By now, you probably know that we are living on Earth, which is in the Milky Way, which is merely one galaxy out of over 100 billion, which is part of one universe (or more, if and only if the theory of the multiverse is correct). You likely ponder whether we are the only life form to exist. Stop wasting your time; we obviously are not alone. Remember that number from the previous sentence—100 billion—and ask yourself whether it would make sense that we are the only unique planet to house life in over 100,000,000,000 galaxies. The number of planets is far greater than that; in the Milky Way alone, there are roughly 30 billion planets. Therefore, there are likely at least 3,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (three quintillion) planets in existence. To think we are alone is ludicrous. It is more than that, really; it is an outrage. Do not be blinded by those who would say otherwise. Open your eyes! The question you should be asking is not, ‘Are we alone,’ but rather, ‘When and how we will meet our neighboring beings.’  

Just as you are only one of 7.5 billion people on Earth, so too is Earth merely one planet out of three quintillion and counting. When you think about this, it is pretty mind boggling. We are not alone, nor were we ever. There are billions of people living in other planets around the world. At this very moment, those beings, who are light years away from Earth, are wondering the same thing. Perhaps they are more intelligent than us, or perhaps they are far from our intelligence level. Whatever the case may be, they are there, and they are likely looking for us just the same as we are looking for them. We do not have to see them to believe they exist. This holds true with all things. Seeing is not believing. Believing is placing your faith in someone or something even though they are not physically there with you. The phenomena we call ‘life’ is, in fact, not limited to Earth, alone. Though many claim there is no life in the Milky Way, we cannot ever know that for sure. Even though a planet’s surface may be uninhabitable to humans, that does not mean life does not exist there. Even though scientists have claimed that there is no way life can be sustained in Venus, Mars, Neptune, or any of the other planets, think again. There is no possible way everything can be surveyed and monitored on the surface of a planet. For all we know, there might be additional life forms on Earth that we do not yet know about.  

‘Aliens’ are called ‘aliens’ for a reason. They have differing characteristics about their forms that allow them to live in certain atmospheres over others (Keep in mind that ‘alien’ life likely does not reflect the images of aliens seen in movies. Rather, it is far more probable that they share similarities to humans and are perhaps taller or shorter than we are).  

To say that there is no life in our solar system is an outrage! We cannot know this any more than we can know what the person beside us is thinking at this very moment in time. As much as we can make assumptions, we cannot ever know! It is a disgrace against humans to say that we know for sure about anything. Proven fact can be unproven with additional knowledge or evidence. As humans, we possess the capabilities of exploring ourselves, others, the world around us, and how we interact with those around us. We must express our freedoms and apply them to everyday life. Nothing is set in stone, and everything can be argued one way or another. Life itself is an art. There is no one clear-cut answer. So, again, to say that there is no life other than our own is preposterous.  

Of course, Earth has existed for 4.543 billion years to date, so why exactly has extraterrestrial life not yet made themselves known to us? Well, perhaps they are in the same position as us and cannot seem to figure out if they are alone. Or, perhaps they simply know we exist and choose to not interfere with our world, in order to see how we pan out in the next 4.5 billion years. Perhaps they are judging our ability as a planet to work together as one unit, rather than as 7.5 billion individuals in order to solve some of the great problems we face, such as climate change, pollution, and most importantly, the overpopulation of Earth and depletion of resources at an exponential rate.  

If our own planet has a diameter of 7,918 miles and is home to almost 8 billion people to date, then what is to say against the potential that another planet might be home to 15 billion or 50 billion. Perhaps there are some planets that are only home to one or two people and are yet to be underway with the expansion and evolution of their life forms. We may very well be the only planet with population issues, or we may be a part of a much larger scale of planets, all of which may share problems of our own.  

For all we know, our planet may have started long after others in existence. Earth, water, fire, and air may have first been discovered one million light years away from Earth. For all we know, distant planets may have discovered the elixir of eternal life and sources of magical prowess. What we see in movies and read in books may potentially transfer to our own world. Never shut down the possibility of the impossible. The impossible becomes possible when you wholeheartedly believe it can become so.  

I implore you to see reason. I implore you to open your eyes to the sky and to the endless possibilities there are for alien life. I implore you to ponder these great, argumentative, and intellectual questions. For if we do not, no one will. If we remain hidden in the shadow to such intelligent ideas, we willingly defer our full potential as human beings. This world, apparently, is not enough. It never was, never is, and never will be. Our scope of exploration will forever mature until we have answers to our long-sought, intellectual questions. Our questions will only answer themselves if we seek the answers. Then, and only then, can we exhibit our full potential as human beings. The day we find ourselves staring, face to face, into the eyes of alien life is the day the human race meets its match. The question then becomes, ‘How will we live alongside those who would seek to either harm us or praise us?’