back to article Man FOUND ON MOON denies lunar alien interface

Space ace Buzz Aldrin has admitted glimpsing a UFO during his journey to the Moon – but insisted it was not an extraterrestrial visitation. The second man on the Moon answered questions during a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, touching on missions to Mars, aliens, and the dubious accuracy of the film Gravity. Aldrin's …

  1. AJ MacLeod

    "It was not that remarkable, that special, that unusual, that life here on earth evolved gradually, slowly, to where we are today"

    Buzz Aldrin may have stood on the surface of the moon, but neither that nor anything else gives him the right to state that as fact. That's pure opinion, conjecture... and the hard evidence is completely against it.

    1. Graham Dawson Silver badge
      1. strum

        um...

        5 whole characters? Are you sure he was worth it?

    2. knarf

      What ARE you talking about ?

      1. AJ MacLeod

        It should be perfectly obvious what I'm talking about - the article. Buzz Aldrin claims that it's entirely unremarkable that life evolved here on earth and it's certain there's other life "out there"... the evidence we have shows very clearly that both those claims are likely to be wrong (regardless of whether life "evolved" here or not.)

        1. Waspy

          "Extraordinary claims" require "extraordinary evidence"...

          1. sabroni Silver badge

            "Extraordinary claims" require "extraordinary evidence"...

            No, they don't, they just require enough evidence to logically sway the argument. The idea that things outside our current thinking have to have special evidence is just another way of saying "I fear change". Damned data is still data, and ignoring it just makes you ignorant.

            Besides, we don't have "evidence" of extra terrestrial life do we? Just sums and observations of the size of the universe that indicate it's extremely likely.

            1. Waspy

              Re: "Extraordinary claims" require "extraordinary evidence"...

              @sabroni

              Not sure who you're arguing against here, I was saying that AJ Macleod's allusion to evolution being not true and that we are somehow really, really special would require extraordinary evidence. With added speech marks for extra buzz-style punch

              Calm down dear etc etc

              1. sabroni Silver badge

                @ Waspy, re: Not sure who you're arguing against here,

                I'm not arguing against anyone, I'm arguing against the nonsense catchphrase "Extraordinary claims" require "extraordinary evidence".

                What makes you think I'm not calm?

        2. Ross K Silver badge

          the evidence we have shows very clearly that both those claims are likely to be wrong (regardless of whether life "evolved" here or not.)

          What evidence?

          I nominate you to go on a fact-finding mission throughout the galaxy to conclusively prove that there are no other signs of life out there.

          1. AJ MacLeod

            Hillarious I'm sure. The evidence though is that not even the faintest sign of anything even remotely resembling life has been found outside of our planet.

            Statistics, as everyone knows, can be used to "show" pretty much anything you like, making them fairly worthless in this kind of argument.

            1. Waspy

              Well I don't think that it's likely there is anything outside our planet either, so we are in agreement there.

              I'm more interested in your idea that evolution is in question...

            2. Arnold Lieberman

              @AJ

              Here's another Carl Sagan quote for you to chew over:

              “The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.”

            3. nexsphil

              Blind man declares "there's nothing out there!"

              >The evidence though is that not even the faintest sign of anything even remotely resembling life has been found outside of our planet.

              We don't have the technology to be even remotely conclusive about "what's (not) out there". But the fact we're here and there are countless other star systems out there leaves many to believe we're not the only ones.

              1. AJ MacLeod

                Re: Blind man declares "there's nothing out there!"

                nexsphil - That's fine, a reasonable enough conclusion - I don't object to Buzz Aldrin holding that view, but I'm tired of the way that so many prominent figures (Aldrin here, but Dawkins, Hawking etc) make completely unfounded or dubious statements which are then received as gospel by millions of sycophantic fools (who imagine themselves to be terribly sophisticated)

                Clearly, that includes an awful lot of Reg readers whose comprehension skills seem rather less honed than their high-horse mounting abilities...

            4. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              > Statistics, as everyone knows, can be used to "show" pretty much anything you like

              No it can't. Do not confuse use of statistics with its abuse or misuse.

            5. oiseau
              WTF?

              Dumb troll ....

            6. Dr Who

              You're a braver man than I Mr MacLeod. After 170 downvotes and rising on 3 posts a weaker spirit may have quit while he was behind.

              I sort of see where you're coming from and you're right, we haven't found our next door planets teeming with life and we haven't had any radio signals from nearby starts, but that's a very small neighbourhood. The odds are very good indeed that in the whole universe there is other life somewhere. Probably lots of it in fact. This does not preclude the chance that Earth contains the only life in the universe, but that's a vanishingly small chance.

            7. NogginTheNog
              FAIL

              Evidence == so far

              The evidence though is that not even the faintest sign of anything even remotely resembling life has been found outside of our planet.

              I see, so you're looking for something in the ocean. You've checked a few gallons of sea water, not found what you were looking for, and decided it's not there?

          2. Trigonoceps occipitalis

            AJ MacLeod

            One thing is certain, sending him out there won't mean there is intelligent life outside the Solar System.

        3. Anonymous Blowhard

          "the evidence we have shows very clearly that both those claims are likely to be wrong"

          What evidence?

          There's quite a bit of evidence that other stars have planets and there's quite a lot of evidence that the evolution of life is a naturally occurring process. So why wouldn't life occur elsewhere? We are only just getting started on the search for life on Mars, and there is no technique for detecting life at a distance, let alone life at a distance of light-years!

          Detecting the signs of advanced civilisation, like radio waves, would be just as difficult; how much radio is emitted by our own planet? How detectable are we from tens or hundreds of light years?

          It sounds like absence of evidence, not evidence of absence.

          OK, the chances of life evolving to a stage where it's able to travel or communicate over interstellar distances seems very unlikely; but that's not what Aldrin is claiming is it?

          1. AJ MacLeod

            @Anonymous Blowhard

            Aldrin is claiming that it's "usual" for life to evolve all over the universe. That's a statement consisting of 100% conjecture with no evidence to back it up, as not the faintest sign of life has been detected anywhere other than our own planet.

            I can state with just as much confidence that our planet is the only one in the entire universe to hold life; as virtually nobody seems to have been able to comprehend, my beef is with prominent figures stating as fact that which is actually conjecture (and the ignorant masses who eagerly swallow said statements, foolishly imagining themselves to be rather sophisticated.)

        4. Spotfist
          FAIL

          "the evidence we have shows very clearly that both those claims are likely to be wrong"

          Evidence? We have explored a hand full of planets in our solar system out of the almost infinite number out there, to come to the conclusion you have is completely idiotic! If I stand at the shore looking out to sea I could with out a doubt draw the conclusion that there is no life below the surface, I can't see anything jumping out but we both know I would be wrong so why have you done the same here?

          Secondly I wish people would stop ignoring the evidence for evolution, I don't mind having an argument over why a species has evolved, be it God or something natural but it's when people say there is no evidence for these changes, it happens all the time and people need to educate themselves!

          1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

            "people need to educate themselves!"

            They need to but they don't know that they do. That's where the problem is.

    3. Ross K Silver badge
      Alien

      Buzz Aldrin may have stood on the surface of the moon, but neither that nor anything else gives him the right to state that as fact. That's pure opinion, conjecture... and the hard evidence is completely against it.

      So what are you suggesting? That we were made by a bloke called God one Sunday afternoon? That Jesus partied with the dinosaurs?

      I would say that life here on Earth hasn't evolved ENOUGH in some cases...

      1. chivo243 Silver badge

        De-evolution

        Are we not men? We are Devo! I think evolution is an oscillating event... some times there is brilliance, and sometimes there is a thunder falcon cougar bird...

      2. Turtle

        @Ross K

        "Buzz Aldrin may have stood on the surface of the moon, but neither that nor anything else gives him the right to state that as fact. That's pure opinion, conjecture... and the hard evidence is completely against it.So what are you suggesting? That we were made by a bloke called God one Sunday afternoon? That Jesus partied with the dinosaurs? I would say that life here on Earth hasn't evolved ENOUGH in some cases..."

        Here's the hard evidence: there is no evidence showing that life exists anywhere else. Is that conclusive evidence? Of course not. But it is a fact. And if you, like someone else in this thread, want to invoke foolish statements such as "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" let me point out to you that "absence of evidence" kinda is "evidence of absence" although again, not nearly conclusive. But if you absolutely insist on the foolish statement, then you won't mind it being used for proving the existence of God, right?

        Why does there always seem to be some half-wit atheist who grasps the flimsiest excuse for taking his half-wit out for an airing?

        1. Tim Roberts 1

          Re: @Ross K

          " Why does there always seem to be some half-wit atheist who grasps the flimsiest excuse for taking his half-wit out for an airing?"

          Thanks Ross, I see you have taken your religious half wit out for an airing too. Did he enjoy his walk?

          Can your half witted religious nutter come up with any evidence :

          a) for the existence of God other than "something must have made it"

          b) for the theory of evolution to be false. Come on, it won't take much ... just a verified human footprint - or fossil - with dinosaur fossils for example.

          c) that the earth is the only place in the universe where life exists. Admittedly we don't have any evidence that other life does exist, but as many above have stated, that is not proof that we are alone.

          d) that God did it in a week.

          Thought not!

          Atheist nuttery is not that much different to religious nuttery, but with some things at least atheists have the preponderance of scientific evidence to support them, rather than the belief in book that has been translated and mis-translated so many times that it is likely to be nothing like the original(s).

        2. Ross K Silver badge
          FAIL

          Re: @Ross K

          Here's the hard evidence:......

          ...Why does there always seem to be some half-wit atheist who grasps the flimsiest excuse for taking his half-wit out for an airing?

          LOL LOL LOL

          You sir, are a moron.

          Let the 18 downvotes you've received bear testament to that fact.

          1. Sarah Balfour

            Re: @Ross K

            Look, Ross, it's VERY simple: - All we want from you is a selfie of you with the Almighty. As you're so pally with him, shouldn't be too difficult…

            Now, go and listen to XTC's 'Dear God' and STFU.

            I DO note, however, he's not yet resorted to the creationist classic "Well, gravity is just a theory too!", so I've not been able to tell him to go throw himself out the nearest window.

            Ross, mate, GIVE IT UP; this is a science and tech forum, how you thought you were going to find any allies here I've really not the foggiest.

            Think on this: - if we were made by god, how do we KNOW about it….? I see no EVIDENCE; I mean most artists sign their work - I've checked and I can't see a label reading 'Made By God' anywhere on me - how's about you.

            Religion is simply a tool created by humankind to explain that which they cannot comprehend. Stops things being overwhelmingly scary, y'know. I actually have zero problem with religion per se, it's when it starts to get in the way of actual FACTS that I begin to take issue.

            For all your denials, you can't deny the facts. The word 'science' simply means 'knowledge' and in Shakespeare's day it was used as a synonym for knowledge. It's only comparatively recently it's come to have its present meaning.

            Y'see, 'creation science' is a oxymoron because it requires the acceptance of a supernatural being as fact; theology, on the other hand, IS a science, because it teaches fact. I find theology infinitely fascinating - but I'm still an atheist.

            People can BELIEVE whatever the fuck they like (I believe I'm a millionaire, even though I'm skint), but BELIEF in something and it actually BEING true are two quite different things…

            "When you state something as fact, be certain it is actually true, and not an opinion, or belief, you'd desperately like to be true…" - Neil de Grasse Tyson (slightly paraphrased).

            Like I say, I've no problem with religion, provided someone doesn't use THEIR beliefs to run MY life (nor anyone else's for that matter…).

            Okay, incoherent rant over. I'm off to sacrifice a kid (of the caprine variety) to my Lord and Master the Almighty Anchovius, the fish-headed god of the planet Dominihut, a flat world whose topography is constantly changing. With it being a Sunday, it's Hawaiian.

            Why a kid…? Well, being a 4" high fish, Anchovius has had problems being taken seriously; he's trying goats because they seem to work for other gods…

            He used to be known as Carpatius, but people stopped believing in him, and due to the fact that his main followers were the Nepalese fish people but, as Nepal is landlocked, it's suspected they probably never existed.

            I just feel sorry for him…

      3. Sarah Balfour

        Sunday…? Thought that was his day off…? I'm assuming the OP is a Yank, because we Brits - most of us - REALLY aren't daft enough to believe in creationism - sorry, creation SCIENCE - are we…?

        I'm not a huge fan of Ricky Gervais, but I do find his anti-creationist set rather funny "So god created heaven and Earth in the DARK - how COOL is THAT…?!"

        One day, I think I'll write a book entitled "If People Evolved From Monkies [sic] How Come There Is Still Monkies…? And Other Creationist Bullshit". Another seems to be (and I'd like to think it's a troll, but you can never tell with Creationists) is "if evolution is true, then why haven't fish become tigers…?" Or "why haven't people got wings yet…?" I've even seen "if evolution is true, then why do gay people exist… ?"

        And now we've creationist schools over here, we seem to slowly be cementing our status as America's 51st state…

    4. Waspy

      Why? As all professional gamblers know, if you keep betting on the same thing you will eventually win (although you may run out of cash before then). The universe has had endless chances to create something like us...and eventually it happened.

      I think he is wrong to be certain about life elsewhere though...which paradoxically makes us special as well as inevitable and pretty ordinary (this is before you get into multiple universes etc).

      On another note, I never tire of watching buzz aldrin punch Bart sibriel in the face.

      1. Wzrd1 Silver badge

        Heh, same here.

        Though, it's long been a dream of mine to meet Buzz and tell him happily, "Buzz, you most certainly did *not* walk on the moon! You shuffled, you hopped, you fell on your, well, everything save the top of your helmet. What you did *not* do was walk.

        That is something reserved for much nearer one G or a bit more (much more ends up a different shuffle).

        I suspect I'd not get punched, but receive a rueful chuckle.

        For, indeed, it *is* the truth.

        Walking isn't an option under lunar gravity from someone born, raised and *very* recently still living under one G.

        And something I learned from NASA lunar archives that were suppressed for decades. The Lunar Follies, where astronauts were spending more time falling than walking. The shuffle being the worst for causing falls, due to unseen rocks beneath the regolith dust.

    5. Avatar of They
      Trollface

      As trolling goes you get gold.

      "Pure opinion" of most of the scientific minds on the planet who consider physics, astronomy, Geology and biology as their main science is slightly more than some random troll on a web page.

      "Hard evidence?" When I studied geology for 3 years and went on fossil digs, I remember my hammer and chisel were helping dig out fairly hard evidence. Draws full of fairly hard rocks with trilobite, graptolite and crinoids in them.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. AJ MacLeod

        Re: As trolling goes you get gold.

        Clearly you haven't actually read my comments or if you have you aren't capable of understanding them. Your piffle here is unrelated to anything I wrote - or are you suggesting that the scientific understanding is that the rocks you found contain trilobites from outer space?

    6. Richard Plinston

      > Buzz Aldrin may have stood on the surface of the moon, but neither that nor anything else gives him the right to state that as fact. That's pure opinion, conjecture... and the hard evidence is completely against it.

      And what is it that you have done to be able to claim a superior 'right' to state your opinion as if it were fact.

      1. Turtle

        @Richard Plinston

        "And what is it that you have done to be able to claim a superior 'right' to state your opinion as if it were fact."

        A similar statement could be made for a variety of the people in this thread, none of whom can claim a "'right'" to state an opinion not merely not contradicting but even judging Buzz Aldrin's opinion. But tell me the "evidence" (in the strictest sense of "facts") which is accessible to Buzz but not to the original poster and not to the other posters here, that would invalidate any opinions conflicting with Buzz Aldrin's opinion.

        What you don't seem to realize is that science is not some sort of "democratic" process where science is determined by vote; nor are facts subordinate to appeals to Buzz Aldrin's authority - which, in this case, seems to scarcely exist.

        There are two facts and only two facts in this matter:

        1) The universe is immense, and

        2) There are no evidence of life existing anywhere else in it.

        That's all there is. It's got nothing to do with Buzz Aldrin, no matter how much you want to rely on his opinions.

        Might there someday be evidence? Well of course. But we don't have it yet. But if you want to rely on evidence that might, one day, exist, what do you need science for at all?

        1. Richard Plinston

          Re: @Richard Plinston

          > none of whom can claim a "'right'" to state an opinion

          You have completely missed the point: _everyone_ has the 'right' to express whatever opinions they wish to. You are attempting to control others 'rights' while you do not have any superior 'rights' to do that.

          > What you don't seem to realize is that science is not some sort of "democratic" process

          I didn't even mention science, nor democratic process.

          > There are two facts and only two facts in this matter:

          That may be your opinion (stated as fact) but there may be other relevant facts, you just don't know of them.

          1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

            Stop this nonsense!

            None of you are even remotely right anyway. There is no Moon or stars or galaxies. They are all just painted on the Celestial Dome.

            All praise the Ceiling Cat. Ohmmmm....

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        > And what is it that you have done to be able to claim a superior 'right' to state your opinion as if it were fact.

        Well, HE'S POSTED IT ON THE INTERNET!!!!

        I mean, if you hear something from a guy on the internet, what more evidence could you possibly need? :)

    7. Winkypop Silver badge
      Facepalm

      @ AJ MacLeod - Wow

      Just wow.

    8. Wzrd1 Silver badge

      In a way, our unenlightened OP was correct.

      Evolution is far from slow at times, positively glacial at others.

      It all depends upon major changes creating pressures and vacancies in an ecological niche.

      Consider the humble domestic turkey. A creature evolved by man, which we proclaim as breeding, to its desired proportions of what we can purchase at market today. In a remarkably short amount of time in *human lifetime years*, that bird was bred from the wild version that is a far, far cry from that domestic bird.

      How much harsher a taskmaster is nature itself?

    9. Blitterbug
      Facepalm

      Re: "That's pure opinion, conjecture... "

      I truly despair of humanity ever dragging itself fully out of the Middle Ages. It's not just the clinging to medieval superstitions, but the sheer bloody-minded and wholly deliberate disconnect from all forms of logic and the scientific process.

    10. NomNomNom

      AJ MacLeod is correct.

      Just because there are a lot of stars out there does not make it "likely" that there's life on another planet. All it tells us is that the odds of life developing is above zero. It could still be far too small for it to have developed anywhere else. The fermi paradox would seem to be some evidence that this is the case, at least for intelligent life.

  2. Ross K Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Some of those redditors...

    ...need to be put in a rocket and blasted towards the moon.

    1. Graham Dawson Silver badge

      Re: Some of those redditors...

      Didn't you hear? The moon's fake!

      And I wish I was joking. google "holographic moon" and weep for the sheer idiocy on display as people try to prove that the moon blew up in 2009.

      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
        Paris Hilton

        Re: Some of those redditors...

        "the moon blew up in 2009"

        Because of Tetsuo Shima?

        1. Captain DaFt

          Re: Some of those redditors...

          "Because of Tetsuo Shima?"

          No, Piccolo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7KWykbYNqs

      2. John Tserkezis

        Re: Some of those redditors...

        "And I wish I was joking. google "holographic moon" and weep for the sheer idiocy on display as people try to prove that the moon blew up in 2009."

        I thought it blew up in 1999? I have DVD Video evidence you know.

        1. Montreal Sean

          Re: Some of those redditors...

          @John Tserkezis

          That was no moon.

      3. DropBear
        Happy

        Re: Some of those redditors...

        Come now, it's common knowledge it's not fake at all - it's quite genuine cheese; people (like miss Fallaci) were already plotting to steal it (while it's covered by darkness) as far back as '66...

    2. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge

      Re: Some of those redditors...

      I suggest we build a B-ark. Tickets will be made available to all those who believe whatever outrageous theory we put up (mutant star goat etc). Should rid us of a significant portion of conspiracy nutters.

      1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
        Stop

        Re: Some of those redditors...

        "I suggest we build a B-ark. Tickets will be made available to all those who believe whatever outrageous theory we put up...." Yeah, but just imagine what would happen if they did stumble on another and more advanced civilisation out there, they'd probably view the whole human race as something to be wiped out due to immense stupidity!

  3. Matt Bryant Silver badge
    Go

    "The offending footage of Buzz bopping Bart in the chops is on YouTube."

    Well worth a watch, especially if you know the background of how the toe rag had spent years harassing and slandering Aldrin and his family. The sheeple should take Sibrel as an example of what happens when you begin to baaaah-lieve too much of the conspiracy nutters.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "The offending footage of Buzz bopping Bart in the chops is on YouTube."

        > Buzz Aldrin should be allowed to punch whoever he wants

        More to the point, the punchee should have been prosecuted for stupidity¹. I don't care much about his bible bashing, but what kind of wanker gets himself twatted by a 72 year old? You have to be pretty fucking annoying indeed to manage that sort of feat.

        ¹ But alas, stupidity isn't illegal after all.

    2. Turtle

      Re: "The offending footage of Buzz bopping Bart in the chops is on YouTube."

      *I* wasn't offended by it.

      I rather liked it, actually.

    3. JeffyPoooh
      Pint

      Re: "The offending footage of Buzz bopping Bart in the chops is on YouTube."

      Bart4Brains never took any legal action against Buzz, in spite of the video of the arguable assault. You know why?

      CAUSE THAT VIDEO OF THE PUNCH IS FAKE!!! IT NEVER HAPPENED. IT'S ALL A CONSPIRACY BY BART SIBREL!!

      At least that's how the trial would turn into a recursive circus.

      1. TheOtherHobbes

        Re: "The offending footage of Buzz bopping Bart in the chops is on YouTube."

        >CAUSE THAT VIDEO OF THE PUNCH IS FAKE!!! IT NEVER HAPPENED. IT'S ALL A CONSPIRACY BY BART SIBREL!!

        But that's just what the lizard people want you to think.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: "The offending footage of Buzz bopping Bart in the chops is on YouTube."

          > But that's just what the lizard people want you to think.

          Come one, don't be so silly. We really couldn't care less what you lads think.

  4. Grease Monkey Silver badge

    "raise awareness of the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings in 1969."

    Since when was the 45th anniversary of anything at all significant?

    1. Rich 11

      Are you married? Well, a word of advice...

      1. TWB

        Upvote to Rich 11 for making me laugh, but then I thought Grease Monkey may be a 'laydee'/woman/female (delete the terms which offend) and I have found that generally wives are the ones who get upset about a forgotten anniversary (anecdotal and stereotypically)

        I wonder if it is the same in female couples?

        1. Hollerith 1

          yes, TWB

          ...it is the same in female couples. The other female, however tends to remember better than blokes apparently do. Not hard -- calendar note on smartphone...

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: yes, TWB

            Interesting, I never knew that.

            So is there a correlation between orientation and smartphone use?

            1. Richard 12 Silver badge

              Re: yes, TWB

              Yes, videos in portrait orientation are almost exclusively taken using a smartphone.

      2. Legend4Games

        I registered just to upvote this comment.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      45th anniversary ...

      of being in Area 51 is around the same time isn't it ? :-)

    3. Montreal Sean

      @Grease Monkey

      "Since when was the 45th anniversary of anything at all significant?"

      They don't want it to have a mid-life crisis and run off to buy a sports car?

  5. Chris G
    Pint

    A biff from Buzz

    Deserves a beer.

    I have never seen that before; I guess being called a coward for the umpteenth time by a large lard arsed plonker tempted Buzz to show he still punch over his weight.

    We really don't have any hard evidence that there is other life out there and what evidence there is that leads us to believe there could be other life elsewhere is based mostly on what we know as life here on Earth.

    However, in a Universe as big as this and the time it has had so far to come up with life it seems to me to be very unlikely that we are unique.

    If the chances of life developing is millions to one, then in our Galaxy alone which is believed to have 200-400 Billion stars that leaves room for a few thousand chances at millions to one.

    1. Mark 85
      Pint

      Re: A biff from Buzz

      He deserves a beer anyway, even if he hadn't coldcocked that idiot. I salute a brave man who went willingly into what could easily have been death.

      As for that idiot Sibrel, I imagine he also believes that Fred Flintstone is one helluva actor

    2. Sarah Balfour

      Re: A biff from Buzz

      Don't forget that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten…

  6. 2StrokeRider

    Yeh well, no matter the wit and wisdom of the Reg readers, both the theory of evolution and non-earth life are both unproven. I'd have expected Marvin the Martian to have showed up by now and made the earth shattering ka-boom.

    Buzz is still an American Icon and I remember quite well watching the moon landings on TV as a kid. We all wanted to be astronauts then.

    Turned out I didn't like heights all that much and went for innerspace instead, putting 20 years into submarines.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Coat

      They probably saw BuzzFeed, decided, "Nope, nothing intelligent to see here folks", and moved on for good.

    2. TheTick

      "both the theory of evolution and non-earth life are both unproven"

      However, the Theory of Evolution has gargantuan piles of evidence supporting it from a variety of separate fields such as biology and geology, and not one single piece of evidence to my knowledge has ever been found that would invalidate the theory. And it only takes one piece of solid verifiable evidence to blow the entire theory to bits.

      Therefore the Theory of Evolution has not been dis-proven, which is more important.

    3. veti Silver badge
      Boffin

      Non-earth life, I'll grant, is entirely speculative. But the theory of evolution is about as unproven, at this point, as the theory of gravity.

      The fact that there's no (sign of) life on Mars, doesn't necessarily extrapolate to the several million other Goldilocks-zoned planets in our galaxy. From a sample size of 2, we know that life evolved on one. The anthropic principle makes it impossible to extrapolate positively, but the sample size makes it equally invalid to extrapolate negatively.

      1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

        "The fact that there's no (sign of) life on Mars"

        It is far from being a fact. The only fact is that we haven't yet found any sign of life on Mars.

        That's not a big surprise as we haven't even started looking for it properly yet.

  7. Hazmoid

    Life on other planets

    You'll note that Buzz pointedly did not specify intelligent life or self aware life ie microbes qualify as life.

    (besides there's F*@k all intelligent life down here on Earth) ;)

  8. willi0000000
    Pint

    hoist one

    for Michael Collins . . . the poor guy that had to stay behind in the command module.

    [all the guts, none of the glory]

  9. Annihilator
    Thumb Up

    "It was not that remarkable, that special, that unusual, that life here on earth evolved gradually, slowly, to where we are today."

    I do find it somewhat refreshing that Buzz famously took some holy water on Apollo 11 and took communion :-) Be good if more religious leaders could accept the above statement.

  10. Kaltern

    Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet.

    Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.

    1. no-one in particular

      > Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat

      Huh? You've been listening to too many popular songs.

    2. Jonathan Richards 1

      Splendid sentiment, but...

      ...sloppy supporting remark:

      > Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat

      No they didn't. People have known that the earth was spherical from antiquity, and Eratosthenes even made a pretty good measurement of its size in about 240 BC, i.e. about 2,300 years ago.

      > humans were alone on this planet.

      We've never been alone on this planet. (Sorry, I put you and me together in that sentence, assuming that you are in fact human). We're accompanied by endless more or less related species, with some of which we have remarkable and productive relationships. There have been times since our species appeared that we might even have had other hominid species that we could communicate with. While I'm in the camp that finds it more likely than not that there is life beyond the thin shell surrounding the Earth, I'm also firmly of the opinion that we'll never get physical intelligent visitors. Space is hugely, mind-bogglingly big.

      1. Sir Runcible Spoon

        Re: Splendid sentiment, but...

        Don't worry Kaltern, someone of us did recognise your mib reference

  11. Speeder

    Just a bit more trolling...

    'I refuse to prove that I exist' says God 'for prove denies faith, and without faith I am nothing' - Douglas Adams - (The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy)

    1. Sir Runcible Spoon

      Re: Just a bit more trolling...

      Ah, but the Babel-fish is a dead giveaway though isn't it?

      Note to self - be very careful on the zebra crossing tonight on the way home.

  12. andy gibson

    John Glenn on "Frasier"

    There's a great episode on the old TV show Frasier where he plays himself and comes clean about aliens and the space race. But it all happens during one of Frasier's tantrums and it never gets heard or broadcast. About two minutes in:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO4iNhaQms0

  13. FuzzyTheBear
    Alien

    Similar sets of equations.

    In science there's little room to wiggle. Gravity applies whether you're in another galaxy or the planet next door. So does the speed of light. We are all faced in the universe with a set of rules and though we are fond of romance and adventure fact is that aliens and us are faced with the same problems. Unfortunate.

    Faster than light travel is impossible and to come here for aliens is as long as we going there. Aliens ?

    Guess we'd all like to greet them but in reality , for now at least , we're very much alone. Maybe for the best. As was said before , to go through the trouble of going on travel for thousands of years to meet us , their intentions might not be as good as ours. Roasted human with ketchup anyone ?

    1. Farnet

      Re: Similar sets of equations.

      Faster than light is possible. faster than C isn't.

      Light travels at different speed through different mediums.

      Scientists have already sent particles (Electrons) through a water solution (water reduces C to 75% of C in a vacuum), so the electrona are actual are going faster than light (in that medium) and creating an equivilent of a sonic boom which is a flash of blue light. See the link below for a better explanantion.

      http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/4BA.html

      Well, I was impressed when I was shown it for the first time :-)

  14. Kaltern

    I'm disappointed in you fellow commentards, failing to recognise a quote from a classic movie... :(

    1. Farnet

      Yes men in black, I got it.... Saw a repeat at the weekend

    2. no-one in particular

      Oops.

      Probably means I need to watch it again; well, that's the weekend sorted.

    3. Sarah Balfour

      I don't really watch movies. Think the last one I saw was Shaun of The Dead (and then I only saw half of it). Prior to THAT, fuck knows… the only one I can recall with any clarity is Big - and that was almost 30 years ago!

      I don't have the attention span anymore. Most toddlers concentrate on things for longer than I can…

  15. ionracer24

    You have to understand that Aldrin has always been a company man. He would never divulge even if he had actually seen an alien waving to him out the saucer window. So, i'd bet we'll never know the actual truth from any of them

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