Are aliens extraterrestrial?

As you may or may not know, who read this post, ATS has a charming little encyclopedia wiki for all things ATS. That's a good thing, of course, because these things are quite commonly of 'the unknown'. Some things are better left uknown, if I remember that saying correctly, but the things that are talked about in ATS are largely stuff that would be good to get clarified. And what better way to clarify something than to look it up in the encyclopedia? Unfortunately, though, these topics can usually not be looked up in any existing encyclopedia ...which is why the ATS users, and those of similar interest, would have to first write that encyclopedia themselves.

So, trying to improve the entry on aliens, I ask for help in clarifying the very interesting question of: are aliens extraterrestrial? Are they from some other place in the galaxy, perhaps even from some other galaxy ...or another universe, even? Or can an alien also be something other than a space traveller, such as a spirit or being from another dimension, or a time traveller, or perhaps some kind of humanoid from some hidden places on earth, like deep in the ocean, or even from inside the earth? Help out, reply to this thread, or go directly at it and edit the encyclopdia entry in ATS' very own

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Optimist

It depends on your definition (I know thats what your asking for)


alien
Adjective
1. foreign
2. from another world

a·li·en
adj
1. An unnaturalized foreign resident of a country. Also called noncitizen.
2. A person from another and very different family, people, or place.
3. A person who is not included in a group; an outsider.

alien - a form of life assumed to exist outside the Earth or its atmosphere

Aliens Plural More then 1
This term is used to define the Extraterestrial kind and Also the Elegal kind.

IE The Aliens live on mars
IE. Those Bloody Aliens are taking my job !!

Its a verbose word that has many meanings and inflections..
It can be used to describe just about anything unknown or different..



[edit on 25-8-2008 by wolfmanjack]

I would not consider that any species, physical or spiritual, which originates on Earth, to be alien in the sense that I think Optimist is talking about.

I think that a spiritual (non-physical) entity that originates off-Earth would be an alien in that sense.

Parallel or other-dimensional Earths I would have to think about.