There simply must be aliens and other life forms in the universe.  I will not give up my sci-fi alien movies because scientists (after plummeting hundreds of millions of dollars into finding aliens) come up with… nothing… nada… zilch… space dust.  Besides, if human beings are the only inhabitants in this universe, we’re screwed.  Somebody has to come along and rescue us from ourselves (or give us the technology to rescue ourselves before we self-destruct).

I’m not the only one who feels this way.  Based on a cover-story published last week in Newsweek on the scientific search for other life in the universe,  Larry King (@kingsthings) takes us on a brief stroll through the (so far) lifeless universe with several scientists who are aching-in-their-bones to find other life in the universe (and one skeptic who thinks we’ve got plenty of problems to fix right here on good old planet earth).  I think they’re both right.

The panel includes:

• Dr. Seth Shostack – skeptic, author and Senior Astronomer at the SEIT Institute
• James Fox – professional UFO researcher and director of the new documentary on UFO sightings and research I Know What I Saw (premiering October 5th on History Channel)
• Nick Pope – former director of the British government’s UFO Project at the Ministry of Defense

While I’m all for searching for other life forms in the universe, I will say that the problem with this endeavor is our assumption that any other life in the universe will be similar to ours (even the single cell life) and that we’ll be able to detect it.  The scientists (obviously because they have no other choice) are also searching for life on planets that are substantively and atmospherically similar to Earth (obviously in the hopes of being able to retrieve that life and study it).

But life is complex and it just might exist in other forms in this very solar system locked in ice on Neptune or living in the most extreme circumstances on the gas-giant Jupiter.

There’s a strong possibility that if there is life more intelligent than human beings out there, that they likely don’t want to be discovered by us.  If I were an alien looking at this planet, I’m not so sure I’d be as worried about being annhialiated by its violent inhabitants as I would be about being made into a Hollywood summer blockbuster movie.

I’m also of the mind that the money we spend searching for other life in the universe can be better spent understanding our own right here on planet Earth.  Alas, that is human nature — if you can’t fix your own problems, find someone else and stick your nose in theirs.

Below is the interview with the scientists (a lively debate that King seems to enjoy a bit too much — he’s giddy throughout!).

Here is a description of James Fox’s new alien documentary I Know What I Saw (great title!).  Beneath the description is a great promo clip for the film.

“I KNOW WHAT I SAW, a documentary guaranteed to change the way we see the universe. Director, James Fox assembled the most credible UFO witnesses from around the world to testify at The National Press Club in Washington D.C.: Air Force Generals, astronauts, military and commercial pilots, government and FAA officials from seven countries tell stories that, as Governor Fife Symington from Arizona stated, “will challenge your reality”.

Their accounts reveal a behind-the-scenes U.S. operation whose policy is to confiscate and hoard substantiating evidence from close encounters to the extent that even Presidents have failed to get straight answers. I KNOW WHAT I SAW exposes reasons behind government secrecy from those involved at the highest level.”

Twitter tag: UFO aliens