Interesting points so far
I should have made my own position clear in my first post, I'm
NOT a hardened sceptic, and I do believe there is something out there, but I
have a hard time accepting some of the more extreme/paranoid theories. I am an avid reader of UFO books and also the harder form of science fiction.
I'm not an expert on the subject, but hate not knowing where the wires or mirrors are in magic tricks.
Frith
Using the human race as an analogue, our major technological breakthroughs have been during major conflicts, therefore it is reasonable to suppose
that ETs have followed a similar path - It requires a need for something to be invented, the rockets that took Buzz and Neil to the Moon are the
direct decendents of those the chinese used to hurl at one another. Following on, I would expect that their weapons technology is in advance of our
own, and if we posed a serious threat we would have been bombed back to the stoneage by now, or again if we were of only minor concern, it would
possibly make more sense to educate us ala the "Contactees" of the 50s and the "Space Brother" theories.
Gazrock
Unless of course you use the "Clever Monkees" theory, which indicates that technological advance is not tied to war, and that a ET civillisation may
have be older than us but have advanced more slowly to the point where interstellar travel is possible and now requires heavy weaponry in which case a
clandestine contact with our government makes sense from a technology transfer and bio-engineering point of view - breading us to make a race of foot
soldiers.
Kenshiro
1. If it was scientific research, why abduct random humans? For observations to be valid it would surely make more sense to stay hidden (say high on
orbit or at one of the L-points), or to make contact and share the information.
2&3. I seem to remember that as far as our location goes we are in a galactic backwater, but I could have course be wrong, and from our own recent
history there are multiple examples of us using places like Accension Island to stage large military forces.
4. The "lost colony" theory, This is probably my favourite choice, as it explains why most ETs are described as humanoid with similar life-support
requirements, there are historical precedents in our own history such as Vikings in the Americas and Dutch shipwreakee's in Australia.
5. Fear is a strong motivator, but IMHO is more likely to provoke an extreme response of the "Fight or Flight" variety. If it was us out there
observing a culture at around the same point of us c1930's how would we react? There is a good chance they will have nuclear power in 10-20 years,
and spaceflight soon after. Would we Come In Peace, or Blow Them To Pieces.....Look at the political reaction to Iran and N.Korea's nuclear program.
Dicking around kidnapping the odd forester in the woods is more likely to provoke us than lead to long term peaceful relations. ET:"Hi we come in
peace, by the way we've got a hold full of human/ET hybrids and cow lips." Us:"Get em boys!"
I know what you are saying about the hundreds of theories out there, what I was hoping to do was provoke people into actually thinking them through
end-to-end, rather than what seems to be the more normal case of "Ancient Astronauts. Dude!, Cool!"
I've read a lot about the Hills case, as its covered in just about every UFO book and article you lay your hands on these days. I believe it was a
school teacher who took something like seven years to find the ZR match using ping-pong balls and string, it has since been proven using astromony
software, but on the flip side, it has also been said that given the number of stars in our galaxy its inevitable that a close match would be found
eventually.
My major bug-bear with most of the common theories is the shear
cost in terms of resources and energy. You have to pay the piper sometime, and
even assuming exotic technology like warp gates something is required to power them, although zero-point energy is a possibility.
Some things I try to bear in mind when reading about the various theroies is that:
1. We don't know everything.
2. Keep an open mind.