Intelligent Extraterrestrials Exist

== Statistical reasoning == Our atmosphere is unusually thin—something extremely important. An atmosphere any thicker would cause our planet to be excessively warm, and may inhibit any chance of life evolving. Further, a slight change in our distance from the sun could lead our planet to become inhospitable. Orbit is also an important factor for life, as it determines overall climate stability. Although we know climate has changed over the Phanerozoic eon through climate proxies, our climate is actually relatively stable compared to other planets. The moon is also extremely important for life. As out atmosphere is thin, it is incapable of destroying large asteroids—though it is capable of deflecting smaller ones. The moon is actually extremely large, which means it has a larger chance of deflecting meteors as other moons. The moon was likely created when a planet the size of mars hit the earth, and part of it split off and became the moon. The circumstances needed for this were almost impossible. The way the earth is—thin atmosphere, a stable orbit (relatively speaking), a large moon which reflects asteroids, etc. are all exceptionally rare phenomena. All of this leads many to argue that the earth really is unique [1]. If the earth is unique, then statistical probability tells us it is extremely unlikely that extraterrestrials exist. It is likely non-intelligent life exists. Microbial life tend to be resilient to radiation, heat, cold, and other harsh conditions intelligent life is not resilient to [2]. Other planets do seem to have harsh conditions—meaning unintelligent life may exist there. I am not saying some form of extraterrestrial life does not exist. Rather, it is unlikely that intelligent life exists. 1. http://tinyurl.com...; 2. http://tinyurl.com...; == Possible Technology == This is all speculative. You speculate as to *how* aliens have gotten to earth, but offer no convincing reasons as to whether or not this has actually happened. As far as speculation is concerned, it is likely that if aliens had such technology, they would never make it to earth. Animals on earth have evolved from single celled organisms to intelligent creatures like you and me. Well, maybe you, I am questionable at times. As life becomes more intelligent, they become more advanced. However, they also become more violent. As humans have progressed, technology used for warfare has become even more effective. Sure, we have gone from walking to cars—transportation technologies my opponent cites. However, we have also progressed from sticks and stones as weapons to nuclear bombs, firearms, and biochemical weaponry [3]. Indeed, it is likely that any Aliens have also obtained new technology which is extremely efficient for the purpose of warfare. This means it is also plausible that any intelligent life has simply killed each other through use of their newfound weapons. So assuming their technology is advanced as my opponent claims, their weapons for war are likely equally advanced. Meaning there is a large chance they do not exist simply because they may have killed themselves off. Aliens creating advanced technology reduces their chances for actually coming and interacting with earth as their potential to kill themselves also increases. 3. http://tinyurl.com...; == Historical evidence? == My opponent’s sources are questionable. To my knowledge, ‘above top secret’ is a forum. And on the internet, chances are people know how Photoshop works… If he was citing an academic or someone with credentials, I may be less skeptical as they would have less of an axe to grind in convincing a few people that aliens exist. Indeed, the way his links are, it is impossible for me to verify the sources. For example, if the person posts a picture, and a link, I cannot follow the links back and back until I get the primary source. This is extremely important, as many of these artifacts can be traced back to scientific websites or studies which offer valid explanations, not speculatory alien explanations [4]. This also important as there are many cases of UFO pictures being forged [5]. With such an interesting but pseudoscientific field of study, there will be many forgeries. It is hard for me to accept my opponent’s evidence as fact, especially since most artifacts claimed as ‘alien’ are merely misinterpretations or outright lies when compared to actual scientific explanations [4]. 4. http://tinyurl.com...; 5. http://tinyurl.com...; == UFO sightings == My opponent concedes *most* UFO sightings are incorrect. At most, there are 3,500 valid sightings. He got this by multiplying the percent of explained sightings (95%) to the amount of sightings in total. This assumes that unexplained sightings are alien visitors. This is non sequitur. It is extremely likely that all of those 3,500 sightings are terrestrial in origin. I saw an aircraft today—it is cloudy. It is unidentified! OH GOD ITS ALIENS! Or… it is because one of the largest air force bases happens to be in my city. We know that 95% of alien ‘sightings’ are fake. That does not mean that the other 5% are alien, it merely means they are unexplained. To assume the explanation in those cases are aliens is absurd. If my opponent is to claim this, he must provide a significant amount of evidence that those sightings are of alien origin. Speculation is not enough to fulfill any BOP—an extraordinary claim requires extraordinary evidence. It is very likely that any ‘legitimate’ UFO sighting is fake. All photographs relating to extraterrestrial UFO’s have been found to be forgeries. Researchers have been studying UFO’s for 21 years and have no proof that those sightings are extraterrestrial in nature [6]. Therefore, we have good evidence to suggest the unexplained sightings are not ET. And Pro has yet to provide hard evidence that there is hard evidence to suggest it is intelligent life. Therefore, he has failed his burden. 6. http://tinyurl.com...; == Government officials? == The disclosure project is laughable. It really is like those weight loss programs which have a few expert testimonials, and then claim it works, with no other evidence. The site also claims there is a huge cover up, but that contradicts their evidence. If there was such a cover up, all of those who are testifying would be jailed and tried for treason. We know the Snowden leaks are legitimate since he fled to China and now Russia in order to evade capture. The US government does not take lightly towards people who leak secrets. All of these people are leaking secrets. If the government was hiding something, all of them would be in jail. All of them. But they aren't. So no cover up is occuring. Their testimonies often rely upon ‘personal experience’. However, personal contact with aliens is likely not because you actually see aliens. Humans are pattern seekers, and if our brain does not understand something, it conjures up amazing things which really didn’t happen. It doesn’t mean the people with experience or wrong—it merely means their interpretation was incorrect [7]. The ‘CIA’ video is laughable as well. He is dying—so why does it matter if we know his names? Why doesn’t the video tell us his name, credentials, and training? He is dying, so he would have no reason not to share his information. The video gives us none of this. It is likely a hoax. The CIA is likely not involved in any cover up, as nearly 0 official documents related to UFO’s were created since the 1950’s [8]. There is nothing to cover up! The Whitehouse has published reports on the issue, and finds no evidence that extraterrestrials exist or have come into contact with humans [9]. This evidence is not compelling. It is sparse evidence and is not enough to fulfill the BOP. I hope my opponent’s mind will change on this topic as I have given a massive amount of evidence that his position is untenable. 7. http://tinyurl.com...; 8. http://tinyurl.com...; 9. http://tinyurl.com...;