The other day, I met a woman who is fully convinced that aliens are living among us. She was very nice!
As for me, with the aliens and all, I’m not so sure. But I figured maybe she knew something I didn’t, so I poured some more coffee and decided to ask a few questions. It occurred to me it might be imprudent to ask for details about such things at lunch. But I decided quickly that a person who believes aliens are living among us would likely not be shy in answering questions about them.
“Can I ask you more about the aliens?” I asked.
“They’re everywhere,” she said, jumping right in. “We’ll likely never know just where. Many of them don’t have actual bodies — or they have bodies we can’t comprehend.”
I nodded and took a bite of pie. No actual bodies, eh? I imagined a green vapor snaking its way through traffic on the Dan Ryan Expressway or floating through State Street, scouting out Christmas present ideas. (Look, if these alleged aliens are in Chicago, that’s the kind of stuff they’re going to be up to: There are 48 days till Christmas, people.)
I asked the lady — who was very sweet and interesting for many reasons that did not involve paranormal activity, I’d like to point out — how she came to know about these aliens.
“I’ve long been interested in the topic,” she said. “And I recently attended a conference in Las Vegas. There were over a thousand people there: physicists, scientists, UFO experts. It’s all very real.” Then she leaned in a little to say, with a raised eyebrow, “We were only a few short miles from Area 51.”
What I loved about her is that she was so into what she was into. Seeing someone really into their “thing” is great. Everyone’s got their thing, and it’s great to see a person committed to that thing. The lady told me about a visit to a psychic and said more about the conference, e.g., how the moon landing wasn’t a hoax, but that there were six or seven alien spacecraft on the moon when Buzz and Neil got there. I told the lady I hadn’t heard about that and she gave me a nod like, “Yeah, well, there’s more where that came from.”
She might be right. About all of it or some of it.
Haven’t we all been wrong about something before?
Jennifer
When I took a seismic engineering class in grad school, we had to write a paper refuting plate tectonics. Not because the professor wanted us to not believe in Pangaea, but because it was widely thought to be wrong by the scientific community when first proposed. We were given papers written at the time about how the fossil trail of certain animals did not support certain animals coming from land masses that were attached.
Things we “know” to be scientific fact today may become “can you believe those crazy people thought ________”.
Or a more simple example: Margarine! Good for you! No wait! Margarine! Bad for you!
Kerry
Who knows. It would be nice to think that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones equivalents are looking after us! My son believes in an alternate universe – even multiple alternatives. Again I wouldn’t disagree. I think it’s possible that there are other life forms (not as we know it, Jim) out there – if we are around why not other things in other places. It wasn’t until recent years that space trips were possible.
As long as they aren’t like Independence Day things intent on wiping us out then fine with me! It ain’t over till the fat lady sings 😉
Carmen
More, like keep you here for doomsday. Unable to escape the wrath. Promised by our creator. These things are not only real. It’s biblical. Godspeed ya knowledge on it. Or you could miss out too!!
Cara
“Haven’t we all been wrong about something before?” That’s the thing isn’t it?
I believe in God. There are people in my life – and on this blog, I’m sure – who find that as hard to accept as I do aliens. (But, you’re so well educated! one family member once said.)
Carla Gutman
I have a classmate who believes in aliens and is a huge fan of numbers in relationship to the calendar and how the moon affects us.