Below is the online edition of In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood,
by Dr. Walt Brown. Copyright © Center for Scientific Creation. All rights reserved.
Click here to order the hardbound 8th edition (2008) and other materials.
Is There Life in Outer Space?
There have been at least 16 major announcements that intelligent life had been found in outer space. After further study, all turned out to be false alarms. Many mistakes were humorous and showed a clear bias to “find” what reinforced unscientific beliefs.1
However verifiable physical evidence, already explained in this book, shows that as a consequence of the flood, life in the form of bacteria are probably on other bodies in the solar system—not advanced life, or life beyond the solar system, or “little green men.”
During the first weeks of the flood, the fountains of the great deep launched into space not only water, rocks, and dirt, but also some of the vegetation that grew abundantly on the preflood Earth. On that vegetation, there would have been a variety of bacteria that could survive in the cold, oxygen-free environment of space. Those bacteria proliferated, because they carried their food source (vegetation) with them and had little competition from other forms of life, most of which died in the hostile environment of outer space.
As these bacteria consumed their vegetation, methane (CH4) was produced. On Earth, methane almost always comes from anaerobic bacteria (bacteria that do not require oxygen).2 For example, bacteria in the digestive tracks of ruminant animals (such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and camels) produce at least 20% of the methane in Earth’s atmosphere. Bacteria in other animals and humans produce much less methane. On rare occasions, small amounts of methane can be produced by a reaction between the mineral olivine and liquid water, but, of course, liquid water rarely exists in outer space. Therefore, bacteria probably produced the methane that has been detected (or believed to be present) on all planets in the solar system, on some comets, asteroids and trans-Neptunian objects, and on most of the larger moons. Living, but dormant, bacteria have even been discovered in meteorites. [See "Meteorites Return Home" on page 357.]
Titan. One example is Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, which has large amounts of methane. Because Titan’s average temperature is an extremely cold -179°C, and methane (normally a gas on Earth) liquefies at -161°C, Titan “is etched with canyons that are flooded with liquid” methane.3
[Titan] remains an enigma, explored only by remote sensing from Earth, and by the Voyager and Cassini spacecraft. The most puzzling aspects include the origin of the molecular nitrogen and methane in its atmosphere, and the mechanism(s) by which methane is maintained in the face of rapid destruction by photolysis.4
It should not be surprising that some methane remains on Titan despite the “rapid destruction” of methane by the Sun’s radiation, because the flood occurred recently. [See "When Was the Flood, the Exodus, and Creation?" on page 493.] Nor is it surprising to find the most abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere (molecular nitrogen, N2) on Titan, because the fountains of the great deep would have entrained and also launched some N2.
Mars. For similar reasons, Mars probably contains bacteria. Three independent groups of scientists have discovered methane (CH4) in Mars’ atmosphere. The quantities are small but significant, averaging about 10 parts per billion by volume. Sunlight slowly destroys methane, so something, must be replenishing that methane.5 (Volcanoes on Mars are dormant, and comets and asteroids are not hitting Mars fast enough today to replenish its methane, although they would have in the centuries after the flood. Also, methane in Mars’ atmosphere should mix uniformly in only a few months, but methane’s concentration varies around the planet and appears to be concentrated where water once flowed.6
PREDICTION 56: Bacteria will be found on Mars. Their DNA will be similar to Earth’s bacteria. Furthermore, isotopes of the carbon in Mars’ methane will show the methane’s origin is biological.
Earth. Most methane on Earth is trapped in molecule-size, crystalline cages formed by frozen water called hydrates. Each cage holds at least one methane molecule. Methane hydrates, first discovered in 1970, lie on the cold ocean floor off the coasts of all continents. [See “Methane Hydrates” on page 116 and the picture of “flaming ice.”] Methane hydrates contain more fossil fuel than is in all Earth’s coal and oil deposits combined. Why is so much methane there?
As the hydroplates suddenly crushed and thickened during the compression event at the end of the flood, draining flood waters swept vegetation off the edge of continents. Bacteria, which are extremely small and plentiful,7 were on each leaf fragment, blade of grass, and log, as they are today. If bacteria have food, they can survive and multiply exponentially even in the cold, wet sediments on the ocean floors. Preflood vegetation deposited around all continents was that food, so its carbon became the main part of methane, a by-product of decay. At the temperatures and pressures on the ocean floor, most methane becomes methane hydrates.
Those who believe that advanced life exists on distant planets base their belief on the following reasoning:
Life evolved on Earth. Because the universe is so immense and contains so many heavenly bodies, life must have evolved on other planets as well.
This flawed reasoning assumes that life evolved on Earth, but overwhelming evidence shows that life is so complex it could not have evolved—anywhere! [See pages 7–27.] Over the last 150 years, our culture has been so saturated with evolution theory that some uncritically believe life evolved, so they excitedly conclude that life must also have evolved on at least a few of the multitude of other planets.
Yes, there are billions of planets. [See “Have Planets Been Discovered Outside the Solar System” on page 530.] However, the probability of just one living cell forming by natural processes is so infinitesimal, even considering the vast number of planets, that the likelihood of life evolving from dead matter anywhere in the universe is virtually zero!
Despite popular and influential science fiction books and films, such as Star Wars, E.T., Star Trek, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, there really is no scientific evidence for intelligent extraterrestrial life, even though hundreds of millions of tax dollars have been spent trying to find life in outer space. Conditions outside Earth are more destructive than almost anyone suspected before space exploration began: deadly radiation, extreme gravitational forces, poisonous gases, gigantic explosions, and the absence of the proper atmospheres and chemical elements. Unfortunately, these physical realities do not excite public imagination as much as science fiction and evolutionary stories.
A few researchers are searching for radio signals from outer space that would imply an intelligent source. Radio telescopes, linked with computers, simultaneously search millions of radio frequencies for a nonrandom, nonnatural, extraterrestrial signal—any short sequence of information. But the long sequence of information in the DNA of every living thing on Earth is a sign of a vast intelligence—a Creator with unfathomable intelligence. Those searching for extraterrestrial life believe life evolved naturally in outer space. If they ever accepted just the DNA evidence for a Creator, the evolutionary basis for their search would disappear. [See “Codes, Programs, and Information” on page 11.]
If life evolved in outer space as easily as some believe, many extraterrestrial “civilizations” should exist, especially on planets around stars that evolutionists claim are older than our Sun. Wouldn’t some civilizations that were technologically superior to ours have tried to reach us when they realized that Earth has abundant life? Any superior civilization within our galaxy would probably have already explored our solar system, at least with robots. As the famous physicist Enrico Fermi once said when asked if he thought life existed beyond Earth, “Where is everybody? ” Because we have no verifiable evidence of any of this, intelligent extraterrestrial life probably does not exist, certainly within our Milky Way Galaxy.
Almost all stories of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have since been traced to natural or manmade causes. Even if technically advanced flying objects exist, they may have a terrestrial, not extraterrestrial, origin. The United States, for example, developed and flew the superfast SR-71 aircraft and its prototype several years before most senior military officers in the United States knew such technology was possible. Evidence that UFOs are from extraterrestrial civilizations, although not disproved, has not been verified and usually relies on the truthfulness, rationality, and accuracy of a few alleged witnesses.
Could God have created life elsewhere? Certainly, but the Bible is largely silent on this subject. However, the Bible does say, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” (Exodus 20:11a) So, if life were created in outer space, it would have happened during the six creation days.
Three other Bible verses suggest that conscious, rational life is unique to Earth.
1. Romans 8:22 states, “the whole creation groans and suffers” because of Adam’s sin. This would be a strange statement if humanlike beings existed in outer space, because it would mean that those not descended from Adam suffer because of his sin.
2. Romans 5:12 tells us, “through one man [Adam] sin entered the world.” The Greek word we translate as “world” is kosmos, which generally means the entire universe. Again, if intelligent beings exist beyond Earth, they would be suffering for Adam’s sin.
3. Genesis 1:14 states that the heavenly bodies were made “for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.” It does not say that they were created as habitats for other creatures.