For decades now, we've been looking out far into the cosmos for evidence of extraterrestrial

life but haven't yet found even simple alien microbes.

So, are we really alone in the universe, or are we just looking in the wrong places?

Perhaps the alien life we're searching for isn't on some distant, barren planet, but

is instead right in front of our eyes.

This is Unveiled and today we're answering the extraordinary question; Are aliens hiding

in plain sight?

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The problem with identifying aliens is that we only have one example of life to base our

observations on.

Every living creature that we know is carbon-based and lives on Earth, adapted to survive under

this particular planet's conditions.

But, in all likelihood, if true aliens exist then they won't follow the science fiction

stereotype we're typically shown; often tall, usually green and also humanoid creatures.

What's more probable is that they'll look nothing like us, so much so that we could

potentially fail to recognize them as living beings were we to meet them.

Perhaps their bodies would have a totally different composition - something non-carbon-based;

or maybe they wouldn't even have bodies in the first place - at least, not as we understand

them.

Historically speaking, we've already had enough trouble trying to define the Earthly

life that we can at least comprehend.

Aristotle said that life constituted beings that consume nutrients and reproduce… but

contemporary scientists and philosophers now appreciate single-celled, asexual organisms,

as well - which are, in fact, far more abundant than the more complex life forms like us,

animals and insects.

Should we ever encounter extraterrestrial beings, then, our definition of “what life

is” would need to dramatically change once again.

And yet, depending on who you ask, aliens seem to be close by.

In the 1950s and '60s, “Project Blue Book” saw the US government keep record of more

than 12,000 UFO sightings - with a reported 701 of those remaining unexplained.

And, while the mid-twentieth century was a particularly busy period for UFO sightings,

the idea (or fear) that aliens may have already landed on Earth has remained.

Say just one of those sightings (or any reported since) has truth to it… then what happened

next?

Space is big - far too big you'd think for an extraterrestrial to successfully journey

all the way to Earth only to make a couple of crop circles (or whatever else it is that

theorists say they do) and go home...

So, if aliens were to be visiting us frequently (or if they were to have never left) then

they'd have to have evaded detection for decades by now.

But, how?

If aliens are hiding in plain sight, then we can see them without really seeing them.

In what could be a perfect strategy, they'd blend in just enough so that we unknowingly

look right past them.

And, while this is a purely hypothetical prospect, some scientists have suggested that it could

be possible - pointing towards one of the most mysterious phenomena we know of, but

this time as a potential habitat for alien life: Dark matter.

Dark matter contains most of the mass in the universe, as all of the visible matter that

we see only accounts for around 4% of the total there is.

Because of this, there's a somewhat controversial theory that dark matter could actually be

(or include) a form of alien life, so strange that we can't appreciate or even notice

it.

Theoretical Physicist Lisa Randall builds on the idea, too, proposing that dark matter

might be composed of particles that spawn life but also stars and planets - all beyond

our perception.

To go further still, and to add in the similarly hypothetical multiverse theory, perhaps dark

matter is what another intelligent life besides our own ascended to by unlocking other dimensions.

After all, with roles reversed, everything we've ever known - our observable matter

- would only make up 4% of their reality…

We'd be a scattered curiosity to them, but they'd be an ever-present higher power to

us.

Perhaps the idea of “other dimensions” existing is the key, though.

While humans can really only perceive three or four dimensions - length, width, and depth

(and maybe time) - there are various ideas on how many more there could be; with as many

as twenty-six according to Bosonic String Theory.

Standard string theory scales it down to an only slightly more manageable ten, however,

at least six of which are beyond our reach… but perhaps they're not beyond the reach

of mysterious “other beings”.

Carl Sagan explained this idea via the writer Edwin Abbott Abbott's creation; “Flatland”

- a hypothetical world where all living things exist in only two dimensions.

They see forward and back, left and right, but not up and down.

If a three-dimensional being like us were to step into Flatland and speak, the creatures

there would hear our voice as though coming from inside their own bodies.

It's a fun thought experiment, but if other dimensions did exist and aliens did inhabit

them, then they too would be completely unknowable to us.

In this way, there could be aliens right in front of our faces… but we'd really never

receive even a hint that they were there because we could never understand their dimensional

make-up.

On a smaller, slightly less mind-bending scale, we already know that human perception is both

limited and prone to being deceived.

Human beings see only a very small percentage of the total electromagnetic spectrum, leaving

everything else from gamma rays to radio waves imperceptible to us.

True, in some cases we've developed machines to detect what we otherwise couldn't, but

if aliens were to somehow exist in any of the bands beyond the comprehension of the

human eyeball, then they would be invisible to us… appearing only as perhaps a mysterious

anomaly on a computer screen somewhere.

What's an even weirder prospect, though, is the idea that aliens might also see reality

via a different part of the spectrum, in which case they also wouldn't be aware of us.

But wait, maybe it doesn't need to be quite so weird.

Forget that potential aliens could have access to different dimensions or lurk across unseen

regions of the electromagnetic spectrum… perhaps, instead, they're actually masquerading

as something everyone on Earth could recognise; the octopus!

It's a creature that has long been used for sci-fi comparisons thanks to its unusual

appearance and some extraordinary skills; like the ability to shapeshift and camouflage

itself…

But, one of the strangest aspects of the octopus, and what's left many a scientist stumped,

is that its unique mix of traits have seemingly come from nowhere.

A 2018 paper (worked on by 33 scientists from around the world) notes that the octopus'

large brain, camera-like eyes and flexible body appear very suddenly on the evolutionary

tree of life, and allegedly without precedent.

That is, there's no agreed-upon line of evolution for them.

Octopuses appear so foreign to Earth, in fact, that the paper even suggests that they could've

originally arrived here as alien life.

So the theory goes, octopuses could be the product of panspermia, with the building blocks

for their existence brought to Earth on an asteroid or something else from space.

When you consider that a staggering majority of the Earth's oceans are actually unexplored

by humans, as well… could more secrets to extraterrestrial life already be with us,

just hidden deep in the ocean?

It's arguably one of the most farfetched alien theories out there, and easily one of

the most controversial in the scientific community, but the uniqueness of the octopus is beyond

doubt.

If nothing else, the possibilities show that when searching for evidence of extra-terrestrials,

we need to be willing to stretch even what we believe is physically possible.

From odd-but-recognisable creatures to totally unreachable other realms, if we only look

for what we know, then we could end up missing out on a lot.

The universe holds plenty of unanswered questions, the solutions to which could open our eyes

to alien life.

Or, maybe, it really is just us alone in the cosmos, hoping and expecting that some other

life form will reveal itself when, really, it'll never come.

Until we have conclusive proof one way or the other, it's a debate that'll keep

on running.

But that's why aliens could be hiding in plain sight.

What do you think?

Is there anything we missed?

Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you

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