Unidentified celestial objects, known as ‘Unidentified Flying Object (UFO)’, have attracted the attention of humanity since ancient times. For those looking for answers to the question of whether there is other life in the universe, all kinds of UFO claims become very important.
With the public announcement of some alleged “alien mummies” in Mexico, the issue of whether UFOs and aliens are real has come to the fore again. One of Turkey’s leading astronomers, Prof. Dr. Ethem Derman reminded that Hillary Clinton, who had previously participated in the US Presidential race, also promised, “If I am elected, I will disclose all UFO files in the state…” and said, “Some smart people are using this interest for their own benefit. ‘Have the aliens come or will they come?’ It was a method that fraudsters always used to make money. Now politicians have started using it too…” he says.
NASA Centered Discussions
Pointing out that the discussions are mainly NASA-centered and take place in the USA, Derman says:
“A UFO hearing was held in the US Congress. A member of parliament pressured NASA, and a commission was established from various scientists. The first thing the commission did was to use the phrase ‘Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena – UAP’ instead of ‘UFO’. UFO people were very angry because they were using the word instead of ‘flying saucer’. Ultimately, a 36-page report was written and it was decided that UAPs had no relationship with aliens. Again, a bureaucrat who worked in the US government appeared in front of the media and answered journalists’ questions. He claimed that the USA was hiding aliens. Scientists laughed at this because, again, there was no evidence. Frankly, I expect the person who wrote these statements to write a book! Finally, what are claimed to be ‘alien mummies’ were again unveiled by politicians in Mexico. It quickly became clear that this was not true either. “The person who found it was someone who had always found alien mummy before.”
It is being investigated whether there is life on exoplanets
Noting that everyone is curious about the unknown, Derman points out that the subject is the main field of study for astronomy. Emphasizing that eight planets in the solar system and 6 thousand exoplanets have been discovered beyond the solar system, Prof. Dr. Derman states that in recent years, it has been mainly investigated whether there is life on these exoplanets.
Interstellar Travel Is Not Possible
Stating that those who do not approach scientifically think that interstellar travel is very easy, Derman said, “The truth is exactly the opposite. The stars are very far away. For example, while the Sun is 150 million km away from us, the closest star to it is 40 trillion km away,” he says. Stating that the distance between two stars is so large, Derman said, “Einstein proved that there is no speed higher than the speed of light. The mass that reaches that speed turns into energy. Even if you have a spaceship traveling at the speed of light, you can go from the Earth to the Sun in 8 minutes, but you can go to the nearest star in 4.2 years. Even a primary school student can make these calculations, but UFO scientists cannot…” he says.
It is not possible for them to be faster than light
Underlining that the laws of physics are universal, any life form, no matter how advanced, is subject to these laws. Dr. Derman says:
“Light travels at 300 thousand km per second. Since there is no speed faster than the speed of light in the universe, it is not possible for the aliens to be faster than the speed of light, even if they are ‘very advanced’ as UFO enthusiasts claim. For this reason, it is not possible for them to have a spacecraft faster than light…” he comments.
Aliens Can’t Come to Us, We Can’t Go to Them
There are approximately 2 trillion galaxies in the known universe. It is estimated that there are an average of 100 billion stars in each of them. There are 400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, which includes the Solar System and the Earth. There are also around 6 thousand exoplanets in the Milky Way. It is not yet known whether there is life among these hundreds of billions of stars and exoplanets. Derman said, “There is a very high probability that there is life in these. Currently, the scientific world is dealing with the question of “how do we find that life?” “Even if we find them, we will find them on a planet very close to us, 100 light years away, and they will neither be able to come to us nor we will be able to go to them…” he again draws attention to the distances. Stating that if life is found in space, it is possible to communicate with them at most, Derman states that the message sent from Earth at the speed of light will reach them after 100 years, and the answer will come after 200 years, and adds:
“The scientific world generally agrees that there is life other than us in this vast universe and continues to search for them, but so far there has been no alien coming or going. For this reason, people should follow and trust science, not those who deceive them…”
