I've put off writing this post for so long mainly because I didn't want to seem like a crazy internet conspiracy theorist as the authors of articles concerning such topics are or are labeled as. I've decided to finally pen this article from a skeptic's point of view excluding any and all impossibly crazy conspiracy theories.

Let's start, shall we?

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# Aliens - Fact or Fiction?

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lVMLTGtPUTc/maxresdefault.jpg

For years, literature, video games, and Hollywood have been entertaining us with Sci-Fi stories of a devastating Alien attack which acts as a catalyst for the inevitable apocalypse. The whole world unites and starts a war against the Aliens, and somehow wins. Sometimes the stories maybe about Aliens just start abducting some people here and there and a local detective tries to solve the case and ends up defeating the Aliens. Other times, the stories may be even more ridiculous. But aside from all the craziness and mystery, this Alien genre begs two questions: **One:** are aliens real? **Two:** if they are, why do they always come to the USA first? Both questions are equally hard to answer, so I'll try to answer the former.

While it's improbable that the Aliens as we have come to imagine them over the years - little green men with big black eyes - exist, micro-organisms may exist on planets capable of sustaining life. Titan and Europa, to name a few. 

**FUN FACT:** If we ever discover life on Europa and Titan, it is possible that it may have been originated on Earth. Earth may have seeded this life as a result of meteor collision into the Earth.

http://i.imgur.com/tYbfzIC.jpg
*This is the observable universe, with our local supercluster pointed out. A supercluster is composed of many groups/clusters of galaxies. So, our galaxy somewhere in this supercluster along with many other galaxies. And yet the supercluster is still no more than a mere dot. That means thousands, billions, trimbillions of other superclusters.  God, this is huge.*

Our Galaxy, The Milky Way, is estimated to contain about **100 billion** stars. Some studies also estimate that this number could be near to **400 billion**. There are about **100 billion** galaxies in the universe. If we take **100 billion** stars per galaxy as the average, then the total number of stars in the observable universe becomes **1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000** or **one billion trillion.** That's a lot of stars. The number of habitable planets is a bit harder to determine but some scientists trust that it may be close to a **100 billion**. If life developed so quickly on Earth on the cosmic calendar, the development and emergence of life on other planets in other galaxies seem very probable. The universe is a *pretty* big place, surely life must have sprouted up some place else too, right? Science requires observations, experimentations, results, evidence, and proof. Most importantly proof. And in this scenario, we are close to having none of that.

### UFOs

UFOs or Unidentified Flying Objects have been the subject of many documentaries and even movies due to their mysterious nature - though they often turn out to be nothing more than hoaxes - and close association with aliens. The UFO phenomenon has been pretty prevalent since the late 40s and early 50s. Although it had only reached what you would call a "mainstream" status by then, it has been recorded multiple times throughout history. Chinese astronomers witnessed Halley's Comet in the skies in 240 BC but since not many discoveries and breakthroughs had been made in the fields of technology and science, it may be possible that people then actually thought these sightings to be some sort of a religious omen. A sign from the Gods. When you think about it, the universe really acts in an amazing way.

Another fascinating sighting of a celestial phenomenon was in Nuremberg, Germany 1561. This case has always intrigued me but there could be many scientifically correct explanations for this. On the dawn of April 14, 1561, the residents of Nuremberg, Germany saw hundreds of odd-shaped flying objects in the sky which appeared to be engaged in some kind of cosmic battle. A large crash occurred right outside of the village after a large triangular shaped object appeared in the sky.

Here's the illustrated news notice from April 14, 1561.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Himmelserscheinung_%C3%BCber_N%C3%BCrnberg_vom_14._April_1561.jpg

This whole phenomenon might have been comets, meteors, or it might have been an atmospheric phenomenon known as sundogs or mock suns.

There have been numerous cases of alleged sightings in 1800s. Cases of claimed Alien abductions had an influx in the post-1950s. Some people attribute this influx to people thinking that they will earn fame easily while some other attribute this to psychological issues, traumas, and delusions.

Despite all the sightings, claimed abductions and disappearances, and "meetings" there is absolutely zero concrete proof that Aliens have ever visited us. There is no proof validating the existence of intelligent extra-terrestrial life somewhere out there. *Or what if there is and the government is covering it up? Oh god, where is my tinfoil hat...* [scrambles to find tinfoil hat].

http://www.desktopas.com/files/2013/06/Milky-Way-Galaxy-Wallpaper-1920X1080.jpg

The point is, that there is nothing there to even support the foundations of belief in intelligent extra-terrestrial life that has visited Earth. Sure, when you put it in the terms of the scale of the universe, then anything's possible. Universe is a ***pretty*** vast, amazing, and at times a *terrifying* place. While I do believe in the non-existence of Aliens, it is very possible that they may exist somewhere out there. After all, the universe is a very big place. Hell, we haven't even seen a real picture of our galaxy yet. The images you see on Google of our galaxy are the Artist's impression of what our galaxy is supposed to look like. So yeah. But right now, there is very little to support the claim of the existence of intelligent Aliens.