Extraterrestrial

{{bronze}}{{hatnote|If you want to find out more about the possibility of life existing elsewhere in the universe go to our [[exobiology]] article — this one is dedicated to scary monsters.}}
{{hatnote|This article concerns undocumented migrants from outer space. Not to be confused with Earthling [[Illegal_immigration|illegal aliens]].}}
[[File:Greylien.png|right|thumb|165px|Take me to your leader.]]
{{ufology}}
{{cquote|The gods watch over us and guide our destinies, many human cultures teach; other entities, more malevolent, are responsible for the existence of evil. Both classes of beings, whether considered nat­ural or supernatural, real or imaginary, serve human needs. Even if they're wholly fanciful, people feel better believing in them. So in an age when traditional religions have been under withering fire from sci­ence, is it not natural to wrap up the old gods and demons in scientific raiment and call them aliens?|4=[[Carl Sagan]], ''[[The Demon-Haunted World]]''}}
"'''Extraterrestrial'''" ("'''ET'''") describes any object or being beyond the planet [[Earth]]; "''an'' extraterrestrial" almost invariably refers to other life forms, also known as '''EBE'''s (Extraterrestrial Biological Entities).

Because of the sheer scale of the cosmos, the possibility that we are the only form of life in the entire [[universe]] is remote; therefore some form of [[life]] is likely to exist elsewhere on other [[planet]]s, natural satellites, planetary-mass objects and brown dwarfs.<ref>[https://arxiv.org/pdf/1611.09074v1.pdf Atmospheric Habitable Zones in Y Dwarf Atmospheres]</ref>

Fairly primitive life, such as [[bacteria]], has been [[hypothesis|hypothesized]] by [[scientist]]s such as [[Carl Sagan]] to even exist elsewhere in our own [[solar system]], although no reliable [[evidence]] for this has been found. More advanced life is likely to have formed outside the solar system and many people — kooks and rational thinkers alike — are convinced that it's out there just waiting to be found.

Based on the anecdotes and "research" of [[Ufology|ufologists]] and [[Alien_abduction|abductees]] since 1947, one thing is absolutely clear — that, while we can let our imaginations get the best of us, the truth is our imaginations are ''not even that good'' at actually being original.<ref>https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/506846/were-probably-imagining-aliens-wrong/</ref>

== Intelligent extraterrestrial life ==
The narrower and arguably more common definition of "extraterrestrial" is "an ''intelligent'' life form that is of extraterrestrial origin" — an alien, in other words. Normally they are thought of as aliens who visit this planet, for whatever reason that aliens might want to visit this planet. This is a pretty cool idea because, assuming communication is even possible with such beings, it would afford the opportunity to compare observations about the nature of reality. This is also cool because, along with spaceships and laser guns, the encounter with aliens is every nerd's dream. As such it is the subject to a lot of crackpot thinking and [[conspiracy theories]]. These beliefs range from aliens communicating telepathically with people — similar to [[medium]]s talking to the dead — to deliberate [[coverup]]s by world governments<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-15635612 'No evidence' for extraterrestrials, says White House] Or is ''that'' part of a cover-up?</ref> and {{wpl|reverse engineering}} of alien technology. Despite the prevalence of such beliefs, and the fantastic and attractive narratives that they produce, they are most likely complete and utter [[bullshit]]. No convincing evidence has ever been found in favor of the existence of such beings, let alone the idea that they may be on Earth right now.

Claims that some [[UFO]]s are of extraterrestrial origin and claims of [[alien abduction]] have not been substantiated and most examples of both phenomena can be easily and simply explained without invoking little green men with anal probes.<ref group=note>The rest can probably be explained away the same way with a little more effort, though who knows what the universe may bring us? This is a world where [http://douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/nbikes/nbikes.htm#40 bicycles with 40 seats] are a thing, maybe one of the cases is the real deal.</ref> Firsthand accounts of interactions with ET's tend to be [[anecdotal]] and often unreliable with little or no physical evidence presented. As a result, investigation of alien encounters by [[scientific method|science]] is difficult. Since ET's seem reluctant to do their abductions near anyone appropriately equipped to document them, we have no hard evidence or reason to believe that they are on Earth interacting with us on a near daily basis.

Or maybe they just don't live nearby? Or maybe they just don't like us enough to talk to us 
face to face
 face to tentacle? Extraterrestrials, it seems, are still confined to the world of [[science fiction]] and wildly entertaining conjecture by exobiologists.

== Drake Equation ==
{{main|Drake Equation}} 

The Drake Equation is an attempt to quantify the likelihood of alien civilizations being capable of communicating with humans on Earth. Named after radio astronomer Frank Drake, it contains a number of variables such as number of stars in a galaxy, number of planets suitable for life, etc. An interactive version can be found [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/origins/drake.html here].

One of the main issues with the Drake Equation is the estimated life span of any advanced civilization, i.e., once it becomes advanced enough to communicate, how long before it blows itself up? While any value for this is necessarily speculative (we're dealing with a sample size of zero, since our only example is our own society, which we can't know how long will last), Drake's original estimate for this value is 10,000 years, while a more modern approach by [[Michael Shermer]] set it to only 420 years.<ref>[https://michaelshermer.com/2002/08/why-et-hasnt-called/ Michael Shermer - Why hasn't ET called?]</ref> This means that any signal received from space (given the enormous distances between stars) could well be from an already long-dead civilization. However, the flaw here is that our own communications have diminished significantly from that seen in the 1960s thanks to cable and satellite communications.

==The usual suspects==
===What we know so far===

Well - nothing really.

Seriously - nothing.   All the ideas we have about aliens are based on - well nothing more that speculation.  Still - solely for entertainment purposes - some of this bizarre and utterly evidence free speculation is outlined below. 

[[File:Alien.jpg|thumb|170px|Typical alien. Keep shotguns and slugs ready at all times]]
The aliens that have supposedly come to Earth have been described as appearing in many different forms. This indicates either that planet Earth is improbably interesting to several varieties of aliens — or that ''the reports themselves'' are the result of hyperactive human imaginations.<ref group=note>We apologize to our future alien overlords who may be reading this at a later date.</ref>

At the same time, the spectrum of described alien appearances — differing enough from ''each other'' to qualify as separate species — is populated by examples of aliens that are all generally {{wpl|Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic}} (and even outright {{wpl|humanoid}}) enough to be quite similar not just to ''us'', but to ''each other''. With minor variance, we're talking: the same body outline, amount of arms, legs, mouths (save for the Xenomorph), eyes, ears and so on. This implies that they might all share an evolutionary timeline — and for ''that'' to be true, they'd basically all have to originate from the ''same planet''.<ref group=note>Meanwhile ''good'' [[science fiction]] writers have much more imagination in that regard.</ref>

Consider it — all those species of aliens look attuned for ''kind of'' the same gravities and temperatures, and approximate the appearances of ''each other'' much closer than ''we'' approximate the appearance of lots of animals here on Earth.<ref group=note>Just to pick one example — Greys and Xenomorphs share ''way'' more features than humans and {{wpl|Ocean_sunfish|ocean sunfish}} do, or humans and {{wpl|Greta_oto|crystal butterflies}} do, or humans and {{wpl|Glaucus_atlanticus|blue angels}} do. C'mon guys.</ref> Note also that ''we'' approximate the appearance of ''the aliens'' — and vice versa — in just the same way.<ref group=note>[[David Icke]] has a solution to this problem, however — turns out, we're ''all'' actually aliens! Or, ''descended from'' aliens. Or ''related to'' aliens. Or ''something''.</ref>

So, did they all come here from the same planet on separate missions, unaware of each other...? Are they perhaps part of some epic 
space opera
 galactic war, and we're thrown smack-dab in the middle of it, as if taken right out of [[TVTropes|''TVTropes'']]? Actually, since they're so humanoid, and so attuned to earthly conditions — never mind often described as having the ability (and desire) to have [[sex]] with humans (!)<ref group=note>I mean think about it: [https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2457/3580979114_c6c3a91648_b.jpg this] is our closest living relative. Would ''you'' be lining up to tap that? And an extraterrestrial wouldn't be related to us ''at all''.</ref><ref group=note>Interbreeding in '''''same Genus''''' (e.g. modern human and neanderthal; horse and donkey) is possible, and interbreeding in same '''''Subtribe''''' (e.g. modern human and australopithecus) may theoretically work - but so much as '''''same Tribe''''' (e.g. modern human and chimpanzee; chicken and partridge) is usually impossible to mix. Interbreeding between '''''same Infraclass''''' (e.g. human and new world monkey; pigeon and chicken) is always impossible. Difference between extraterrestrial and human would be bigger, than difference between human and a microbe. Assuming that extraterrestrial is carbon-based lifeform in the first place, genetic engineering and other unnatural means can be used to make a hybrid or chimera - but if alien technology is ''that'' advanced to close such colossal gap, then it would be easier and more practical to just write DNA and RNA from ground up.</ref> — it is actually ''far'' more likely that they originate from Earth<ref group=note>Or to be more precise: that aliens belong to ''Homo'' genus. Thus them being humans.</ref>. A result of ''that'', however, is that it's more likely still that they originate ''from the imaginations of creatures'' from Earth.<ref group=note>So still — technically — from Earth. What??</ref>

Interestingly, all species of aliens are consistently described as being about the size they'd ''have'' to be in order to be able to interact with us in a way that we humans find meaningful — never disappearingly small,<ref group=note>In which case their ships run the risk of [[Fun:The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy|being eaten by a small dog]]</ref> (though, it would be rather unlikely for something such small to evolve into sapience, due to brains being too small) never the size of Godzillas (though the {{wpl|square–cube law}} tells us the latter would be highly unlikely). Why, it's almost as if they were imagined by us in the only way that enables them be cast in exciting and interactive roles by the human imagination.

In fact, there is often a good correlation between ''the culture describing the aliens'' and what said culture claims the aliens look like. The "Grey" species is undoubtedly the most commonly imagined and the most commonly depicted in fiction, from ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' to the Asgard from ''Stargate''. Essentially not different from the [[Elf|elves]] or orcs of fantasy, in that they're basically humans with caricatured features — and what's more, the features are supposed to represent their qualities. The '''noble and eloquent''' elves — humans that all look like models. The '''proud and mighty''' orcs — humans that all look like Kali Muscle.<ref group=note>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0mHPVZWl0E $10 worth of latex makeup completes the comparison. Imagine applying it a little differently and maybe changing the color to green — you'd have most fantasy orcs in a heartbeat.]</ref>

The childlike Greys with their big eyes and big heads (presumably containing big brains), yet slender and weak limbs, come off as observant, intelligent and technological. They're clearly tool users, since we don't imagine them surviving in the wild without tools. Since we imagine the wilds on their planet to be like the wilds on Earth. Since we imagine that their home planet has about the same amount of gravity, the same temperature range and similar gas distribution to Earth. Since we imagine that the evolution of life looks about the same everywhere. Since we imagine that all life is carbon-based to begin with. And [[Einstein|who ever said]] you can't travel faster than light, anyways?!

The dreadful Xenomorphs,<ref group=note>Or, for the case, the Zerg/Tyranids if you're a StarCraft/[[Fun:God|Warhammer 40k]] player respectively</ref> on the other hand, don't look like tool users. They don't ''look'' technological. I mean, ask yourself. How would they fit into a cockpit and operate pedals and stuff? And besides, they don't use tools in the movies. They don't wear armor, they're ''born armored''. They don't wield weapons, they ''are a weapon''. Like the predators ''we've'' evolved to fear — snakes and tigers and the like — the Xenomorphs rely on their ''senses''. Yeah — they're ''born'' fully decked killing machines. And from eggs, too — eew.<ref group=note>Bursting from people's stomachs, by extension. So fresh you can taste the crunch!</ref> They don't look social. They look like lone hunters who ''predate'' upon soft-bellied, social animals like us. Yeah. And that definitely means they can't have tool use.<ref group=note>Well, we gotta have ''some'' way of beating them! They can be born terminators — but damnit, they can't be intellectuals as well! That would ruin ''the drama of the story'', just like if Batman killed the Joker! <small>...Wait, did I just make a huge point regarding aliens in general?</small></ref> Besides, they don't have the temper for it. Because we know it takes social, vaguely ape-like vertebrates to ever have tool use. {{wpl|Tool_use_by_animals#In_invertebrates|Right?}}

Now, you might object — the Xenomorphs are ''fictional!'' Boy, do we have news for you...<ref group=note>[[WAKE_UP|THEY'RE ALL FICTIONAL]]!</ref>

Similarly, the "flying saucer" shape only became prevalent after UFOs were reported as being "saucer-like", which people misinterpreted as being a description of shape, rather than how they moved through the sky. Some early close encounters reported dart-shaped or cigar-shaped rather than saucer-shaped UFOs, before the saucer [[meme]] became predominant.<ref group=note>See the "UFO to flying saucer" segment of [[UFO#How_UFOs_got_turned_into_.22flying_saucers.22_and_gathered_media_interest|our article on UFOs]].</ref>

===The alien zoo===
Either way, "respected"<ref group=note>We use that term ''very'' loosely — it really just means "Respected by other [[crank]]s...err, [[Ufology|ufologists]]".</ref> scholars have identified several different species of alien. They include<ref group=note>Not counting robots, androids, cyborgs, vaguely robotic men in armored space suits/power armor/battlesuits, small piloted vehicles like "mechs", genetic experiments with DNA/RNA written from ground up, heavily biologically augmented organisms what can't be considered their original species anymore, ascended immaterial "pure disembodies consciousness"/"energy lifeforms", and other artificially modified people. Those have more varieties, than humans have varieties of cars and guns; they may be outright non-humanlike in both size, capabilities and looks.</ref>:
*'''
Pkunk
 Blue avian:''' These blue bird-people are supposedly very nice and spiritually positive aliens. Dreamed up by Coorey Goode and [[David Wilcock]], New Agers find them aesthetically appealing.
*'''Designers:''' Also known as '''the Elohim''' (singular '''Elohah'''), they look exactly like a small version of a Japanese person because, according to [[Raëlism|Raelians]], they made us in their image. They also gave messages to different populations through religious figures like [[Buddhism|the Buddha]], [[Jesus]], [[Muhammad]], and [[Moses]].
*'''[[Greys]]:''' These are the most famous popular aliens. They are short and have really big heads, no hair, grey skin, either very small or no mouth and nose, and really big eyes. They are the most commonly reported aliens in North America. They seem to have an agenda, but the grey agenda should not be confused with the [[gay agenda]] (although both seem to involve anal probing).
*'''Nordics:''' These look like a [[Nazi]]'s wet dream, although taller and not so into [[Hitler]]. For some reason, they like to abduct Europeans more than Americans.
*'''[[Pleiadians]]:''' They really care about us and are into {{wpl|multi-dimensional physics}}.
*'''[[Reptilians]]:''' Also known as the Gorn<ref>https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Gorn</ref> or Reptiloids, they look like sentient dinosaurs. Like the Greys, they too have an agenda, theirs involving the shadow conquest of Earth. [[David Icke]] and his followers believe that the [[Monarchy#Monarchy in Britain|British royal family]], the Bush family, and nearly every other major politician is actually a reptilian in disguise. Seems reasonable enough.
*'''[[Rods]]:''' As the name suggests, they are flying cylindrical eddies that appear in camera shots or videos. While ufologists disagree about their nature, origin and sentience; photographers disregard them as nothing more than the trail insects (such as moths) leave behind while flying.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_(optics) Rod (optics)]. Wikipedia.</ref>
*'''Thetans:''' Best described as malevolent demons/ghosts/spirits of sorts. Originally alien citizens of various species who lived 75 million years ago, until they were thrown into volcanoes on Tegeeack (known as "Earth" to sane people) which then had hydrogen bombs detonated inside of them by the Galactic Overlord 
Xemu
 [[Xenu]]. Thus the restless, wandering alien souls, known as Thetans, were created, in the billions, right here on Earth. Ever since, these parasitic alien spirits have spent most of their time attaching themselves to us, and if only we'd read ''[[Dianetics]]'', we'd be able to relieve our selves both of these invaders and of large quantities of cash in one fell swoop. Visit ''your'' local Church of [[Scientology]] center ''today'' to learn more, and get the opportunity to sign over your house to the Church - and if you're ''very'' 
gullible
 dedicated, you can sign a contract to work for the Sea Org for a billion years!
*'''Green Little Men:''' Predecessors of [[Greys]]. Green Little Men once were very common until 1950's, but since then were mostly phased out with Grays, nowadays appearing primarily in comedic or parody works. Can be divided into invader and researcher sub-types; former carry ray guns, want to see your leaders and tend to be one tad crazy; latter don't talk much, occasionally abduct people, and are snooping around without leaving much trace. Either way, they're either too kind and/or too incompetent to pose serious danger. They're semi-commonly seen by drunkards (though they're not sure if they're seeing imps or tiny aliens).

Sadly for those who believe in these fantasy people, there is no actual reliable [[evidence]] for any of them, as their existence is based solely on people's personal testimony, which is frankly useless. There was an alleged close call when footage of an autopsy was "leaked" in the 1990s, but this was revealed to be a hoax far too soon for it to be any fun.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200805045239/https://skepticalinquirer.org/1995/11/alien-autopsy-hoax/?%2Fsi%2Fshow%2Falien_autopsy_hoax Skeptical Enquirer - “Alien Autopsy” Hoax]</ref>

Of course, in the highly unlikely event that humanity ever does make contact with an alien race, it is almost certain that such aliens will look nothing like those imagined above or even in the most imaginative SF.

==Wow! signal==

The Wow! signal was a radio signal which was received by the Big Ear Radio Telescope on August 15th, 1977. It consisted of 72 seconds of unusually organized signals. There are many speculations on the origin of the signal, with one of them being that the signal is of alien origin. Despite the very odd organization of the signals, this is not definitive proof of alien life; it is a stretch to jump to that sort of conclusion as there is no evidence pointing to the signal being sent by an alien race. It has been argued that a better explanation for this signal is just some deep space oddity that we have not discovered yet.<ref>[https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4342 Skeptoid Episode #342: Was the Wow! Signal Alien?]</ref> A common misconception is that The Wow! signal is some sort of message that contains information, the reality is that it was just a narrowband radio signal, nothing more. To put it simply: many things in space generate radio waves that we capture on a daily basis, it's just that the pattern and intensity of this signal was quite odd. The data itself is unfortunately quite insubstantial to draw any real conclusion<ref group=note>Even Jerry R. Ehman, the man who discovered the signal, said that he will not "[draw] vast conclusions from half-vast data."</ref> but that still hasn't stopped people believing wholeheartedly that [[Didit_fallacy#Aliensdidit|ET has phoned earth]].

A common myth is that "6EQUJ5" is a code broadcast by aliens. However, the characters simply refer to the intensity of the signal in base 36. It recorded 6 signals, with the intensities of 6, 14, 26, 30, 19, and 5 in short succession. 

In 2017, 
the Buzzkill Squad
 a team of researchers with the Center of Planetary Science determined that the sound likely came from 
a cloaked Klingon spacecraft
 the 266/P Christensen comet, which was unknown in 1977 but occasionally emits unusual frequencies due to an attached hydrogen cloud.<ref>[https://phys.org/news/2017-06-wow-mystery-space.html Wow! mystery signal from space finally explained] Phys.org</ref> However this has since been discredited, the reason being that comets do not emit that strongly at the frequencies detected, and the comet proposed to be the origin of the signal was nowhere within the vicinity of the detection radius of either horn of the Big Ear telescope in 1977. <ref name="naapo">[http://naapo.org/WOWCometRebuttal.html WoW comet rebuttal] - North American Astrophysical Observatory</ref> This does not mean however that this is an alien signal, just that we don't know where it came from as of now.

==Contact with Earth==
{{main|aliensdidit}}

Some of the aliens' favorite hobbies while on our planet include:
*Building the [[Giza pyramids]]
*Making [[crop circles]]
*Abducting Texans for [[Pervert|bizarre sexual experiments]]
*Using their "flying saucers" to buzz unsuspecting drivers, often in, again, [[Texas]]
*Taking our jobs and sponging off our welfare systems
*[[Hollow Earth|Hollowing out the Earth]] to build their secret bases
*Eating the [[dinosaurs]]
*[[Cattle mutilation|Mutilating cattle]]
*Anal Probing

In November 2011, the United States White House officially stated that the US (and as far as they knew, every other country) has never had contact with alien life. Of course, they also said [[JFK assassination conspiracies|they do not know who shot Kennedy]]; it's apparent who's lying, isn't it?

==In a nutshell==

<center>
{{#ev:youtube|dpTQgvkQWQU}}
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==See also==
{{collist|2|
*[[Alien abduction]]
*[[Alien invasion]]
*[[The Brookings Report]]
*[[Exobiology]]
*[[Exotheology]]
*[[Fermi paradox]]
*[[Gray aliens]]
*[[Heaven's Gate]]
*[[Intervention theory]]
*[[Lead Masks Case]]
*[[List of prominent alien species]]
*[[Mohenjo-daro]]
*[[SETI]]
*[[Ufology]]
*[[Unidentified flying object]]
}}

== External links ==
*[https://alien-ufo-research.com/the-greys/ Real Grey Alien Pictures and Videos] – All about the greys
*[http://www.alienresistance.org/ AlienResistance.Org] – Another fine example
*[https://www.rael.org/download.php?view.1 Message from the Designers] – This website claims that extraterrestrials somehow designed us and gave us messages via religious leaders

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Protoscience]]
[[Category:Ufology]]
[[Category:Science fiction]]

Categories: Astronomy, Protoscience, Ufology, Science fiction