Ufos – do we have anything of interest to say?

Recent sighting of UFOs over Zurich, reminds me that I have now been seeing UFO reports in the media for over 50 years.  During this time sighted UFOs have been described as either cigar shapes or discs, consistent with any photographs taken.

If any of these UFOs are from another planet, whether our galaxy or elsewhere, it seems improbable that they would need to make multiple visits.  If they are one time visits from different planets, it seems improbable that the craft would look the same.

It is also difficult to think of a convincing reason why the craft would need to be manned (‘lifed’?), by ‘aliens’ – who some claim to have seen. We don’t send manned exploratory vehicles into deep space, and a technically advanced planet would presumably have no need to send along inhabitants either.

But if we are not alone in the Universe, where is everybody?

 I am persuaded by the statistical argument of the probability of other life forms on other planets in the Universe, but I am unable to imagine why if other forms of life exist, and were ‘intelligent’, they would need to communicate with us.  But many people insist that if there were other intelligent life in the Universe, it would have communicated with us by now, or at least we would have detected radio waves recognisably generated by life forms.

Really?  On Earth we have only had the capacity to transmit radio waves for a little over 100 years.  At some point in the future we may be communicating telepathically, or in some inconceivable way (remember radio communication would have seemed inconceivable in 1809) way which does not rely upon radio waves, and so the technology ‘window’ during which intelligence might use radio waves might be relatively short lived.

Suppose we had the capability to travel back in time, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 years on our own planet, we would probably do so, but why we would want to communicate with anybody we found  – what would be the point? 

Another difficulty I have is that whereas I can relate to the statistical argument for life elsewhere, I am in difficulty in believing that it would have to be intelligent life.  I see no reason why life here could not have continued for an indefinite further number of millennia, without intelligent life evolving from other life forms.

The assumption that communication is even possible between different species is also taking much for granted. As technologically advanced as we suppose we are, we cannot understand what dogs and chimpanzees are saying to each other, so why do we suppose that we could be understood by, or understand an alien intelligence?

If we can’t find a good enough reason to learn to talk to mice, for example, why should anyone from another galaxy have reason to communicate with us?