h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Are we really alone in the Universe? I doubt it. The universe is so large, and there are so many different galaxies that there must be someone else out there.

Do you believe there is life on other planets? Probably. Whether it is life like us, or looking similar to us is another matter.

If aliens landed on earth, how would you greet them? Welcome to Earth. What would you like to see first?

Why would aliens want to visit earth? Because we are screwing it up so spectacularly at the moment (pollution, wars etc), they may want to come and try and stop us. Or they want to come to point and laugh at us instead!

If extra-terrestrials do exist, what do you imagine they look like? I expect there are some who resemble primordial slime, and there will be others who may very well look like us.

If there are aliens out there, how come they haven't paid a visit to earth yet? Who says they haven’t?! I know lots of people who could be extra terrestrials. Or does that say more about my circle of friends than about aliens visiting us!!

Can you envisage a time when humans may colonise another planet? Absolutely. We will need to. If the pollution does not stop, the earth will be too hot to live on anyway.

Have you ever spotted what you believe to be a UFO? No.

Do you believe stories of alien abduction or is it a load of old nonsense? I think most of those who claim to have been abducted probably need to have a bit of lie down with a cold flannel over their eyes. Some of the claims are a bit extraordinary. However, there are some tales which are quite credible, so who knows! Maybe it is true.

Nice answers

Q. Are we really alone in the Universe?
A. I don't think so. I think the odds are that there are others out there, we just don't know them yet.

Q. Do you believe there is life on other planets?
A. If we aren't alone in the universe then there has to be life of some sort out there on other worlds.

Q.If aliens landed on earth, how would you greet them?
A. I'm not sure. We all have the fear of the unknown when going into a new situation, and I think what sort of kneejerk reaction a person would have (at first) would depend on what they look like, etc.

Q. Why would aliens want to visit earth?
A. Probably for the same reason we would want to visit their world. To learn about a different culture, and to go sightseeing.

Q.If extra-terrestrials do exist, what do you imagine they look like?
A. Not really an easy question to answer. We were shaped by our environment here on Earth, and they will no doubt have been shaped by theirs as well. There will no doubt be some common points such as basic shape, but then again look how many different shapes living bodies take just here on Earth.

Q.If there are aliens out there, how come they haven't paid a visit to earth yet?
A. They may have, but are waiting for us to grow up a bit before showing themselves. I mean look at how many of our movies have us shooting visitors from beyond.

Q.Can you envisage a time when humans may colonise another planet?
A. Sure. I think we will start by creating colonies on nearby places like the Moon and Mars before going further afield though.

Q.Have you ever spotted what you believe to be a UFO?
A. No, though my dad thought he might have had an experience seeing something he couldn't explain once.

Q.Do you believe stories of alien abduction or is it a load of old nonsense?
A. Some may be real, but the human mind is so complex how can you be sure it isn't just some sort of mass cultural halucination? Just a few centuries ago we were likely to see elves and such, now the elves have become spacemen.

I'll answer a couple of the questions. I no particlar order
Have I seen a UFO?
Yes. It was a light in a clear sky. It faded to nothing and then reappeared lower donw in the sky almost immedaitely but not a bright. This was about 4:00 Christmas Eve 1992. I have no idea what it was but I think the chance if it being ET are about the same as calculatin the square root of -1.
Do I think aliens have visten Earth?
Why would they want to do that. If they flew through our Solar System they'd take one look at Earth, detect the radiation in our atmosphere from nuclear explosions and move on. They'd proably take a detour on the way back. Plus do you think they'd want to stop after picking up our television transmissions. Game shows, pornos, celebratie shows, reality shows, Big Brother, Simpsons, Eastenders, Bottom. That's enough to put them off.
Will we colonise other planets?
Proably but not in the near future we have to get there first. It would be worth while but lets sort out our own probelms first before we create another planet with it's own problems.
I'll come back and answer the other's when I've had a bit more of a think, in the mean time try going to the H2G2 Astronomcal Societys Questions & Answers. I've included an article about are we alone. There's also a more readable version on my website. If you look at my posting to the "Are We Alone" discussion on this page I've included instructions how to find both.
Actually tea might be the best thing to use when greeting an alien.

Are we really alone in the Universe?

Highly unlikely

Do you believe there is life on other planets?

Probably

If aliens landed on earth, how would you greet them?

Carefully.

Why would aliens want to visit earth?

They're just rich kids with nothing to do. Find some isolated spot, land in front of some poor unsuspecting soul who no-one will believe and then strut up and down in front of them making beep-beep noises.

If extra-terrestrials do exist, what do you imagine they look like?

Depend's what the planet they're from is like.

If there are aliens out there, how come they haven't paid a visit to earth yet?

It's a dump! Locals keep fighting one another and when they're not there pumping all sorts of nasty chemicals into the atmosphere. I wouldn't stick around!

Can you envisage a time when humans may colonise another planet?

I think we will visit mars this century. Colonisation is a long way of though

Have you ever spotted what you believe to be a UFO?

Why are they called UFO's when everyone knows they're flying saucers? I have seen things in the sky I can't explain though.

Do you believe stories of alien abduction or is it a load of old nonsense?

Well, a few years ago I went out for a few drinks with some mates. I woke up in unfamiliar surroundings with no memory of how I got there.

or ?

Because UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object, including any and all of them, from secret government planes to weather balloons. The now inevitable association with alien spacecraft only exists because of the Roswell Incident.

I know why really. Trouble is UFO usually implies flying saucer which is not the same thing