Why would aliens visit the Earth?

If UFOs do represent alien visitation then why would they visit us? Here are a few possible reasons. First a few basic observations. From the stories of interactions with UFOs and their crews, it seems that the aliens are not usually hostile. Also we assume that the visitors are aliens from other worlds. They could be time travellers from the future. They could be from right here but another dimension.

Let's assume for now that they are from another place in the universe.

Curiosity

As soon as we developed rocket technology which could propel us into orbit we built spacecraft and launched our first astronauts into space.

Other intelligent beings would probably do the same and explore their cosmic surroundings. Curiosity is the hallmark of intelligent creatures. If there are other beings in the universe and it is possible to traverse the great distances then we should expect to be visited.

Scientific Research

There are persistent reports of people being invited into or forcefully taken into UFOs by a variety of presumably alien creatures. It seems the descriptions of the creatures can be grouped into a few groups, with the small 'grey' aliens being the most commonly encountered.

Some stories involve reproductive activities and even later on children being presented to the women who were involved in this. If any of this is true it is quite disturbing, and one can only assume that the aliens are breeding human beings or breeding cross-breeds between humans and aliens. What would be the purpose of such a programme? To create a race of beings who can associate with both aliens and humans? To create a race of beings who can lead us out of troubled times or into worse ones?

Territorial gain

The universe is thought to be 13.8 billion years old. Our solar system is thought to be 4.6 billion years old. It took life on Earth about 800 million years to get started. It took, we think, about a billion years for the first planets to form after the Big Bang. Therefore it is theoretically possible that life has existed somewhere in the universe for about 12 billion years. it took about 3.8 billion years for evolution to create humans so let us assume that the following timeline is possible:

13.8 billion years ago universe begins 12.8 billion years ago first planets are formed 12 billion years ago first living organisms appear on some of those planets 8.2 billion years ago first intelligent life appears on some planets

If this is true the there could be civilisations approximately 8 billion years ahead of us in technology. That is a hell of a lot of iPhone, Android, Windows or Linux versions. In other words there could be fantastically advanced civilisations out there. And given the size and consistency of the universe, there could be many many advanced civilisations.

Advanced civilisations may outgrow their home planets and even nearby inhabitable planets. They may, just as H.G. Wells ‘War of the Worlds’ prophesised, exploit and parasitise other worlds as they expand and search for new resources.

We can only guess at this. It is possible that advanced civilisations solve all of their problems of survival and want. It may be that when want is eliminated so are conflicts, conquest and wars. Or that very advanced beings develop a benevolent spirituality. We do not know. Or at least if anyone does they are not telling us.

Therefore there may be malevolent beings which are set on conquest and are a danger to us. But there may also be benevolent beings.

Resources

The vast universe surely has plenty of resources. The asteroid belt of our solar system probably has all of the metals we could ever need on Earth. It may in the future be possible to manufacture elements in machines similar to nuclear reactors. We already do something similar to this with ‘fast breeder’ reactors.

It may therefore be unlikely that aliens visit us to take resources.

Tourism

Experienced airline pilots have occasionally claimed to have seen huge spacecraft in Earth’s atmosphere. Why would these spacecraft be so large? From all accounts of alien beings glimpsed it seems they are often smaller than us and occasionally larger. But not that much larger.

Large spacecraft perhaps are designed for long journeys through space. Or to transport many scientists to their places of study. Or to provide their occupants with luxurious accommodation. They could be tourist vessels like our huge cruise liners.

Reconnaissance

Aliens may see human beings as a potential threat of the future in the same way that the nations of Earth warily watch each others military developments and see threats. Humans are an aggressive species in some ways - in 1945 we dropped 2 atomic bombs on each other and have committed countless other atrocities.

Interestingly the number of UFO sightings increased after World War II and some have suggested that this might reflect the alarm of our cosmic neighbours after we used atomic weapons against each other.

It may be that we are viewed by nearby civilisations as spiritually primitive, territorial, selfish, intellectually limited and even dangerous.

Highly placed people here on Earth may or may not know the answer to that question.

Conclusion

There are a number of reasons why aliens might visit Earth. They may find us fascinating, frightening or even a good laugh, like the monkeys or meerkats in a zoo. If we ever manage to open a dialogue with them - and our governments may already have done that - we should ask them why they are here. We should then try and work out if they have told us the correct and true answer.