UFOs - Leslie Kean [109]
How do we handle the existence of UFOs? The evidence shows that unexplained phenomena are occurring, and this leads many of us to believe in the presence of alien spacecraft visiting planet Earth. However, drawing conclusions about what these things are is dangerous, since we do not have enough knowledge to do that. I believe science has much more work to do in order to identify and explain the phenomenon. We need astronomers, meteorologists, aviation experts, astrophysicists, and many other scientists, because such an investigation must be jointly addressed by many specialists. In fact, this effort must engage the whole nation. The synergistic effect of knowledge is undeniable.
I’m a man devoted to science, a man with a scientific mind. If you present the hypothesis that extraterrestrials may be here and may be doing things that we can’t understand, your idea runs contrary to conventional scientific reasoning. As far as we know, our own solar system does not contain life on any planet except Earth.
I’m basing my ideas on the knowledge we have today, achieved by science as it currently understands the universe. This is the caveat to be considered. If we assume only current knowledge, I am forced to reject every possibility of anyone coming from outer space to Earth. And it gets more complex if we go further, because Alpha Centauri, the nearest star, does not seem to have a planetary system. We move then to the portion of the universe astronomers call the “inhabitable zone,” which is many light-years from Earth.
However, I would never assert that no other civilization could have advanced a million years ahead of us somewhere else. I humbly insist, therefore, that our current knowledge must be inherently insufficient for comprehending everything. After learning about UFOs while in the military, I became clear—in fact, certain—about the high level of ignorance we have regarding the universe, given the current stage of human scientific development. The UFO phenomenon has demonstrated that we have a lot more to learn about physics and other scientific areas. We don’t yet have the final word within science, and, eventually, we will be able to understand what is now unknown.
Look at what happened over the mere last hundred years, with discoveries ranging from penicillin to the airplane. We humans left the ground for the first time in an airplane nearly 100 years ago and within only one century were able to reach the moon. In astronomic terms a hundred years is nothing, not even dust. Obviously, an advanced people would not use rocket engines like our spacecraft sent into space. If in one century and with our limited capacity we could achieve this, think about it: Where will we be a hundred or a thousand years from now?
I don’t have a problem with philosophy entering into this discussion in attempting to address the issues we haven’t been able to solve: who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. Since Aristotle, human beings have been asking these same questions and we still don’t know the answers. The scientific investigation of the UFO phenomenon in combination with other subjects within science and philosophy might be a way to move toward those answers.
No institution has the right to close the door on the discussion of any matters, be they scientific, political, social, or religious—and that includes the study of unidentified flying objects, which I consider to be within the realm of science. I believe that not only Brazil, but also all socially and technologically developed countries, should set up governmental agencies to address this matter. The United States should certainly lead the way, since that country is and will remain the planet’s greatest technological power, with a great ability to aggregate knowledge from other countries. And if it should be accepted that something is coming here from space, I think the United Nations should be responsible rather than leaving that task in the hands of individual countries.