I Believe in Aliens and UFOs

I read the latest post of one of my new favorite bloggers this morning about his most unforgettable summer story (about a man’s ceremony for getting “purified“) as a way of saying good bye to summer. I was inspired to do the same so I decided to share mine, which is a totally different story. It’s about the “CE3K’s spacecraft” I and my younger brother saw in the summer of the ’90s. Eventually, the experience paved the way for stamping out the guilt I once had for this belief.

Back in my younger years, I’ve already believed in the existence of extraterrestrial beings. More so when I began to study science where logic started to tell me that the universe is insanely vast so the presence of other beings out there is probable. However, in this day and age, convincing people to believe requires scientific findings if not explanations.

There’s been a plethora of documented UFO sightings in my country, the Philippines, and in other countries yet they are still not enough to convince the religious majority.

At around 8:00 p.m. of the 27th day of May 1995, my younger brother, Kelvin, and I put to fruition our must-accomplished-activity for summer vacation: stargazing. We then lied on the blanket we spread out on the house’s roof that night. Just like old times with my elder brother, Tom, what we usually search for were the familiar constellations we’ve learned from school namely the Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Bootes, Cancer, and the most popular and easiest to find: The Small and Big Dipper.

Image via Wikipedia

After having some of those groups of stars located, we paused and gazed back at the eternal heavens. Our built-in binoculars stayed there for like a minute or two until, out of the blue, there was a strange spacecraft that surfaced just about three meters above our bodies. The spacecraft appeared somewhat transparent (which is the most distinguishing feature); with little globular objects on the edges and around its anterior; and shape is elongated circle about five meters in length. All we saw on that floating thing were those tiny globular objects twinkling like the stars. The features I’m describing are similar to the aliens’ spaceship in the movie “The Abyss (1989)” while it is submerged in the ocean. (The reason why I gave emphasis to the word “while” is because when that spaceship surfaced at the end of the movie, it turned white.) The said spacecraft I’m describing stayed in its position upon surfacing for about three seconds, enough time to make me recall the stated features, then it moved forward slowly for another three seconds. After that, it suddenly disappeared or flew at the speed of light.

Image via Wikipedia

We were both overwhelmed by what we saw; it took a few seconds for us to regain composure. The first thing we both uttered was, “What was that?!” Then we hurried to the window to share the encounter with the rest of our siblings. This paved the way for us to moot about UFOs and ETs. It turned out to be a very captivating discussion that we ended up going to bed after midnight.

Lying on my bed that same night brought me recollecting what one of my elementary teachers once told us: “Believing in aliens and UFOs is a sin. They’re nothing but products of imagination.” As a result, guilt sprouted from my system because I’m a Christian and I still couldn’t defend my stand regarding the matter. I chose to value more the teachings of the elders like that teacher who disproved the existence of the subjects, until then.

The following day, my grandma, who was once a teacher for 21 years and a religious person, came over for a visit. She’s also one of the smartest people I’ve ever known. The adjective I used for my grandma triggered the idea of eliciting her say about aliens and UFOs amid the fact that I was indisposed by her possible answer. I wasn’t certain if she will entertain such thing, but I did it anyway.

It was already lunchtime when I approached her at the sala where she inclined her body on our botaka and spoke out my straightaway question: “Grandma, are aliens and UFOs real?” She gave me a squint look and said, “Why did you ask that?” I replied, “I just want to know what you have to say about them. That’s all.” A few seconds after, she began expressing these words which are now vividly resonating through my ears again: “The universe is limitless so it’s probable that other creatures such as aliens exist out there.” Her answer came as a surprise considering that our reasons contain the same meat.

Since then, grandma’s words have been supporting my belief but after more than a decade, affirmed by experts, Mr. Jaime T. Licauco and Father José Gabriel Funes, S.J. The article of the former last 26 May 2008 in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Inner Awareness: Believing in ET’s is not in conflict with Christianity) says it all. The source is the Catholic News Agency‘s article published last 13 May 2008 from the 45-year-old Argentinean priest, José Gabriel Funes, who is the current director of the Vatican observatory. Here’s an excerpt of the article:

The Director of the Vatican’s Observatory, Fr. José Gabriel Funes, said in an interview with the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, that believing in the possible existence of extraterrestrial  life is not opposed to Catholic doctrine.

The 45-year-old Argentinean priest heads the Vatican Observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII with offices at Castelgandolfo, near the Apostolic summer palace, and another in Tucson, Arizona. Fr. Funes has been in charge of the Observatory since August 2006.

The astronomer began the interview titled, “The Alien is my Brother,” by saying that, “Astronomy has a profound human value. It is a science that opens the heart and the mind. It helps us to put our lives, our hopes, our problems in the right perspective. In this regard, and here I speak as a priest and a Jesuit, it is an apostolic instrument that can bring us closer to God”, said Fr. Funes in the interview. 

Regarding the beginning of the universe, Fr. Funes says that he personally believes that the “big bang” theory seems to him the most plausible, and that it does not contradict the Bible. “We cannot ask the Bible for a scientific answer here. At the same time, we don’t know if in a near future the ‘Big Bang‘ theory will be superseded by a more complete and precise explanation of the origin of the universe.”

When he was asked about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, the Director of the Vatican Observatory responded that “it is possible, even if until now, we have no proof. But certainly in such a big universe this hypothesis cannot be excluded.”

Asked is he sees a contradiction between the Catholic faith and believing in aliens, he said, “I think there isn’t (a contradiction). Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures over the earth, so there could be other beings, even intelligent (beings), created by God. This is not in contradiction with our faith, because we cannot establish limits to God’s creative freedom. To say it with St. Francis, if we can consider some earthly creatures as ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’, why could we not speak of a ‘brother alien’? He would also belong to the creation.

I must say that stumbling upon that article made all the difference. Aside from the affirmation it presented, it also erased the guilt that was once tattooed on my belief.

So now, I want to formally give my regards to our extraterrestrial brothers and sisters.

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