Are We alone.

Essay by polish00A+, December 2003

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Speculation on whether we are the only form of intelligent life in the universe is as old as philosophy itself. For centuries, humanity has looked at the sky with its billions and billions of stars and wondered if it is possible that ours is the only one that has a planet capable of supporting life. Why, and are we so special? Why, and is the Earth unique? Are we really alone in the universe? Many philosophers and scientists have published several articles and books on this subject and on this essay I will try to develop a precise analysis of some of them in order to help us form an opinion on which side we should be on.

Despite the fact that this matter has been discussed for many centuries, it has not been of popular interest for the past few. We can say that "intelligent life on other planets" is a seasonal subject; it comes and goes from time to time.

In the late 80s and early 90s, some Top Secret presidential documents (known as MJ-12 documents) were revealed and this brought the discussion back to its peak. Another fact that used to keep the debate forgotten was that there was no proof that other planets, besides the ones in our Solar system, existed. Scientists tried to explain this fact by saying that the brightness of far away stars overwhelmed the reflected light of its surrounding planets keeping us from seeing them. They could not prove this theory, so opponents, such as religious fundamentalists and skeptical scientists, would say that this was just an excuse for not finding planets.

Contrary to popular beliefs, there are many scientists that believe that Earth is the ONLY planet capable of supporting life. Robert Naeye, the associate editor for Astronomy, a magazine directed...