Aliens and Where to Find Them

 

Are there aliens?  Do they believe in God?  To be clear, we are talking about beings, living or otherwise, that come from a planet other than Earth (green men, Vulcans, bovine abductors... would count). Let's discuss if aliens are real from the point of view of real science and faith-based religion.  And if they are real... where are they?

The Science

When pondering the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, in 1961 Dr. Frank Drake, an American astrophysicist and astrobiologist, wrote down an equation that would calculate the likelihood of such a civilization.  The equation is not profound, but is simply the product of several probabilities that do the calculation in the most simple manner possible [1].

The Drake Equation

The number of civilizations in our galaxy are a series of probabilities (life supporting planets, intelligent life forms, etc.) multiplied by the number of stars.  We know some of the first numbers very well - for example it is now assumed that there is at least one planet for every star in our galaxy.  The last numbers are not well known as we only have ourselves for an example [2].  

The results of the Drake equation vary from very low (we are alone) to very high (there are probably alien civilizations on Mars), but reasonable estimates give the number of alien civilizations in the Milky Way at 300 to 1000.  Other calculation show that the likelihood of us being alone in the galaxy is very small [3]. 

That being said, there is much criticism of the idea of aliens.  Claims of UFOs and unsubstantiated visitations have made the whole idea distasteful to the modern scientist.  So much lack of evidence and obvious hoax makes the believer in aliens seem like their grasp of reality is a bit tenuous.

The Religion

“And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.” -Moses 1:33

 

Most sacred writings and inspired doctrine are very Earth-centric and do not discuss the greater universe and the possibility of alien lifeforms.  However, there are a few references to God creating the heavens.  In Hebrew cosmology, everything that was visible in the sky was attached to the firmament and considered part of the "heavens".  This included stars, a few galaxies, planets, the moon, and the sun.  Therefore, heavens referred to the known universe at that time, and it is probably safe to extend to the modern known universe of hundreds of billions of galaxies.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” -Genesis 2:1

 

Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it. -Isaiah 42:5

 

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” -John 1:3

 

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:” -Colossians 1:16

 

“Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.” -Mosiah 4:9

 

There are modern scriptures that mention a plurality of worlds, which is safe to interpret as multiple "earths".

 

“But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.” -Moses 1:35

 

“And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still;” -Moses 7:30:

 

“The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him.” -DC 93:10

 

Note the scripture in Hebrews 11:3, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear," cannot reliably be attributed to the plurality of earths.  According to Strong's Concordance, "aion", the Greek word for worlds means "age" or "perpetuity" and by implication is translated "worlds".

There is one scripture that perhaps shines through as mentioning aliens.  It describes begotten children of God as inhabiting multiple worlds.

“That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” -DC 76:24

  

From this, we accept the possibility of other inhabited worlds.  We need to point out that God Himself and all the other angels physically dwell outside our planet.  Finally, we also accept that spiritual children of God exist on other planets, or different dimensions of this telestial orb.

The Answer

If both science and religion say that there are aliens, then where are they?  

Let us do a quick calculation.  If there are say 1000 advanced alien civilizations in the Milky Way how far away does that put the nearest one?  If there are 200 billion stars, then every 200 million stars has aliens.  This puts the average distance between them as 14 thousand stars away or about 1500 light years away.  Our current technology "might" be able to detect an Earth-like civilization if it were only a couple of stars away, but there is little to no chance of detecting our nearest neighbors unless they do something crazy like start blowing up stars as a galaxy-wide ad campaign.

The inverse of this calculation is that there could easily be over 300 thousand inhabited planets in the Milky Way and we would have no way of knowing.

The galaxy is very old, so some scientists wonder why alien civilizations have not already conquered everything.  This may be evidence that we are alone, because we have not been approached by the Galactic Federation?  Older civilizations would surely spread and eventually encompass huge amounts of stars.  

The Milky Way has many stars much older than our Sun, and so there should be plenty of time for conquering the galaxy.  Since it does not seem that is the case, then there may be a restriction on unfettered growth.  Perhaps having multiple civilizations has greatly restricted growth--galactic war?

But for argument's sake, say that the nearest hostile civilization detected radio waves from Earth and immediately sent a fleet to enslave us.  Physics says that it would have taken 1500 years for them to detect our signals, and it would take at least 3000 years for their fleet to arrive.  So it would only be a concern for Earthlings in the year 6500 at the earliest.  If the laws of modern physics hold, there is just no way for early civilizations to interact. 

So, aliens? -- Yes!  Close encounters of the 3rd kind? -- No, not unless we are incredibly unlucky (lucky).

[1] W(h)ither the Drake equation? Cambridge University Press

[2] New study estimates the odds of life and intelligence emerging beyond our planet. Phys.org

[3] Rochester Review, March–April 2016, Vol. 78, No. 4

[4] How Many Stars in the Milky Way.  Blueshift, nasa.gov