Wes Bodnar
Mrs. Mckeown
Honors English 10
9 December 2015
Extraterrestrial Life Really Does Exists Philosophers and astronomers alike have always been always asked one question, “Are we alone?” The existence of alien life has been a controversial topic since before the earliest civilizations. There have been countless hoaxes trying to prove the existence of aliens, but there are also a number of compelling reasons that support the existence of alien life. For example, there is a high probability they exist based on statistics, because life can travel from planet to planet, and there have been thousands of extraterrestrial sightings and encounters; it is highly probable that aliens exist. First off, aliens can be proven to be real by some simple probability and statistics. Our solar system is just one of tens of billions of solar systems in just the Milky Way Galaxy. There are so many possibilities of life in just one galaxy, and there are hundreds of billions of galaxy’s in the universe! Earth is just one of a seemingly endless amount of planets, so it’s hard to imagine that Earth has the only abundance of life in the entire known universe. Also, in the article, “The Likelihood of Extraterrestrial Life” it explains that all humans are made up of three main elements: hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Actually, all known life is mainly composed of these “ingredients”. This knowledge suggests that there are many extraterrestrials to be found across the cosmos because all life is made of the same things. This means that we are not a rare occurrence, but actually very common. On the other hand, if we were composed of say Silver, Barium, and Lithium then we would have reason to believe that we were special because we are composed of different elements than everything else. We are not, however, so we can assume we are commonplace among all the other life out there. Furthermore, it is explained why aliens should exist mathematically: Here’s another way to think about it: there is some probability p that a randomly selected planet will form life on it within a billion years. If p is sufficiently small, then there would be almost no chance of any life forming, including our own, and hence we should not exist. If p is sufficiently large, then life would exist almost everywhere in the universe. The only way that we should expect to be the one and only planet with life is if p is just right to produce about one planet with life over all the years and on all the planets that have ever existed. But we have no evidence whatsoever indicating that p should be perfectly balanced in this way, indicating that the chance of alien life is a good one. (Do Aliens Exist?)
In this excerpt it is easily explains why aliens theoretically should exist. It explains that since we don’t know if the universe has been perfectly balanced to contain only one planet with life, that there must be other planets with the same conditions as Earth. This means there must be other planets with life! Based on these theories and the massive size of our universe it is evident that aliens do exist, but these aren’t the only reasons why alien life can proved. Secondly, it can be proven that there is life other places besides Earth, because life can travel from planet to planet. There are many life forms on Earth that can survive in space such as Water Bears, and many forms of bacteria. This fact alone proves that bacteria from our planet could have gone into space millions maybe billions of years ago. Some may ask how life from a planet could even reach space, but that question has been answered! “During a major impact the material immediately around the impact is vaporized…Just beyond the ““automatically dead zone”” is a thin ring where material from the planet’s surface can be thrown into space smoothly.”(Do Aliens Exist?) This quote explains that when a meteor makes contact with a planet there is a thin layer that survives the blast, and some of that layer is launched into space. When a giant meteor hit Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs the material that survived and shot out into space could have impacted another planet and thus creating alien life! That is actually what panserpermists believe happened to our planet. This isn’t just an idea; however, it actually makes a lot of sense. As soon as Earth was capable of supporting life microorganisms were already all over Earth. With this in mind it is very likely that other planets have undergone the same process, and if we were struck by a meteor containing life then that life had to come from somewhere. We know of organisms that can survive in space, we know of life that existed before Earth, and it’s possible that organisms can safely enter space; all of this suggests that extraterrestrial life exists for a fact. Additionally, there have been countless UFO sightings that suggest that aliens must exist. Many skeptics of UFO sightings ask; if aliens were here why would they just observe us, and not make contact? For many years humans have been sending unmanned probes to other planets to just observe them. It takes a while for the information to reach Earth once observed, but we have learned a lot about our neighboring planets from these probes. If aliens are anything like us they would be doing the exact same thing. The UFO sightings could just be unmanned alien vehicles, and they haven’t made contact because their probes are so far away it takes years for the information to reach them. A great example of one of these probes is the Battle of Los Angeles. Radar operators in the city saw a UFO around a hundred miles from the city and watched as it made its way closer and closer. It suddenly disappeared from the radar, and a little while later an officer reported seeing a fleet of twenty five unidentified aircrafts, and many others saw the aircrafts minute later. The anti-air batteries saw the UFOs and, thinking it was the Japanese because it was WWII at the time, opened fire sending 1,400 rounds at the aircrafts. The UFOs weren’t damaged at all and flew away without doing anything. These aircrafts were definitely not made by humans because no aircraft could withstand that much firepower. Also, if it did happen to be the Japanese they would have carried out their mission and bombed the city. Another unexplainable instance is when a UFO was spotted in Kentucky. Many residents called the police a told them of an unidentified object hovering in midair. The police told the Air Force, and in a few minutes the airfield tower saw it too. They sent their best pilot, Thomas Mandell, Jr., who had won a prestigious award during WWII. He told the tower he had spotted it and was in pursuit. Eventually he said, “I’m closing in now to take a look.”(Kiger), and with that his plane crashed. The only explanation the Air Force offered was that he ran out of oxygen and died. So, an expert pilot, commended for his abilities during the war, was stupid enough to forget to glance at his oxygen gauge. That’s preposterous! Not only this, but many civilians and air force officials said they saw the UFO so the government couldn’t deny it happened. Finally, there are many skeptics out there who offer a counter-argument, but their argument can be easily shut down. They suggest that the speed of light is the highest possible speed to go, so it would take too long to reach Earth considering how large the distance between solar systems, and the distance between galaxies is. However, with an unmanned, self-controlled probe aliens could easily reach us. It may take a while, but that’s exactly what humans are doing. We are sending out unmanned vehicles powered by solar power to far away planets. So, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, because alien probes will eventually reach us. Also, many skeptics say that the only evidence we have on life is on Earth and that the conditions that a planet must have to maintain life are very rare. They are right! However, what they do not understand is that “rare” in the massive universe is not very rare. For example, there are tens of billions of solar systems in each galaxy, and there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. A person doesn’t need to do the math to understand just how many planets there are. So if a planet with life is one in a billion then there are still at least 1,000,000,000,000 planets that have life on them. In the article, “The Aliens Are not Among Us”, the article states that even if aliens were technologically advanced the chances of them coming to Earth when human’s inhabited it is slim to none. That even if they were 50,000 years ahead of us in technology they still wouldn’t find us. He even goes on to say that the 100,000 thousand years that humans inhabited Earth is no time at all compared to everything else. The author is contradicting himself. He says that the 100,000 years we spent here is no time at all compared to everything else, but then goes on to say how even if aliens were 50,000 years ahead of us technologically they still wouldn’t find us. He acts as if 100,000 years is nothing and 50,000 a lot. It doesn’t make sense, right? So if one hundred thousand years is a fraction of a second in time compared to the universe then we can assume that some aliens are millions of years ahead of us. Humans have accomplished a tremendous amount in a very short time period, so if other intelligent life had millions of years, then they should be able to locate us easily despite what the author says. The author and other skeptics have a weak counter-argument against the powerful argument that aliens do exist. There are a number of reasons why you could argue that extraterrestrial life exists, but these stand out the most; aliens have a very high probability of being real, living organisms can travel from planet to planet, and there have been a huge number of UFO sightings and encounters. Philosophers and Astronomers are often asked; “Are we alone?” Now they can answer that question, and the answer is yes. Many people believe that there is no possible way that aliens can exist, but once they’ve read the facts they’ll realize how they were very wrong. Sooner than later aliens will contact us or we will contact them and the world as we know it will be changed forever.

Annotated Bibliography
Berliner, Don. "It Is Likely That Some UFOs Are Extraterrestrial." Extraterrestrial Life. Ed. Sylvia Engdahl. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Contemporary Issues Companion. Rpt. from "Is There a Case for UFOs?" www.freedomofinfo.org. 2002. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.
In this article the author provides the facts on whether UFOs are extraterrestrial or not. He talks about whether or not certain UFO documentations should be considered real, and uses facts to prove it right or wrong. This helped me support my reasoning because it provided facts on encounters with UFOs that I used with my essay.
"Do Aliens Exist?" Ask a Mathematician / Ask a Physicist. WordPress, 30 Jan. 2010. Web. 20 Dec. 2015. <http://www.askamathematician.com/2010/01/q-do-aliens-exist/>.
In this article the authors argued whether or not aliens existed with factual evidence and probability. This source is reliable because they used facts and very little opinions. This helped me with my essay because I used the probability of aliens being real throughout my argument.
Graham, Robert W. "Extraterrestril Life in the Universe." NASA Technical Memorandum. Cleveland: Lewis Research Center, 1990. 1-12. nasa.gov. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19900013148.pdf>.
This article from NASA contained information on whether or not a high-ranking official believed aliens existed. It was reliable and valid because NASA is a government organization known for its involvement in astronomy. This helped me prove my point because having a NASA official made my argument more believable.
Johnson, Les. "The Aliens are Not Among Us." Baen. Baen, 2011. Web. 20 Dec. 2015. <http://www.baen.com/Aliens.asp>.
This article was about why someone believed aliens didn’t exist. It contained factual evidence supporting his reasoning and he used a lot of logic to make a point. However, I found it very easy to pick through his reasoning which made it easier to prove my side of the argument.
Kiger, Patrick J. "Top 10 Mass Sightings of UFOs." National Geographic Channel. National Geographic Channel, 11 June 2012. Web. 20 Dec. 2015. <http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/chasing-ufos/articles/top-10-mass-sightings-of-ufos/>.
This article explained what happened during ten famous UFO sightings and encounters. I believed it was reliable because National Geographic is known for being a trusty source. It helped me prove my point because I explained two of these events in my essay, and how they could have only been done by aliens.
Tyson, Neil deGrasse. "The Likelihood of Extraterrestrial Life." Extraterrestrial Life. Ed. Sylvia Engdahl. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Contemporary Issues Companion. Rpt. from "testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Committee on Science." 2001. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.
This article described how likely it was that aliens exist in the universe. IT was very reliable because he based his argument on cold hard facts. IT helped me prove my point because I used this information throughout my essay. The facts the author provided were very crucial in my essay.