# Are Aliens Visiting Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2020, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949 "2020-06-25T10:13:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/323 "2023-07-25T01:23:03Z")
Yes, indeed, that is real-life innovation. But the crap that comes out of alien believers’ mouths about the hidden secret tech the “government” has gotten from aliens is not real life. We’re in full agreement on this. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/324 "2023-07-25T14:45:33Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > That gives me an idea for a story too. > How about aliens find us so uninteresting, and so little threat to them, that their probes just come in a very overt way – all of humanity can be of no doubt we’ve been visited by aliens – but they just take a look around and fly away. We have no way to stop them, or know where they went, and they ignore our attempts at communications. > It would be bleak, but it’s plausible, and I don’t think it’s been done much in sci fi. I just want to take back the “bleak” part from this concept. Aliens visiting and disappearing would demonstrate that: 1. Interstellar travel and more is possible with technological progress 2. There’s at least one inhabited world to visit\* 3. At least one advanced species is nominally peaceful It would probably herald a golden age of scientific and engineering progress. \* self-nitpick: “world” here does not necessarily mean “planet”…there could be only one ETI, that just lives in space Also, while I am taking stuff back, a lot of my posts towards @Voyager read as very hostile. Sorry Voyager, I don’t know why I write like that. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/325 "2023-07-26T00:45:09Z")
We may find out tomorrow: > ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/326 "2023-07-26T03:00:36Z")
Does anyone have a clear idea as to why, all of a sudden, there’s so much UFO buzz? Is there in fact any reason to be more or less skeptical/believing today than, say, 5 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/327 "2023-07-26T05:44:09Z")
(with toungue firmly in cheek) If the internet has taught us nothing else, its that with increased technology comes increased trollishness. So I think that even if we have nothing else to offer advance civilization there is always the possibility of our being a new an different being to be an asshole to. Or in other words like Douglas Adams explained > Ford Prefect: Teasers are rich kids with nothing to do. They cruise around the galaxy looking for planets that no one’s made contact with and buzz them. > > Arthur Dent: Buzz them? > > Ford Prefect: Yeah. They find some isolated spot, land by some unsuspecting soul that no one’s ever going to believe and strut up and down in front of them, making beep-beep noises. Rather childish really. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/328 "2023-07-26T08:10:17Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Does anyone have a clear idea as to why, all of a sudden, there’s so much UFO buzz? Is there in fact any reason to be more or less skeptical/believing today than, say, 5 years ago? The garbage that the History Channel puts out is responsible in many ways. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/329 "2023-07-26T08:15:10Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > The garbage that the History Channel puts out is responsible in many ways. I mean, there’s definitely a very specific individual “whistleblower” who is testifying in some congressional hearing tomorrow. So it’s more than just general History Channel buzz. What’s a bit unclear to me is where he falls on the conman/overblown-misunderstood-claims/maybe-actually-knows-something-interesting scale. Certainly people on reddit are absolutely convinced that tomorrow is The Day in a way that I don’t think I’ve seen before… but maybe that’s just social media doing it’s misinformation clustering thing. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/330 "2023-07-26T08:31:19Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > The garbage that the History Channel puts out is responsible in many ways. heh it used to be the syfy channel until the ghosts became more popular… ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/331 "2023-07-26T09:09:42Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I mean, there’s definitely a very specific individual “whistleblower” who is testifying in some congressional hearing tomorrow. Yes, David Grusch, who has no first-hand testimony to give, but has plenty of second and third hand testimony, some of which he seems to have acquired from Travis Taylor from the History Channel. I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/332 "2023-07-26T15:19:50Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Yes, David Grusch, who has no first-hand testimony to give, but has plenty of second and third hand testimony, some of which he seems to have acquired from Travis Taylor from the History Channel. I rest my case. He is just Bob Lazar v2.0. No evidence, no proof, never really seen anything himself, but he just knows so much because so many people have told him things. People who are rightfully afraid of losing their jobs! Because maybe they shouldn’t be talking to this nut. All he really has is conspiracy gossip. And a budding career on the talk show/lecture circuit. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/333 "2023-07-26T16:51:49Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Yes, David Grusch… He’s today testified before Congress that the government have recovered non-human biological pilots from crashed craft. Why on Earth is this guy testifying before Congress? I watched a short video of him last month and it was clear within thirty seconds that he was a crackpot. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/334 "2023-07-26T17:14:56Z")
Does this guy seem credible to you? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kjLcIxB2jU0/maxresdefault.jpg "Whistleblower claims US government have been discovering spacecrafts for decades") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjLcIxB2jU0) ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/335 "2023-07-26T17:28:02Z")
The question isn’t whether Grusch is credible, it is whether his sources are credible. If he has been told a catalogue of rumours and third-hand accounts, we can’t blame him if they are not true. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/336 "2023-07-26T17:36:50Z")
We can blame him for believing the third-hand accounts. No-one has to believe everything they are told. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/337 "2023-07-26T17:48:23Z")
As I understand it, Grusch claims no first-hand knowledge of any UFO technology, sample recovery, sighting, or anything else - he’s just passing on what he’s heard others say. But that Telegraph video is certainly cut to make it sound like he’s stating things based on personal knowledge. Am I the only one bothered by this? I don’t know whether to blame him or the Telegraph. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/338 "2023-07-26T17:51:49Z")
Manny people told him and now he believes. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/339 "2023-07-26T17:51:51Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > that the government have recovered non-human biological pilots from crashed craft. That was among numerous claims in Phil Corso’s book about the supposed saucer crash near Roswell, NM. It’s a great read, but it’s too difficult to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/340 "2023-07-26T18:00:36Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > As I understand it, Grusch claims no first-hand knowledge of any UFO technology, sample recovery, sighting, or anything else - he’s just passing on what he’s heard others say. From the clips I’ve seen of his testimony today, he is not just neutrally relaying what other people have recounted to him - he is a believer. When he was asked about alien craft causing harm to humans, he said what he and his wife had witnessed was “very disturbing”. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/341 "2023-07-26T18:22:54Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I just want to take back the “bleak” part from this concept. > Aliens visiting and disappearing would demonstrate that: > > 1. Interstellar travel and more is possible with technological progress Reminds me of the post-apocalypse story “[Half the Battle](https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/Half_the_Battle)”. > Set in a post-[Apocalyptic](https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/Burning_(Half_the_Battle)) southwestern [United States](https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/United_States), over the course of five brief segments, the story follows the recovery of technology starting in the kingdom of [Canoga](https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/Canoga), and then rapidly traces [humanity](https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/Human)’s rediscovery of flight through the development of the [Messerschmitt](https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/Messerschmitt_(Half_the_Battle)) and the [space shuttle](https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/Space_Shuttle_(Half_the_Battle)). It ends with the launching of the [first starship](https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/Claud_(starship)), built based on the designs found in a long hidden book: implicitly, a _[Star Trek](https://turtledove.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek)_ guidebook, in keeping with the theme of _Stardate_ . The society re-invents technologies based on the remnants of books and other media, because just knowing that something is _possible_ gives them the motivation to try to do it themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949/342 "2023-07-26T18:32:17Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > Why on Earth is this guy testifying before Congress? I watched a short video of him last month and it was clear within thirty seconds that he was a crackpot. This guy is just the latest in a long line of “whistleblowers” who do nothing more than repeat “I know a guy who knows a guy” stories. His stories, as others have mentioned, are really no different than what we’ve heard before this. What makes this different is that, now, the GOP is holding power, and conspiracy theories have become a mainstay of a whole lot of their supporters. So they’re pandering to their base by acting like these CTs have some merit. If the GOP politicians were to try to tell their supporters that this shit isn’t real, they’d get their faces eaten by their own leopards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-aliens-visiting-earth/912949.md?page=18)