.

The folly of the extra-terrestrial stories was brought to the issue of the balloons and other objects that were shot down over the United States and Canada in the past couple of weeks.  White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that none of the objects were flying saucers flown by little green men.  Okay, she did not put it that way, but it was essentially the official White House position.

That brought a round of laughter from the White House press corps – as well it should have.  There was something ridiculous about the official spokesperson for the President of the United States assuring the public that those “things” were not an alien spacecraft.  It looked like a scene out of a 1950s sci-fi movie.

It was actually a better comment than the one made by an Air Force officer. When asked if the objects could be extra-terrestrial, he said they were not discounting anything.  His answer should have been, “Are you kidding?”  And why would a serious reporter ask such a stupid question?

If you think about it, all those UFOs (Unidentified Floating Objects) may explain some of the past sightings.  We are told that “stuff” has likely been floating undetected around our airspace for years.  The recent things were floating at an altitude at which commercial aircraft fly up to 600 miles per hour.  Military planes are even faster.  With all that speed — and sun reflections — one can imagine all sorts of optical illusions.

I cannot prove that extra-terrestrials do not exist or have not visited earth – any more than I can disprove the existence of ghosts.  But that is because it is impossible to prove a negative.  I can say, however, that there is no … none … nil … hard evidence of any extra-terrestrials visiting planet earth.

Why do people believe in them?  Maybe it is taking up a fantasy after losing the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus.  I cannot prove that they do not exist, either.

So, there ‘tis.

About The Author

Larry Horist

So, there ‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of businessman, conservative writer and political strategist Larry Horist. Larry has an extensive background in economics and public policy. For more than 40 years, he ran his own Chicago based consulting firm. His clients included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. Larry professional emphasis has been on civil rights and education. He was consultant to both the Chicago and the Detroit boards of education, the Educational Choice Foundation, the Chicago Teachers Academy and the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. Larry has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress, and has lectured at colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul. He served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. Larry has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries have appeared on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by audiences for his style, substance and sense of humor. Larry retired from his consulting business to devote his time to writing. His books include a humorous look at collecting, “The Acrapulators’ Guide”, and a more serious history of the Democratic Party’s role in de facto institutional racism, “Who Put Blacks in That PLACE? -- The Long Sad History of the Democratic Party’s Oppression of Black Americans ... to This Day”. Larry currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

4 Comments

  1. R. Hamilton

    They probably exist somewhere. But even if they have FTL, it may not be easy or (the equivalent for them of) cheap to show up in person. And they’d have to be within range of a radio transmission able to escape our ionosphere to be likely to be aware of us. While we have been transmitting some such signals for over 100 years, they weren’t all that common until WWII and later. There are somewhat less than 60,000 known stars within 100 light-years, probably not all of which have planets let alone planets suitable for some sort of life; and probably no more than a few at most with intelligent life. The odds that they’d be there, be capable of detecting us, and be inclined to answer let alone investigate more directly, seem to me to be rather low indeed.

    Even then, given some of the transmissions we’ve made (such as the 1936 Berlin Olympics), if they don’t think we’re uninteresting, they just might think we’re too obnoxious to interact with.

  2. likitdonbiteit

    Take any object. Wrap it in tin foil. Place it in the back of your freezer. Come back in a year, you will have a UFO ( unidentified frozen object ).

  3. Darren

    If you could sit above Earth and watch how people behave to each other, let alone a stranger.
    Would you stop in and visit and say, hay, what is up?

    Forget the fact different people have squabbles, our own government lies to American people
    over and over, as an alien ,one would have to figure they would not stand a chance.

    I would observe and move on as well.

  4. Jpop

    “There are always possibilities”
    Commander Spock Starfleet Command