Alien Intrusion Page 13
• The solar system’s position in the galaxy
The solar system is located about two-thirds of the way from the center of the Milky Way. If it were closer to the center, where there is a concentration of other stars known as the galactic bulge, we would be overpowered by their brightness, and nothing else in the universe would be observable. If we were too close to the outer edge of the galaxy, the night sky would be too dark.
• Perfect daylight
Our sun does not oscillate significantly in size the way many other stars appear to do. This would make conditions unlivable on the earth. The sun provides just the right amount of brightness to the earth and it is the perfect color (its wavelengths) for the job. It has a yellow-white color, unlike many other stars of differing colors. The peak intensity of its light is in the infrared spectrum, which provides warmth to all inhabitants of Earth.
• The earth spins at the correct speed
The spin of the earth is ideal for producing day and night. Longer days would cause a greater warming-up effect and, conversely, longer nights — more cold. A faster rate of spin would produce constant violent weather conditions.
• The right tilt
The axis of the earth is tilted to an angle of 23.5 degrees. This tilt allows the northern hemisphere to receive more sun from April to September, and the southern hemisphere from October to March, thus spreading the sun’s warmth over a greater part of the globe than if there were no tilt. This seasonal change is absolutely vital for triggering the blossoming of plants and fruits, and to the courtship of some creatures. If the tilt were any greater, the ice caps would melt in summer and flood the landmasses. Any less tilt and the seasons would be less marked due to the reduced variation in temperatures.
• Perfect distance from the sun
If we were 10 percent closer to the sun, the earth would have furnace-like temperatures, and 10 percent farther away would produce icy deserts. Also, the oceans would boil off or freeze solid respectively, so there could be no life as we know it.
• Correct orbit of the earth
The orbit of the earth only varies slightly in its distance from the sun, causing relatively small variations in temperature. A more elliptical orbit (as some other planets have) would be devastating for life on Earth.
• The right size
We are aware of the effects of reduced or increased gravity on the other planets in our solar system. There is either too much or too little. The earth is just the right size for its inhabitants. Because of this, water remains in a liquid state. Lesser gravity and the water would be lost to space due to the greater evaporation of cold water caused by lower atmospheric pressure.
• The water cycle
Water covers 70 percent of the earth, via its oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams. This arrangement (evaporation from oceans to form clouds that eventually cause rain to fall on the land) is unique within our solar system, and provides a convenient supply of fresh water for the earth’s life forms.
• Right construction
Earth offers a vast supply of resources, such as wood, metals, animals, plants, and a host of others that are useful for mankind. In addition, Earth has the right conditions to permit the formation and maintenance of the ozone layer in the atmosphere to protect us. It has a magnetic field which helps deflect harmful radiation from the sun. The magnetic field also aids navigation for man and beast. Our atmosphere is composed of just the right gases, unlike some of the noxious combinations found elsewhere in our solar system.[52]
Who knows?
More and more discoveries suggest design, intelligence, and purpose in this amazing universe. As we discover more of these truths, though, we have a paradox because another mystery only increases — that is, the UFO phenomenon. Why is it that, when the search of space is decreasing the likelihood of extraterrestrial visitors, the circumstantial evidence for UFO sightings and alien abductions is increasing? Could Jacques Vallée be right? Are these creatures from another reality?
In another context, astronomer and author Don DeYoung says:
It has even been proposed [by those seeking to escape the implications of a universe designed for human beings] that there really is an infinite number of universes [EDH], each with a completely different set of physical properties. According to such thinking, our particular universe just happens to have conditions suitable for human life, and that is why we are here to enjoy it! Of course, there is no way to detect any “other” universes or comprehend their underlying principles.[53]
DeYoung is right: there is no way to scientifically test such things, including Mack and Vallée’s “other realities.” So if the phenomenon keeps occurring, then perhaps there is some supernatural element beyond the reality that we normally experience. But if we can’t test it, and we ourselves can’t know, who would know?
The Bible seems to have insight in this regard and is also the focus of much UFO speculation. This is not just my opinion. If you read any UFO literature, the issue of how ancient man could have known so much about the universe will very likely appear on the table for discussion. Besides being a religious book, it is the only such ancient book that has stood up to scientific scrutiny (once you understand the limits of science in really testing the past).
The Bible’s knowledge of the universe, and prediction of future events, suggests an interaction with intelligence or forces outside of, but interacting with, our reality. If indeed there were a creator or creators, surely they would not have left us to our own devices. Wouldn’t they, or he, or it, want to be known by their created beings? If they do, then almost as surely they would have given us some indication of other dimensions, or other realities, if such things exist. To know how and why any extraterrestrial life may have arisen, and even the reason why we exist, we eventually have to go back to the beginning. All parties, regardless of their philosophical assumptions, realize that understanding what happened in the past is the key to the present, and perhaps the future.
The only physical evidence we have is in the present. In this chapter, we have looked at the present-day evidence for the origin of the galaxies, stars, and life on other planets. In the next chapter we shall look at evidence for the origin of life on Earth. If we can find the creator, whether it is evolution, or a group of “supernatural” aliens, or a supernatural “god,” we should be better placed to discover the truth about the origin of all life, as well as about any other realities or dimensions. So how did life on Earth come about?
Endnotes
[1]“Aliens ‘Absolutely’ Exist, SETI Astronomer Believes,”
[2]Ibid.
[3]“Life on Mars Is a Siren Song in the Human Drive to Know,” Australian (Features), January 9, 2004, p. 11.
[4]“The ET Quandary,” Canadian National Post, December 8, 2003, p. A13.
[5]“Exploring Mind, Memory, and the Psychology of Belief,”
[6]Don Batten, David Catchpoole, Carl Wieland, and Jonathan Sarfati, The Creation Answers Book (Brisbane, Australia: Creation Book Publishers, 2008), p. 17.
[7]Jonathan Sarfati, Refuting Evolution (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2002), p. 23.
[8]“Guth’s Grand Guess,” Discover, vol. 23, p. 35, April 2002.
[9]Donald B. DeYoung, Astronomy and the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1992), p. 38–41.
[10]Stuart Burgess, He Made the Stars Also (Epsom, UK: Day One Publications, 2001), p. 36.
[11]Russell Humphreys, Starlight and Time (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1994), p. 14–17.
[12]Latin, meaning “at first view.”
[13]Edwin Hubble, The Observational Approach to Cosmology (Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1937), p. 50, 51, 59.
[14]W.Wayt Gibbs, Provile: George F.R. Eelis: Thinking Socially, Acting Universally. Scientific American 273(4):28, 29.
[15]Carl Saga
n, editor, Communication with Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1973), p. 46, cited in Clifford Wilson and John Weldon, Close Encounter: A Better Explanation (San Diego, CA: Master Books, 1978), p. 322.
[16]P. W. Atkins, The Creation (Oxford, UK: Freeman, 1981), p. 3–8, cited in Burgess, He Made the Stars Also.
[17]Burgess, He Made the Stars Also, p. 41.
[18]Sarfati, Refuting Compromise, p. 154–155.
[19]Robert Oldershaw, “What’s Wrong with the New Physics?” New Scientist, p. 56–59, December 22/29, 1990, cited in Burgess, He Made the Stars Also, p. 42–44.
[20]Ibid.
[21]Ronald D. Story, editor, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, in an article by Thomas Bullard (London: Constable & Robinson, 2002), p. 397.
[22]Burgess, He Made the Stars Also, p. 115.
[23]Ancient Gullies Suggest Key Ingredient for Life,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 8, 1997.
[24]R.L. Dione, God Drives a Flying Saucer (New York: Bantam Books, 1973), cited in Wilson and Weldon, Close Encounters: A Better Explanation, p. 325–326.
[25]Ibid.
[26]James Mullaney, Science Digest, July 1977, cited in Wilson and Weldon, Close Encounters: A Better Explanation, p. 59.
[27]“Ankle-deep on Mars,”
[28]Paul Davies (of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology in Sydney), “It’s True, Men Really Are from Mars. And So Are Women, Thanks to an Invasion by Red Planet Microbes,” Guardian, October 30, 2002, p. 22.
[29]AWOL is a military term meaning “absent without leave.”
[30]“NASA Announces Evidence for Water on Mars,”
[31]Story, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, in an article by Thomas Bullard p. 400.
[32]“Life on Mars?”
[33]Creation 24 (4), p. 4–5.
[34]“Conclusive Evidence for Life from Mars? Remember Last Time!”
[35]Ibid.
[36]“Bradenton Herald,”
[37]Story, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, in an article by Gary P. Posner, p. 221–223.
[38]Ibid.
[39]Ibid.
[40]Story, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, in an article by Frank Stranges, p. 680–681.
[41]DeYoung, Astronomy and the Bible, p. 38–41.
[42]“From Intuition to Discovery,”
[43]Wayne R. Spencer, “The Existence and Origin of Extrasolar Planets,” TJ (now called Journal of Creation), 15 (1): 17–25.
[44]“Hubble Examines the Closest Known Extrasolar Planet,”
[45]Burgess, He Made the Stars Also, p. 50–61.
[46]Ibid.
[47]Ibid., p. 32–33.
[48]“Neo” because although Copernicus disproved geocentrism, he himself did not arrive at the conclusion that we are “nowhere special.”
[49]“Our Galaxy — at the Center of the Universe after All!”
[50]“A new age of quantum madness,”
[51]DeYoung, Astronomy and the Bible, p. 123.
[52]Burgess, He Made the Stars Also, p. 62–78 (majority of examples).
[53]DeYoung, Astronomy and the Bible, p. 123.
4
Did Aliens Create Life on Earth?
Simple cells — really?
If life evolved on the earth, it would be reasonable to presume that life evolved elsewhere in the universe as well. Some leading scientists take this idea further. They suggest that, since such ET beings may be older or more evolved than we are, and therefore more advanced and intelligent, they could have created life on the earth — perhaps even just humans — or at least seeded the planet to kick-start evolution.
The standard theory of biological evolution suggests that non-living chemicals formed into living organisms on the earth about three billion years ago (a theory called “abiogenesis”). Most people picture the first living organisms as some sort of simple, or primitive, cells that later became more complex. But “simple” is a misnomer because there is actually no such thing as a simple cell. Even the “simplest” forms of life that we know — bacteria — are enormously complex (viruses are not alive, they need the machinery of living cells). And when you think about it, any molecular machine that is able to make functional copies of itself would need to be extremely complex.
In the early 1800s, the notion of “simple cells” was easy to believe because scientists of the day had no idea about the complexity of the cell’s contents or of the information contained in the DNA molecules that guides the development of even the tiniest living organism. At the time, the prevailing theory of origins — “spontaneous generation” — said that life could arise from non-living material. People believed that worms, flies, or even mice simply sprang forth from decaying meat, grain, or other materials. Francesco Redi first demonstrated that flies do not arise from mere chemicals but from the eggs that other flies lay on meat. Redi, and later on, Louis Pasteur, demonstrated what later became known as the law of biogeneses — life comes only from life. Both of these men were Christians who believed all life came from an intelligent designer — the supernatural God of the Bible. Their research sought to demonstrate their beliefs.
We now know that every single living cell is so complex that it is virtually beyond our ability to describe it. We could, for example, compare it with a miniature city but the comparison would be inadequate because cities cannot reproduce themselves as cells can. However, the “city” is still a useful analogy. The cell’s tiny factories constantly retrieve, process, and store food, while highly efficient power plants burn it, producing (and storing) energy without overheating the delicate temperature-sensitive molecular mechanisms. Meanwhile, an elaborate communication network allows instant communication both within and without the cell. The transport systems and waste disposal systems are models of efficiency. All of this machinery is manufactured to high precision from the raw materials of nutrient molecules — and the entire city can reproduce itself within a matter of minutes! How could something so complex arise by chance, random processes?
That question remains one of the great mysteries for those who think that life arose out of the disorder of a “big bang.” No one today would presume that modern factories arose via an explosion in a brickyard; so if cells are more complex than cities, then their origin begs for even greater intelligent design. Note that natural selection is no help when it comes to how a single cell could have arisen by itself from chemicals. One can’t have any natural selection before one has a self-reproducing system, which is horribly complex — a chicken and egg problem. Everywhere we look on this planet we see life giving rise to life — biogenesis — not abiogenesis. There is not a single example of any living creature that has suddenly “come about” by itself. The law of biogeneses is a firmly established and universal principle — all life comes from life. Modern evolutionary scientists would balk at being compared with past scientists who believed in spontaneous generation. However, this is exactly what most of them claim happened in a warm primordial ooze billions of years ago, where they believe that lifeless chemicals somehow combined to form “primitive” life. To overcome this, other scientists, and some UFO believers, suggest that life was designed and created by aliens, a topic which will be discussed shortly.