“Are there extraterrestrial life forms?” is a question that not only the scientific community but also many extraterrestrial enthusiasts have pondered upon since a very long time. Many researchers from SETI and NASA believe that life could have existed in billions of planets. There are many controversial debates and theories, but there has been no concrete evidence of the presence of extraterrestrial life forms. However, interestingly, the scientific community has not been able to discard it either completely. Therefore, it is an interesting question that our generation and our forefathers have been trying to answer.

However, with great scientific advancements happening every single day, the chances of getting more concrete evidence is higher than ever now. There are two sides to this question. You can read more about the new advancements to keep yourself informed.

In this blog, I will discuss both the sides as well as the neutral standpoint and leave you to take a stand or begin your research from a new standpoint.

Final Verdict

There can be no final verdict as of now because it is an ongoing debate. Many questions have not been answered in the extraterrestrial realms like the spotting of UFOs or the “WOW!” signal or many other signals that are recorded by NASA since decades. It is possible that some of the signals could be a result of some other astronomical phenomenon, but it is not certain yet. Hence, it would be wrong to discard the theory that extraterrestrial life forms exist completely. At present, it would only be logical to keep all the avenues open for debates and discussions without necessarily concluding. We are living in an interesting time with discoveries every single day. So, maybe we are not very far from finding out the truth about aliens.

The Arecibo signal is one of the most remarkable scientific leaps taken by humanity in its attempt to establish contact with aliens. The radio signals pack up basic information about humanity inside it such as prime elements found on the planet, our Solar System and Earth’s location inside it and the basic structure of humanity and its genetic composition.

However, this was just a small (but significant contribution) in the vast array of radio signals that humanity has been emitting into the open outer-space since the advent of mass communications. With radio waves from television signals, satellite broadcasts and other sources crossing Earth’s atmosphere in the vastness of deep space, humanity making daily attempts to communicate with a sentient species out there.

Let us take a brief look at what arrangements we have made to establish contact with intergalactic extraterrestrial intelligent.

The SETI Institute California

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence has been operating since the 1970s and has deployed the Alien Telescope Array that is dedicated to catching radio frequencies emanating from various sources in the outer-space and weeding out the ones that were likely sent by sentient species.

The Arecibo Observatory is CURRENTLY home to the world’s largest single-aperture radio telescope with a diameter of 1000ft (305m).

Arecibo Observatory

Located in Puerto Rico, this was the radio transmitter that sends the Arecibo signal mentioned above.

TESS 

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite helps pin down Earth-like planets in remote solar systems by measuring the amount of light that they obstruct from their star when they complete one rotation.

 These and many others have helped us to gain a lot of insight into the dynamics of cosmic phenomena that can hint towards a possible existence of life or even sentient life.

The existence of the planet Gliese 581g which is twenty light years away from the Earth has been a groundbreaking discovery in our quest for finding extraterrestrial life.

However, the closest we have come to finding a possibly habitable planet is the discovery of Proxima B, which is just 4.2 light-years from the Earth in the Proxima Centauri star system, has a mass 1.2 times of Earth and is similar to our planet in other astronomical parameters.

However, the closest we have come to possibly finding water on other planetary body is inside our Solar System on Europa one of Jupiter’s moon when Hubble Space Telescope discovered plumes of water on the satellite. Let us hope that there is an ocean of liquid water below with bustling life below inside it.

These discoveries especially the former two have been crucial in the further discovery of alien life forms on other planets. However, to be honest, finding life-supporting planets has one in a millionth chance, finding sentient life falls to several magnitudes below.

Let us hope that if an alien civilization is advanced to a level of three or beyond on the Kardashev scale, they will honor our attempts to establish contacts in the vast reaches of deep space by responding cordially.

Extra Terrestrials have been a debated topic since time immemorial. Both sides have some interesting theories and experiences to prove their point. Scientists have experienced unusual and strange signals which could be taken as a sign of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. On the contrary, there are others who believe that this could just be a phenomenon that is not yet discovered by the scientific community. Nevertheless, following are some of the most debated theories about Extra Terrestrials:

The Arecibo Message

Dr. Frank Drake who was at Cornell University and made the Drake equation wrote the Arecibo message in 1974 with the help of Carl Sagan and others. The idea was to send a message to the extraterrestrial intelligence through the Arecibo Radio Telescope that was stationed in Puerto Rico. The message was sent in the form of Binary Strings. The message is seen as one of the biggest scientific advancements in the history of humanity. But there are many debates around it because the message would take 25,000 years to reach and then again 25,000 years to get a reply. So, it cannot be said that the recipients (if any) would understand the message and will be in a position to reply.

Small UFO Watchtower In Colorado’s Small Town Called Hooper

In this small town of Colorado, people have witnessed some strange sightings which are known to be UFOs. Incidentally, this town is situated right on top of the Bermuda triangle of the West.  This town has been witness to many strange phenomena like shooting stars, strange weather changes, etc. People expect that there would be soon a spacecraft of aliens landing in that area. But these are just speculations. It is an interesting town where people have their eyes glued to the sky to notice something unusual.

Mysterious Signals Received By SETI

SETI used a massive telescope in Puerto Rico to start the examination of 200 sections of the sky all over again wherever they had evidence of signals that had no scientific explanations. However, they did not notice any signals except for one which had become stronger than before. These signals came from a spot between two constellations – Pisces and Aries. Hence there were no other known stars or planets. There are controversial theories regarding this signal. Some believe that it is the frequency at which the aliens who want to show their existence, emit signals. While others believe, it is some signal that comes from a natural phenomenon which is not known by the scientists yet.

Unexplained WOW! Signals Detected By Ohio State University

The Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope recorded some unusual radiations and signals from Sagittarius. The signal was as long as 37 seconds. Astronomer Jerry R Ehman observed this anomaly, and he was so impressed by it that he wrote WOW! on the computer print out. Since it was from the nearest star that is 220 million light-years away, there could have been two possibilities for the signal. First, a big astronomical event or an intelligent species with a powerful transmitter would have created it. There is still no explanation to theory, but it is also a controversial yet interesting scientific breakthrough.

So does it make you think about other life forms? Or are you the type who would discard these theories? No matter which side you take, it is something to ponder.