Are Aliens Real, or Is It All a Grand Illusion? Scientists Weigh In

The question sounds like science fiction, but scientists treat it as a serious problem with two very different parts. One asks whether life exists anywhere beyond Earth. The other asks whether intelligent aliens have visited us, contacted us, or left evidence we can verify.

Those questions do not have the same answer. NASA says extraterrestrial life has not yet been discovered and there is no scientifically supported evidence for life on another planet, but it also stresses that the search has barely begun across Mars, icy moons, and exoplanets. Meanwhile, Durham University researchers found that many scientists think extraterrestrial life probably exists somewhere, even if proof remains missing.