The Burden of Proof: Prologue

   When it comes to alien abduction many individuals want definite proof of the event or experience. As of to date there is no "Definite Proof". All evidence is either speculative, corroborative, or circumstantial. Further we have several theorists in the scientific community which have developed proofs concerning various aspects for the probability of intelligent life in the universe.

Two most popular are the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox:

   The Drake Equation (N = R* f_p n_e f_l f_i f_c L) poses a way to estimate the number of technological advanced civilization in our galaxy. It was formulated in 1961 by an Astrophysicist and Astronomer, Dr. Frank Drake. His formula estimates that there are 10,000 communicative civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy.

   The Fermi Paradox is a contradiction between the rate of probability of intelligent life and the lack of contact/evidence of that. Basically it concerns the absence of evidence of intelligent life. This argument was posed by a theoretical and experimental physicist in 1950 named Enrico Fermi. It has been further examined by a Michael H. Hart in the 1975 as science has expanded to address the diversity of life in the universe.

   Now, the issue at hand with Drake Equation it take into account that these beings would use the same channels of communication as we do, in addition to expressing said concepts in uniform and understandable means. If we all communicated and understood concepts in the same fashion we would most like have found evidence of extraterrestrial activity. This issue has been expressed and illustrated best in the realms of science-fiction. Such well known examples are the Star Trek series based upon the works of Gene Roddenberry. From the Original Series to Voyager and the movie franchise, there have been episodes in dealing with the Drake Equation per say. Star Trek the Motion Picture and Star Trek IV are two prime examples of the Drake Equation at work. In both movies we have two probes, and in both movies the people of earth have no way to communicate or interpret the signals from the probe. Further more in Star Trek the motion picture, there is trouble communicating with the Voyager probe since technology has advanced so much in those hundred of years that the Enterprise could not communicate with the Voyager Probe.

   The Fermi Paradox suffers from the same premise in that we assume that we would have the mechanisms to interpret/understand the evidence/proof. With the addition of Hart's input, we see a more balanced explanation as it does open the fact that there are variables in the lifeforms that may be out there and how they may contact us. Just in the past few years we have verified chemo-synthesis which give rise to the high probability of life developing and thriving on other systems of chemical based oxygen/carbon. We are also finding the DNA is not the only building blocks of life, as there are some RNA cultures being developed.
Also again take into account of Star Trek, in Star Trek First Contact, the alien race of Vulcans new of earth existence but it was considered unworthy of attention until a warp signature was detected that originated from earth. So extraterrestrials may have no immediate interest.

   Another way to show how these scientific explanations are not definitive is how we view our ancient history. Two prime examples are the styles of communication within Egyptian and the Aztec civilizations. Ancient Egyptian civilization disappeared some two thousand years ago, and the Aztec civilization was wiped out some 500 years ago. It wasn't until the late 1800's that interest in Ancient Egypt was kindled. It has taken decades of research to unlock their system of writing, and decades still to understand their culture and day to day lives. Their civilization gradually changed over time as the pharaohonic dynasties fell. The Aztec civilization suffered an immediate shift in the new world due to colonization by the Catholicism and the Spanish. Their language and culture was destroyed in a few decade by the imposition of the Christian Religion. It has take decades to reconstruct the language and culture which has almost been erased. So if on earth we have examples of two civilization been wiped away in just a span of 2,000  years imagine how things must be on a universal level. Plus these are only two examples of civilizations, there are hundreds of unique civilizations that have died out in North America alone since 1492. The longest prosperous civilization to date on earth is by the Chinese who have lasted in a relative uniformity for close to 5,000 years.
I have not even mentioned the fact we are only concerned with human-life species. On earth we are barely rediscovering that the animal world has a complexity all to its own. Ants build cities and have a unique language all their own. Dogs, cats, Dolphins, and Orcas are examples of companion species which have the ability to express and communicate with us as well.

   The latest findings of NASA JPLA have estimated 1.4-2.7 of all sun-like stars have earth-like planets in our galaxy. We have found a total of 1,200 possible alien worlds, and of the closest one too our solar system, it is believed that there are two earth-like planets nearby. Given that there are 50 Billion Galaxies, that is a lot of possible planets with life.