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[Space](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/) 2. [UFO Central](https://www.popularmechanics.com/ufo-central/) 3. [7 Solid Reasons to Actually Believe in Aliens](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/g28364054/are-aliens-real/) # 7 Solid Reasons to Actually Believe in Aliens We can’t be the only ones in the vast expanse of the cosmos ... right? By [Daisy Hernandez](https://www.popularmechanics.com/author/429539/daisy-hernandez/ "Daisy Hernandez") Updated: Jan 11, 2024 4:13 PM EST   24  Bettmann//Getty Images Are [aliens](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a39797483/aliens-created-our-universe-in-a-lab/) real? We don’t know for sure, but we *want* to believe. Outer space is a [vast expanse](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a32109712/how-many-galaxies/#:~:text=Current%20estimates%20suggest%20there%20may,galaxies%20in%20the%20observable%20universe.) that we have so much more to learn about, which is why it’s hard to flat-out deny the possibility that other intelligent lifeforms exist. If life can exist—and persist—in seclusion, and in some of the harshest conditions on Earth (just look at [tardigrades](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a11137/tardigrades-water-bears/)), it’s likely that other interplanetary lifeforms have evolved and acclimated to conditions in space, too. As the renowned science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the [universe](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a39745160/anti-universe-running-backward-in-time/) or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Several discoveries and theories from some of the greatest minds in science point to the likelihood that there’s *something* beyond us in the universe, so there’s a pretty decent chance we have neighbors somewhere in the ether. It’s time to consider the evidence—here are seven solid reasons for believing aliens are among us. **➡️ More From *P**opular Mechanics*:** - [Lue Elizondo Ran the Pentagon’s UFO Unit—and Says the Government Is Withholding What It Knows](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a43490964/lue-elizondo-ufo-truth/) - [Alien Dreams Dashed: Study Says Aliens Potentially 400,000 Years Away](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a39905344/alien-contact-400000-years-away/) - [This 1968 Pamphlet Uncovers How the Air Force Used to Handle UFO Sightings](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a38818545/air-force-ufo-sightings/) 1 ## USS Nimitz 2004 Event [View full post on YouTube](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/g28364054/are-aliens-real/youtube.com) On November 14, 2004, a training mission near San Diego became one that Commander David Fravor will never forget—and remains one he still can’t explain. Fravor recalls seeing a Tic Tac-shaped object that moved much faster than the capability of any known weaponry that currently exists. “We’re flying brand new [Super Hornets](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a24538/f-a-18-badass-plane/). It was an air defense exercise—two good guys against two bad guys,” [Fravor said in a History Channel video interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTLSQCF6ohQ). Everything seemed normal until the USS *Princeton* called upon Fravor and company for a real-world task. Changing course, it wasn’t long before Fravor and the other pilots saw something strange: what appeared to be a [sunken plane or submerging submarine](https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/g29370431/best-shipwrecks/) moving erratically right under the water’s surface. “It’s white, it has no wings, it has no rotors, I go ‘holy, what is that?’’’ Fravor said. The UFO had no windows, and it’s reported that infrared monitors failed to pick up on any exhaust fumes. ****➡ READ THIS NEXT: [The Navy’s UFO Witnesses Speak Out](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a63549222/navy-ufo-witnesses-nimitz-encounter/)**** Fravor says it wasn’t long before his curiosity got the best of him, and he decided to get a closer look. As Fravor began descending toward the water, the craft surfaced, rapidly ascended, and began mirroring Fravor’s flight pattern. Then, in an instant, it zipped past the nose of Fravor’s jet and disappeared. When Fravor and the other pilots got back to the USS *Nimitz*, they shared their experiences with the rest of the crew. Shortly afterward, another pilot took off in search of the UFO—and succeeded. This pilot managed to get a lock on the Tic Tac, which happens to be the footage seen here. [The Navy has officially released the footage](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a32289669/navy-official-release-ufo-videos/) (after it had originally been leaked), but says the public was never supposed to see it in the first place. 2 ## WWII Foo Fighters [View full post on YouTube](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/g28364054/are-aliens-real/youtube.com) In November 1944, several members of the U.S. Air Force saw what would come to be known as “Foo Fighters,” a [name borrowed from the “Smokey Stover” comic strip](https://www.history.com/news/wwii-ufos-allied-airmen-orange-lights-foo-fighters). The Foo Fighters were described as a type of mysterious aircraft that glowed red and could zip and turn through the skies with incredible ease. Lt. Fred Ringwald, who happened to be a passenger in a night fighter that was flying over the Rhine Valley, was the first to see the lights. Airmen reported seeing between eight and ten of the aircraft lined up in a row. Concerned that they might be enemy aircraft, the group checked with the ground radar team, who hadn’t registered any odd activity. One of the pilots turned his aircraft around in preparation for a fight, only to find the lights had vanished as quickly as they appeared. ****👽 DIVE DEEPER: [What Do Aliens Actually Look Like?](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/g1592/we-asked-7-experts-what-would-aliens-actually-look-like/)**** The sightings didn’t stop there, though. In mid-December 1944, a different pilot saw what was described as a display of flashing red and green lights that created a T-formation, which also disappeared as quickly as they came. Several more sightings ensued, and although people tried to come up with explanations for them—the airmen were suffering from “combat fatigue,” the lights were a result of some kind of weird weather phenomena, they came from some new, groundbreaking [Nazi technology](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a21800/forgotten-weapons-wwii-curve-a-bullet/)—they still remain a mystery. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 3 ## Oumuamua: Alien Craft or Asteroid?  MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY//Getty Images Avi Loeb, an impressively credentialed scientist who taught at Harvard and chaired the university’s Astronomy Department, has put forth an [interesting, but seemingly far-fetched, hypothesis](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1810.11490.pdf): the asteroid Oumuamua is actually [space debris from an alien structure](https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/a-top-harvard-astronomer-thinks-hes-found-proof-of-aliens-he-refuses-to-back-down-is-he-smart-or-just-stubborn.html) or a defunct alien spacecraft. Coming from anyone else, this might seem crazy. But again, Loeb knows a thing or two about the machinations of space. While truthers are soaking up the Oumuamua theory, however, Loeb’s colleagues are highly disappointed and upset that he’s posited what they’re calling an “[insult \[to\] honest scientific inquiry](https://twitter.com/PaulMattSutter/status/1059847134130753536).” ****➡️ UP NEXT: [NASA Wants to Beam a Message to Aliens, But It Could Give Away Humanity’s Greatest Secrets](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a39619585/nasa-wants-to-beam-a-message-to-aliens/)**** A [March 2021 study](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020JE006807) by Arizona State University astrophysicists posits that the object is a nitrogen iceberg broken off from a Pluto-like planet in a distant star system. In part, it would explain how reflective the object is. Loeb [countered](https://observer.com/2021/11/new-study-origin-alien-object-oumuamua/) that the chunk would have had to originate on a planet with an unrealistically high density. So the jury’s still out on this mysterious chunk of [space debris](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/satellites/a34383707/space-junk-collision-risks/). 4 ## A Plethora of Exoplanets [View full post on YouTube](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/g28364054/are-aliens-real/youtube.com) On March 21, 2022, NASA confirmed the number of [exoplanets](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a38748245/exoplanet-shaped-like-a-rugby-ball/) is over 5,000, and we can expect that figure to only grow as we improve technology that’s able to probe the nether regions of space. This means there are thousands of known planets that haven’t been explored at length *and* several more awaiting discovery that could be comprised of environments with the ability to sustain life. ****FEED YOUR MIND: [Government Says UFOs Aren’t American Technology, Can’t Rule Out Alien Origins](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a36630077/government-ufo-report-does-not-rule-out-aliens/)**** Who’s to say one (or multiple) exoplanets aren’t already home to intelligent extraterrestrial beings? Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 5 ## The Odds Are Good If there are so many other planets in the universe, then “where is everybody?” That’s the question posed by Nobel prize-winning physicist [Enrico Fermi](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a32749273/what-is-fermi-paradox/) in 1950. His following thought experiment on the matter is known as Fermi’s Paradox. In short, he surmised that given humanity’s existence and the age of the universe, it’s incredibly likely that there *is* other intelligent life out there, despite us not finding any signs of it (yet). Since then, some scientists have better defined those odds with math. In a paper published in *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* in 2020, [astronomer David Kipping](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32603529/math-formula-aliens-exist/) used Bayesian statistics to determine that the odds of intelligent life developing on an Earth-like planet are a favorable 3:2. A [different study](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a39905344/alien-contact-400000-years-away/) by Chinese astronomers, published in *The Astrophysical Journal* in 2022, used Monte Carlo simulations to estimate how many “communicating extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations”—CETIs for short—there might be within our galaxy, as well as how long it might take for us to finally communicate with any. The researchers determined there could be anywhere from 42,000 to 111 CETIs in the Milky Way. They also determined it could take anywhere from 2,000 years to 400,000 years for us to be able to communicate with them. 6 ## The Pentagon’s UFO Interests  ClassicStock//Getty Images In 2007, the Department of Defense (DoD) [created a program](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a30916275/government-secret-ufo-program-investigation/) called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) to study “space-related phenomena that could not be easily explained, usually involving the appearance of high-speed, unidentified aircraft,” per *New York* *Magazine’s* [Intelligencer](http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/12/reports-the-pentagon-spent-millions-on-ufo-research.html?gtm=bottom). *➡ ***READ THIS: [Inside the Pentagon’s Secret UFO Program](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a30916275/government-secret-ufo-program-investigation/)**** The covert program was headed by military intelligence official [Luis Elizondo](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a43490964/lue-elizondo-ufo-truth/), who sought to investigate reports of UFO encounters. A decade later, Elizondo quit working at the Pentagon and [confirmed AATIP’s existence to the *New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html). Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 7 ## SETI Institute [View full post on YouTube](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/g28364054/are-aliens-real/youtube.com) The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence ([SETI](https://www.seti.org/)) Institute was founded by [Carl Sagan](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a20185/1985-interview-carl-sagan/) and Jill Tarter, two astronomers who believe there’s more to interplanetary life than us. SETI’s mission is “to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence.” The Institute works with NASA and the National Science Foundation as a research contractor to pool resources and explore the possibility of intelligent life on other planets. Aside from optical and radio wave signals, SETI uses a [laser](https://www.seti.org/seti-institute-news-media-roundup-december-2021) detection system to look for signs of alien technology. Yep, an entire scientific organization that seeks to find other intelligent life in the universe actually exists. ****✅ BEFORE YOU GO: [We Can Explore Instead of Believe: Inside the Epic Hunt for E.T.](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a20054585/the-history-of-seti/)****  [Daisy Hernandez](https://www.popularmechanics.com/author/429539/daisy-hernandez/) Freelance writer Daisy Hernandez is a reporter, editor, and content creator with a background in print and digital media and has written for Sports Illustrated, Popular Mechanics, and Bicycling magazines. She loves to cook, frequently testing out new recipes on friends and family, and is a big fan of prehistoric science, travel, Halloween, trivia, and dogs. You can find it on Instagram and Twitter. Watch Next Advertisement - Continue Reading Below ## [UFO Central](https://www.popularmechanics.com/ufo-central/) [The Secret Soviet Space Weapon Mistaken for a UFO](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a70479765/the-secret-soviet-space-weapon-mistaken-for-a-ufo-history/) [Navy UFO Witnesses Reveal Nimitz Encounter Details](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a63549222/navy-ufo-witnesses-nimitz-encounter/) [Scientists Say They Know How to Find Dyson Rings](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a63174640/dyson-rings-alien-search/) [Could Fusion Energy Also Help Us Find Alien Life?](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a63228752/fusion-energy-aliens/) Advertisement - Continue Reading Below [Dyson Spheres Could Reveal Alien Civilizations](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a63159523/dyson-spheres-hidden-patterns-alien-civilizations/) [UFO Tech Fuels Secret Arms Race, Ex-Official Says](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a62991034/immaculate-constellation-ufo-unit/) [Alien Life Might Form in Unlikely Realities](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a62923140/alien-life-in-unlikely-realities/) [A Father-Daughter Duo Cracked an ‘Alien’ Code](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a62787904/alien-message/) [Where You Can Look at Every Single UFO Report Ever](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a62396621/government-ufo-reports-and-records/) [Wild Theory Offers Reason We Haven’t Found Aliens](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a60701401/why-aliens-havent-contacted-us-yet/) [What Do Alien Space Probes Look Like?](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a46754311/what-do-alien-probes-look-like/) [5 Alien Hoaxes That Prove We Truly Want to Believe](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a46628896/alien-hoaxes/) Advertisement - Continue Reading Below [](https://www.popularmechanics.com/) [](https://x.com/PopMech) [](https://www.tiktok.com/@popularmechanics?lang=en) [](https://www.youtube.com/c/popularmechanics?sub_confirmation=1) [](https://www.facebook.com/popularmechanics) [](https://www.instagram.com/popularmechanics/) [](https://www.pinterest.com/popmech/?auto_follow=1) [Newsletter](https://www.popularmechanics.com/newsletter)[About Us](https://www.popularmechanics.com/about/a45/about-us/)[Media Kit](http://www.popularmechanicsmediakit.com/r5/home.asp)[Writer Guidelines](https://www.popularmechanics.com/about/a34246962/how-to-pitch-popular-mechanics/)[Press Room](http://www.hearst.com/news)[Contact Us](https://www.popularmechanics.com/about/a2922/contact-us/)[Community Guidelines](https://www.popularmechanics.com/about/a3024/community-guidelines/)[Advertise Online](https://www.advertising.hearstmagazines.com/brands/popular-mechanics)[Customer Service](https://www.popularmechanics.com/service)[Subscribe](https://shop.popularmechanics.com/popular-mechanics-all-access-3.html?cds_tracking_code=popfooter)[Digital Issues](https://www.popularmechanics.com/promotions/a40118846/download-exclusive-pop-mech-digital-issues/)[PopMech Pro Membership Perks](https://www.popularmechanics.com/about/a46147319/pop-mech-pro-membership/)  A Part of Hearst Digital Media We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. ©2026 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. 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1 ## USS Nimitz 2004 Event On November 14, 2004, a training mission near San Diego became one that Commander David Fravor will never forget—and remains one he still can’t explain. Fravor recalls seeing a Tic Tac-shaped object that moved much faster than the capability of any known weaponry that currently exists. “We’re flying brand new [Super Hornets](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a24538/f-a-18-badass-plane/). It was an air defense exercise—two good guys against two bad guys,” [Fravor said in a History Channel video interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTLSQCF6ohQ). Everything seemed normal until the USS *Princeton* called upon Fravor and company for a real-world task. Changing course, it wasn’t long before Fravor and the other pilots saw something strange: what appeared to be a [sunken plane or submerging submarine](https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/g29370431/best-shipwrecks/) moving erratically right under the water’s surface. “It’s white, it has no wings, it has no rotors, I go ‘holy, what is that?’’’ Fravor said. The UFO had no windows, and it’s reported that infrared monitors failed to pick up on any exhaust fumes. ****➡ READ THIS NEXT: [The Navy’s UFO Witnesses Speak Out](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a63549222/navy-ufo-witnesses-nimitz-encounter/)**** Fravor says it wasn’t long before his curiosity got the best of him, and he decided to get a closer look. As Fravor began descending toward the water, the craft surfaced, rapidly ascended, and began mirroring Fravor’s flight pattern. Then, in an instant, it zipped past the nose of Fravor’s jet and disappeared. When Fravor and the other pilots got back to the USS *Nimitz*, they shared their experiences with the rest of the crew. Shortly afterward, another pilot took off in search of the UFO—and succeeded. This pilot managed to get a lock on the Tic Tac, which happens to be the footage seen here. [The Navy has officially released the footage](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a32289669/navy-official-release-ufo-videos/) (after it had originally been leaked), but says the public was never supposed to see it in the first place. 2 ## WWII Foo Fighters In November 1944, several members of the U.S. Air Force saw what would come to be known as “Foo Fighters,” a [name borrowed from the “Smokey Stover” comic strip](https://www.history.com/news/wwii-ufos-allied-airmen-orange-lights-foo-fighters). The Foo Fighters were described as a type of mysterious aircraft that glowed red and could zip and turn through the skies with incredible ease. Lt. Fred Ringwald, who happened to be a passenger in a night fighter that was flying over the Rhine Valley, was the first to see the lights. Airmen reported seeing between eight and ten of the aircraft lined up in a row. Concerned that they might be enemy aircraft, the group checked with the ground radar team, who hadn’t registered any odd activity. One of the pilots turned his aircraft around in preparation for a fight, only to find the lights had vanished as quickly as they appeared. ****👽 DIVE DEEPER: [What Do Aliens Actually Look Like?](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/g1592/we-asked-7-experts-what-would-aliens-actually-look-like/)**** The sightings didn’t stop there, though. In mid-December 1944, a different pilot saw what was described as a display of flashing red and green lights that created a T-formation, which also disappeared as quickly as they came. Several more sightings ensued, and although people tried to come up with explanations for them—the airmen were suffering from “combat fatigue,” the lights were a result of some kind of weird weather phenomena, they came from some new, groundbreaking [Nazi technology](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a21800/forgotten-weapons-wwii-curve-a-bullet/)—they still remain a mystery. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 3 ## Oumuamua: Alien Craft or Asteroid?  MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY//Getty Images Avi Loeb, an impressively credentialed scientist who taught at Harvard and chaired the university’s Astronomy Department, has put forth an [interesting, but seemingly far-fetched, hypothesis](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1810.11490.pdf): the asteroid Oumuamua is actually [space debris from an alien structure](https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/a-top-harvard-astronomer-thinks-hes-found-proof-of-aliens-he-refuses-to-back-down-is-he-smart-or-just-stubborn.html) or a defunct alien spacecraft. Coming from anyone else, this might seem crazy. But again, Loeb knows a thing or two about the machinations of space. While truthers are soaking up the Oumuamua theory, however, Loeb’s colleagues are highly disappointed and upset that he’s posited what they’re calling an “[insult \[to\] honest scientific inquiry](https://twitter.com/PaulMattSutter/status/1059847134130753536).” ****➡️ UP NEXT: [NASA Wants to Beam a Message to Aliens, But It Could Give Away Humanity’s Greatest Secrets](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a39619585/nasa-wants-to-beam-a-message-to-aliens/)**** A [March 2021 study](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020JE006807) by Arizona State University astrophysicists posits that the object is a nitrogen iceberg broken off from a Pluto-like planet in a distant star system. In part, it would explain how reflective the object is. Loeb [countered](https://observer.com/2021/11/new-study-origin-alien-object-oumuamua/) that the chunk would have had to originate on a planet with an unrealistically high density. So the jury’s still out on this mysterious chunk of [space debris](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/satellites/a34383707/space-junk-collision-risks/). 4 ## A Plethora of Exoplanets On March 21, 2022, NASA confirmed the number of [exoplanets](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a38748245/exoplanet-shaped-like-a-rugby-ball/) is over 5,000, and we can expect that figure to only grow as we improve technology that’s able to probe the nether regions of space. This means there are thousands of known planets that haven’t been explored at length *and* several more awaiting discovery that could be comprised of environments with the ability to sustain life. ****FEED YOUR MIND: [Government Says UFOs Aren’t American Technology, Can’t Rule Out Alien Origins](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a36630077/government-ufo-report-does-not-rule-out-aliens/)**** Who’s to say one (or multiple) exoplanets aren’t already home to intelligent extraterrestrial beings? Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 5 ## The Odds Are Good If there are so many other planets in the universe, then “where is everybody?” That’s the question posed by Nobel prize-winning physicist [Enrico Fermi](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a32749273/what-is-fermi-paradox/) in 1950. His following thought experiment on the matter is known as Fermi’s Paradox. In short, he surmised that given humanity’s existence and the age of the universe, it’s incredibly likely that there *is* other intelligent life out there, despite us not finding any signs of it (yet). Since then, some scientists have better defined those odds with math. In a paper published in *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* in 2020, [astronomer David Kipping](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32603529/math-formula-aliens-exist/) used Bayesian statistics to determine that the odds of intelligent life developing on an Earth-like planet are a favorable 3:2. A [different study](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a39905344/alien-contact-400000-years-away/) by Chinese astronomers, published in *The Astrophysical Journal* in 2022, used Monte Carlo simulations to estimate how many “communicating extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations”—CETIs for short—there might be within our galaxy, as well as how long it might take for us to finally communicate with any. The researchers determined there could be anywhere from 42,000 to 111 CETIs in the Milky Way. They also determined it could take anywhere from 2,000 years to 400,000 years for us to be able to communicate with them. 6 ## The Pentagon’s UFO Interests  ClassicStock//Getty Images Advertisement - Continue Reading Below 7 ## SETI Institute The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence ([SETI](https://www.seti.org/)) Institute was founded by [Carl Sagan](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a20185/1985-interview-carl-sagan/) and Jill Tarter, two astronomers who believe there’s more to interplanetary life than us. SETI’s mission is “to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence.” The Institute works with NASA and the National Science Foundation as a research contractor to pool resources and explore the possibility of intelligent life on other planets. Aside from optical and radio wave signals, SETI uses a [laser](https://www.seti.org/seti-institute-news-media-roundup-december-2021) detection system to look for signs of alien technology. Yep, an entire scientific organization that seeks to find other intelligent life in the universe actually exists. ****✅ BEFORE YOU GO: [We Can Explore Instead of Believe: Inside the Epic Hunt for E.T.](https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a20054585/the-history-of-seti/)****  Daisy Hernandez is a reporter, editor, and content creator with a background in print and digital media and has written for Sports Illustrated, Popular Mechanics, and Bicycling magazines. She loves to cook, frequently testing out new recipes on friends and family, and is a big fan of prehistoric science, travel, Halloween, trivia, and dogs. You can find it on Instagram and Twitter.