Where Are The Aliens?

Estimates from the year 2018 indicate that we have Two Trillion galaxies in this universe. Source: An astrophysicist with a PhD in the subject and a contributing writer at Forbes magazine. Source

That’s 2 to the 12th power.

Lord Rees of Ludlow - Lord Martin Rees has this theory that the universe could be more expansive. The analogy he makes use of is to think of a ship that goes out of sight, across the horizon. I am not going to be able to do justice here and I forget the exact source here. But, I believe the reasoning was that the universe may be more expansive that we assume it to be. And if so, there could be a lot more galaxies out there. This assumption seems valid, because we haven’t really been able to detect the edge of the universe. If there is even an edge.

That being said, this is just an assumption at this point in time. Claims require evidence.

The other point is that we have barely started to begin peering out into the wider universe. We know a lot more, since the release of Hubble and yet we haven’t even scratched the surface of what could be out there.

As one can appreciate, we do not really know the actual number of real-estate (given number of galaxies, stars or planets) across this universe. And so we make informed and educated guesses, whereby these probabilities are backed up with some evidence that we have collected. However, it seems to be, the more instruments we put out there, the more we uncover. As well, considering the enormous amount of time that the universe has existed for and considering the fact that it’s only been a couple of decades since we start peering outwards in a systematic manner. I’d say that our journey has barely begun.

The actual purpose of this blogpost is to begin to think about the kind of questions that start emerging in my mind (and definitely not to sound all that), when I think of Fermi’s paradox (link later below). And I should have probably clarified this earlier on. But, in terms of the components of this particular blogpost: 1) I share some of the numbers that we are aware of today. 2) Next, there is a brief mention of Frank Drake’s equation. and 3) Finally, I get into the Fermi paradox side of things. It was really the thoughts specific to Fermi’s paradox, that led me to write this blogpost in the first place.

Let’s go back to what I started with (numbers).Wikipedia cites that there are anywhere from 100 to 400 Billion stars across the Milky way (The Galaxy that our solar system is a part of) Source. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there are anywhere from 100 Billion to 1 Trillion stars in the Milky Way. 10 to the power 11/12. Source

The same article via ESA (link above) cites that the total number of planets across the universe could be anywhere from 10 sextillion (10 to the power 22) to 1 Septillion (10 to the power 24)

So suffice to say there are a lot of stars. And each one of these stars, have (at the very least) one or two planets going around it/them.

Next, about two years ago I made the following video link about Drake equation. You don’t have to review the video. I mean, I tried to break it down so that my daughter (who was in grade 3 at the time) could understand it. Also, I made that video in order to start understanding how the probabilities have been documented. The mechanism is fairly straightforward. And given the set of variables, you multiply the various probabilities together. By the way, there is this interactive tool that is available on BBC’s website, whereby you can tweak different elements of the equation. Source

If we focus on the prospect of finding life and then intelligent life across this Galaxy that we are a part of (The Milky Way). So, we are looking at anywhere from 100 to 400 Billion stars. So, 200 to 800 Billion planets. Again, I think the actual figure could be a lot more.

The question is, with the higher estimate being shy of the 1 trillion planet mark across the Milky Way. Why is it that we haven't noticed any observable signs for intelligent life.

So this is where the Fermi paradox kicks in. If the probabilities could/do indicate that there must be a x number of intelligent civilizations out there, beaming some kind of a signal across the Galaxy and the wider universe at that. Then where are these beings? Where are the signals? (Other than that one time - the wow signal) Where are the Dyson spheres, ringworlds and other mega structures?

Yes, we have barely started looking. But, so far there isn’t any observable sign that would indicate the presence of an advance/somewhat intelligent civilization leaving behind some kind of a marker for it’s existence, anywhere across the galaxy or the wider universe at that.

Next, this is not a novel thought, but the Fermi paradox also applies to dimensions of time. If there are time travellers amongst us, then where are they? I’d think that it will be substantially a lot more tricker to spot a time traveller than it will be to spot a mega structure, a gas signature around a planet (Seager’s equation), communication patterns that are being beamed all over the place (But we just can’t dial into the right frequency) and a lot more.

And so, we go back to the title of the blogpost. Where are the ALFs, the E.Ts, the Vulcans, the Klingons, the Ferengi. Where are the Nordic aliens, the blue avians (If they do visit, what must they think about us devouring birds).

Almost 24 years have passed and we’ve yet to make contact or even come close to doing so. But, not unless you listen to folks like (including, but not limited to) and in random order: - Gordon Cooper: Source 1 Source 2 - Edgar Mitchell from the Apollo 14 mission - Governor Jimmy Carter (At the time) Once filed a report, indicating that he and others had witnessed a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). However, he later clarified his position (on Wolf Blitzer’s segment on CNN) and indicated that he did not believe that this was an alien spacecraft. - Paul Hellyer Extra-ordinary claims. However, no evidence has been presented (to date) in order to be able to back up the hypotheses. - Colonel Philip J. Corso Roughly 2 years after WWII ended, in 1947, apprently some kind of a structure crashed at the site of Roswell, NM. According to Wikipedia, US military sources cited that a weather balloon had crashed in that region. Source. Colonel Philip J. Corso, who was enlisted in the US ARMY at that time, claims that a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) had crashed at Roswell. He also claims that alien technology was extracted from the vehicle and reverse engineered. According to Colonel Corso, tech including but not limited to: Fiber optics, circuits, imaging devices and more were reverse engineered (Over the next couple of decades I am assuming). Colonel Corso also claims that bodies were extracted from the vehicle and an autopsy was performed. The autopsy was not extensive enough. He talks about the book that he wrote in this following interview from 1997. He also mentions a couple of projects in this short video. Including, Project Horizon, Project Rainbow (Source not found). It does seem like Corso was indeed in good company. I personally haven’t read the book. As well, Wikipedia cites that a fellow by the name of Philip Klass has debunked most of the claims in the book. Source. Overall, I am not at all familiar with Klass’s work and how he has, quote debunked the claims that Col. Corso has made. It seems like there are specific discoveries that have led to the breakthroughs and how certain inventions have come about. That being said, I was not around during WWII. Maybe some aliens got spooked that humans had started dropping nuclear bombs on each other. Maybe doing so messes up the fabric of space time. Corso’s son, I think, had mentioned something along those lines. Something along the lines of the ripples carrying through the fabric of time and not just space. Not sure how a claim like that could be verified. Unless some time travelling being actually showed up. However, if the time travelling being showed up and proved that they are from the future, then their very act of doing so would end up altering the fabric of time. - Dr. Steven M Greer has done a fair bit of work in this space. It’s been about a decade, since I looked him up again or the work that Mr. Greer has been doing. I did watch the original ‘Disclosure project’ and I remember watching at least two hours of testimonies by former military, intelligence and government officials. I think, this is a link to his website. I am not sure. I haven’t had a chance to see any of the newer documentaries. (Since 2010 ish).

This is probably the extent of my knowledge and as it relates to a brief history of UFOlogy. Plus, including a couple of other individuals who frequently appear on Ancient Aliens, going back to the 2010 era. Plus, I hear that Tom DeLonge has started this new organization and one of the stated goals is to research the UFO phenomenon.

To date, no evidence has been presented and how doing so could reasonably demonstrate that there is some sign/indication that our planet has been visited by beings from a non-terrestrial habitat. As of last year, there are some videos that have been declassified. Source. But, there is no evidence/explanation to suggest that the origin of what is being observed, ought to be categorized as extra-terrestrial.

For the purpose of this blogpost, I didn’t want to explore the UFO angle because it may seem like a sensationalist thing to do. I was on the fence whether I should or should not explore this angle. It seems like there has been a general interest in this space for a very long time. UFOlogy appears to be a spectrum really and I guess without the means to be able to get to functional/safe/efficient brain machine interfaces that we can make use of in an ethical sense. It will be hard to filter out the truth from perceived sensations and emotions.

At the same time, there have been more than a couple of folks in the military/intelligence/former astronauts/folks in governance who have had something to share and specific to this brief segway. So, I thought it would be an injustice that I was writing about the topic of the potential prospect of life and intelligent life out there (Which is a super diverse and expansive topic) and I wouldn’t scrape the surface of what is happening in the world of UFOlogy (Is that is even a thing).

To bring it back to the original topic. Going back to the Drake equation, it seems rather unlikely that earth is the only planet where life could evolve. Next, it also seems highly improbable that this is the only rock where a somewhat evolved cortex would have developed (relatively speaking).

Just looking at the sheer number of galaxies in the universe, it seems less and less likely that this is the only planet in the entire universe where a civilization exists. On this topic, Professor Brian Cox is of the opinion that the civilizations are, quote, widely spaced. That we have 1 or 2 civilizations per Galaxy. Source via the Joe Rogan podcast.

To me, that sounds like a very lower level estimate. Because if each one of the galaxies have 100’s of billions of stars each, then I’d think that the probability is actually quite high that there are a lot of different planets that are just the right distance from their star. Next, enter Panspermia theory and if life has indeed been bouncing around. There should be a way to do back of the envelope calculations, in order to determine how life could indeed get seeded from one galaxy to another. But, as Professor Cox was indicated in the overall interview, geo-chemistry can indeed give rise to bio-chemistry. If I am paraphrasing accurately. The simpler building blocks of amino acids on earth, gave rise to more complex lifeforms. So, if this happened on earth, what is to say that the same chains did not come about on other habitats.

And so, for these reasons and more, I’d personally think that there is a higher degree of probability that each one of the galaxies is populated with more than a couple of different civilization. >Even if we go with the lower end estimate of 1 or 2 civilizations per Galaxy, that’s still 2 to 4 Trillion civilizations in this universe!

Next, since the laws of Physics appear to be constant across the Universe, hence most of the intelligent lifeforms would be discovering different facets of how reality is functioning. It could be that changes in the environment lead to different adaptations. Different physiology, different sense making organs and systems and neuronal architectures. Also, the habitat would have an effect on the beings from an evolutionary perspective. Contingent on when different sense-making structures were enabled, the different species would be in different stages of their evolutionary development. * Some species may still require 2 million years to develop specific parts of their neo-cortex and pre-frontal cortex. So they may be like we were prior to us becoming homo-sapiens. The adaptations and mutations have yet to occur. Language has yet to develop. * Some species may have developed much more advanced sense-making structures. They may be able to converse each other via rich telepathic sessions in an enlightened fashion. They could off-load complex experimentation to advanced simulation engines via thought alone. The results instantaneously beamed back to their individual and collective sense-making systems (Contingent on how the trust relationships have been setup). * Some species may have gone into deep cryo sleep. Leaving behind a cluster of automatons to take care of the machinery that is powering their support systems and the equivalent of what we categorize as virtual reality. Source * Other species may have figured out that it is much more efficient to compute at denser scales. This is in the domains of transcension hypothesis. If cognition can indeed be backed up and re-created in environments that are indistinguishable from reality. Then, those very realities can indeed be re-engineered on denser scales. Again, this is not a new or novel idea. But the inner spaces may indeed be teeming with lifeforms of all sorts. And we may have been tuning into an altogether different realm. * Maybe the bits are greener on the other side with much much better real-estate available in the many multi-verses. The majority of life in this universe has relocated a long while back. Leaving the equivalent of communications that can traverse the vast and widening distances in a relatively shorter time span. Maybe these signals are bouncing around, all throughout our universe. But we and potentially other civilizations have yet to develop the technology in order to be able to tap into this spectrum.

Next, I think there is also a time element to this. Yesterday, I made a brief blogpost about time. It’s a weird concept to even begin to grasp one’s mind around. I certainly do not understand relativity and so, I cannot claim that I understand even some of the intricacies of how time would exist and how it would flow in a relativistic sense.

That being said, if time can indeed dilate and slow down. Ideally if that was already occuring somewhere in the universe and/or conditions could be engineered whereby that would be the case, then that would be a pretty awesome and probably the ideal real estate in the universe to inhabit. Maybe that’s in the cauchy horizon region of a black hole. Maybe there are other parts of the universe, where time dilates and flows slowly.

The question remains. Where are our fellow aliens hiding? And why?