Chicagoist: The Truth is Out There In Tinley Park

joseph_dunphy_in_chicago

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:29:16 -0600

"The odds behind alien life capable of interstellar travel are astronomical." Without disputing the nutbag status of the UFOologist crowd, or the extreme reasonability of this point "And isn't it always funny that these aliens are almost always reported as humanoid in appearance, with eyes, mouth, appendages, etc.? Our mouths and other features are the result of billions of years of development from simple systems. I just don't think evolution could strike twice so perfectly like that." the first claim, as often as it has been reported, is a bit of a stretch. Over 125 billion galaxies, about 100 billion stars in this galaxy alone, suggests the presence of a lot of inhabitable planets, and the complete argument against the feasibility of interstellar travel seems to be "we don't know how to do it, yet". Based on that argument, somebody in the 1920s could "prove" that the development of solid state electronics was an impossibility. (Early attempts to develop such in said era ended in failure). Yet here we are in the early 21st century using that very same impossible technoology to have a conversation about another impossible technology. The 20th century should have taught people to not leap to conclusions in such matters, and yet one can see people doing just that in large numbers, to this very day.

dwarmstr

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:15:48 -0600

Oh man. 8/21/2004 was the day of the Chicago Air and Water show. Those aircraft magically appear at the lakefront, you know, without actually flying to and from there. Peruse the UFO network database for Illinois reports at http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/ndxlIL.html. It's a hoot. It seems people don't actually look at the sky until they look at the sky and are flummoxed at all the bright stars, the planet Venus, airplanes, satellites, and here in Chicago, birds and plastic bags uplit by streetlights. I don't see any reports concerning the UFO sighting over Highland though.

Ward Up

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:14:56 -0600

I'd like William Shatner to show up at the meeting and give his "Have you ever kissed a girl?" speech from SNL.

JuliaPorter

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:21:48 -0600

I can't see the acronym "MUFON" without thinking of the X Files, and all those women sitting around holding neck implants in various containers.

UTV

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:56:39 -0600

I'd say the real shock here is that anyone is going to pay $25 at the door. I'd give chupacabara lectures if I could get a few dozen people in at 25 bucks a pop.

Spav1

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:51:07 -0600

That story so did NOT end up where I thought it would...

Marcus Gilmer

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:49:51 -0600

Hey, I'm with you. But those 'encounters' are different than UFO sightings and shouldn't necessarily be lumped together. Just because we haven't perfected the technology to zip billions of miles across space and time doesn't mean something else hasn't. Again, I'm not trying to get all X-Files up in here, I just think it's possible. Once, I got really lost driving near Columbus, Georgia and stumbled across a Waffle House in the middle of NOWHERE (and trust me, southwest Georgia is NOT a place you want to be lost in the middle of the night). So it's possible ET got lost trying to get back on the Intergalactic version of I-90 and instead wound up in beautiful Tinley Park.

plumbum82

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:33:47 -0600

Sure, but even if you agree that: a) The universe is vast b) other forms of life are possible There is NO guarantee that life form is capable of picking up off their planet and visiting us... light years away. The odds behind alien life capable of interstellar travel are astronomical. And isn't it always funny that these aliens are almost always reported as humanoid in appearance, with eyes, mouth, appendages, etc.? Our mouths and other features are the result of billions of years of development from simple systems. I just don't think evolution could strike twice so perfectly like that.