I didn’t pay any attention to the congressional hearing on UFOs, but I learned about it from watching the news. I also learned that UFOs aren’t called that anymore. Unidentified Flying Objects are now known as UAPs: Unidentified Aerial (or Anomalous) Phenomena. Still…

I’m one of those who has always believed in the existence of life on other planets. The way I see it, it would be a waste of this vast universe if our planet was the only inhabited one.

The issue of whether there is – or could be – life on other planets is not a new one. Scientists, scholars, and regular folks have been fascinated by the question since ancient times. So have science fiction writers, who have given us visitors from outer space with intentions ranging from innocent or accidental to evil and aggressive.

My all-time favorite outer-space movie is the 1951 classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still, in which we earthlings are warned that our fighting with each other –  especially in the age of atomic bombs – would have dire consequences if we didn’t stop. Independence Day is another favorite, although the aliens in that movie were less accommodating, as their goal was to devour all our natural resources before moving on to their next target planet.

The TV show, Twilight Zone, included aliens in a handful of episodes. Probably the most famous was “To Serve Man,” in which the book that supposedly outlined how the aliens were going to solve our global problems turned out to be a cookbook. Unfortunately, this was discovered too late for the earthlings who were already boarding the aliens’ spaceship for a trip to their home planet.

A number of TV shows featuring outer-space visitors were sit-coms, such as Mork and Mindy, ALF, Third Rock from the Sun, and My Favorite Martian. And then there’s The X-Files, which explored numerous mysteries surrounding aliens, always reminding us that “the truth is out there.”

In addition to believing there is life on other planets, I believe we have been visited – or at least observed – by extraterrestrial beings. There are too many reports, by pilots, military personnel, and others, that can’t be explained any other way.

Just thinking about all of this could keep me awake at night, worrying about visits from little green men. But it won’t. Instead, I’ll take comfort in the thought that any outer-space visitors looking for intelligent life on other planets would likely take one look at ours, do a U-turn, and go back to wherever they came from.

August 1, 2023
©Betty Liedtke, 2023

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