Once again there has lapsed a significant amount of time between my last submission and this current one, but please understand that this takes a great deal of study that is carved out of the minimal amount of time left in my day-to-day life after work, family, etc. I am blessed by my commitments to such a wide variety of pleasantries, but I am also exhausted by them. My hope is that you will enjoy my musings and take advantage of the times in between them to ponder them to their fullest extent. I am also always open to questions and discussions, to please do not hesitate to inquire!

Moving forward, this entry is slated to focus on something I have not yet covered but which interests me deeply, as is usual. Though it may ultimately first strike you as the reflections of a somewhat eccentric person, I implore you to at least give my presentation a listen before reaching your ultimate conclusions. I argue this time that not only do aliens exist (yes, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, you can have this one), but that they interact with us currently, AND that this doesn’t not interfere with the belief in a creative force and His personal relationship with us.

Yes, aliens exist, in a myriad of different forms, and we are anything but alone in the universe. Is this an unsettling thought? It probably should be. Arthur C. Clarke penned it most aptly when he stated regarding our circumstances that “two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Think about it for a good few minutes and answer me honestly: which of these possibilities is more troubling to you? As a species we are prepared for neither, so if nothing else the next question should be what is most likely, followed by how should we prepare accordingly?

Not so unique

Let us consider the Milky Way and it’s buffet of billions of planets that offer the possibility of supporting life as we know it. Every year we discover that more and more nearby planets occupy that habitable zone of their stars and present the real potential of supporting earth-like life. The newest is one that is only four light years away, orbiting the smallest of the Alpha Centauri system, Proxima Centauri. The hope is that this newly discovered system will present us with dramatic new discoveries and wonderful insights into our galaxy, but the odds are that we will not learn much that we did not already know. Even if we determine that a planet in a nearby galaxy can support us, what then? We are in no position to present ourselves as cosmic allies in terms of technological capabilities. We find ourselves faced once again with a problem we must honestly approach and consider.

There is a fascinating prospect known as the Fermi Paradox that proposes a nearly infinite number of civilizations should have, by now, already had the opportunity to develop into a civilization that could communicate with ours, and yet as far as we know, they haven’t. I will explore some of the very real reasons why other civilizations might just not bother with us at this point later on, but just be prepared for the fact that we may just not be that important in the grand scheme of things overall.

Aliens in the Bible?

First I would like to address things from a Biblical perspective and answer some questions that I myself have investigated about this subject. Most of you familiar with the Bible would be hard-pressed to cite a scripture that references the existence of alien beings or crafts, but it really doesn’t take too much digging to find anomalous passages that seem to allude to something otherworldly. One must only consider the fact that many translations we currently use were analyzed and deciphered in an era well before the advent of any of our current technology, and they were simply interpreted through the understandings of the time. When reexamined through the lens of our current understanding, however, things can, and do, take a much different shape.

Erich Von Daniken, a respected researcher and author in several fields of fringe science, elucidates on several topics that suggest the presence of alien influence at different times in history in this video (forewarning, it is a long video but well worth the watch). The portion of note is that in reference to the Biblical book of Ezekiel, in which the namesake prophet expounds on some fantastic “visions” he has experienced, which seem to depict interactions with angelic beings and with God Himself. Upon closer examination of the original intentions of the writings before translation, however, a much different story is presented. I urge you to view the video I have linked above to receive the full picture, as Mr. Von Daniken paints a very clear and logical picture of how Ezekiel’s interactions were, in fact, with alien visitors with advanced technological craft, not divine beings. It is important to note, however, that none of what is presented contradicts the existence of God or any of the other tenants put forth in the Bible, it only demonstrates that there is evidence of an extraterrestrial interaction recorded in the Holy Scriptures, preserved for generations until a time would come that we could fully understand its meaning and implication.

This brings me to an important point that I do not wish to gloss over; many skeptics of religious faith will question why, if beings not of this earth do exist, were we not informed about them in the Bible? There are two sensible answers here, both of which I believe are valid. One is that we do indeed have evidence of such beings in texts such as Ezekiel, as well as more in other apocryphal books like the book of Enoch, also referenced in the video above. We were simply not intended to have fully comprehended the impact of the details presented in these texts until the appropriate time. This leads me to number two: considering that the Bible is the Living Word of God given through men, it would make perfect sense that God would not burden us with the knowledge of life outside our own planet until we are ready. We certainly weren’t ready many centuries ago, and many of us are still unprepared to accept such a revelation now. God knew that we had more than enough to focus on here on Earth, developing ourselves and our relationship with Him, before we would be ready to look out to the stars for new discoveries. Considering the state of current technology and the new developments and discoveries we are making every day, it would seem that perhaps we are now nearing that point of being ready for the next major revelation; we are not God’s sole creation, and we have so, so much left to learn.

The Limits of Civilization

Are we really ready, though? I referenced earlier that we, as we are now, are not prepared to enter the galactic playing field, and here is a small demonstration of why. Based on a theoretical analysis of the development of planetary civilizations developed in 1964 by the Russian astrophysicist Nikolai Kardashev, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku has proposed that the next 100 years will be what determines our ultimate fate in the universe. The Kardashev Scale of rankings 0 through 5 postulates that over the course of many millennia, intelligent life can and hopefully will progress through a measurable scale of development. You can read the details of the full scale at the site I have linked, but the gist of what you need to know is that we are currently a type ZERO civilization, and are at best within 100-200 years of reaching the next level. This means that we have yet to master our own planet, yet alone fully harness the energy of our nearby star, the Sun. Reaching type one would be a tremendous breakthrough for the human race, because it would mean overcoming the petty issues we focus so keenly on these days, and extending our perspective to what will truly be necessary for the survival of the human race. Only once we achieve this will we have the potential for even greater things, including exploring the universe in ways only dreamed of in science fiction as of yet.

As we currently stand, though, there is a conceivable reason why we feel so isolated and alone in the universe. Considering the endless wealth of potentially habitable heavenly bodies that we have previously discussed, the odds for the development of a type zero civilization, the state we currently occupy, are exceedingly high, and we are a rather unremarkable commodity. If there were other higher level civilizations out there with the capability of communicating with us, the odds are significant that they would not bother, save for mere observation, in the same way that we might observe an ant hill. From the outsider’s perspective, the odds are likely that we will destroy ourselves before ever making that all-important leap to type one, so we do not rank very profoundly as a priority. As highly as we might think of ourselves, this is the reality of where we stand in the universe, and it should be significantly humbling. God can certainly still love us, but in this scenario He is holding out hope that we will utilize our free will to eventually correct our ways and join the rest of His creation.

Other Issues

I am well aware than some reading this may not even be willing to accept most of what I’ve presented, arguing instead that perhaps alien visitations and other phenomena are merely manifestations of demonic influence. I do not dismiss this, and in some cases, I can see the parallels and connections drawn to reach this conclusion. The main concern is that we might be dismissing something very real under a false pretense, so further scrutiny is prudent. Some others may suggest that unidentified aircraft are simply evidence of the government developing secret technologies. While the latter suggestion is actually highly reasonable, and even likely in some cases, it does not account for all of the strangeness experienced by normal people of entirely sound mind and rational judgement. Some simple, unbiased research on the internet or in your local library can yield some startling information that contradicts any and all of the common dismissals for such misunderstood phenomena. Once again, I apologetically implore you to watch more lengthy documentary footage that can relate such information better than I in this format. One such resource is the records of Dr Roger Leir M.D., who over the course of his career removed numerous anomalous implants that had absolutely zero scientific explanation. I of course concede that information like this is still not definitive proof (otherwise articles like this would not really be necessary), but it is cause to pause and consider that it is possible, nay, probable, that WE DO NOT YET UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING.

Conclusion

I know I cannot prove to you that aliens exist and/or that we are not alone in the universe. As always I just hope that you will receive the information I have presented, digest it with an open mind, and maybe be willing to accept that this is not yet an open and shut case. As humans, we are SO restricted by our opinions, our assumptions, our biases, that the odds of us really being able to preserve the human race beyond our myriad conflicts are infinitesimally small. I only hope that we can keep remembering the words of Carl Sagan in our minds: “The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” Let us not waste the precious small bit of space we have been gifted.