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The question 'Do you believe in UFOs' is non-specific, in that it is actually taken to mean 'Do you believe that we are being visited by aliens from another world'. Taken literally it simply means; are there things seen in our skies which we can't identify? I've seen something which I couldn't explain. Boring. I won't go into details as there's nothing worse than other peoples 'experiences'. However just because I couldn't explain it doesn't mean that someone with all the facts, or even viewing it from another angle, would have found it at all mysterious.
Scientists look for carbon-based life-forms, partly because that is what they understand, but mainly because carbon behaves in such a way as to make life possible. The methane based argument is redundant as methane comprises of carbon (CH4), therefore 'methane-based', would be carbon-based and it is an organic (formed from living matter) molecule. It is thought possible that silicon could also act in a similar way to carbon and so silicon is often considered too.
There is a theory that a certain eco-system in deep ocean vents evolved completely separately from all other life on earth and as this too is carbon-based, despite living in an area with high concentrations of other chemicals (including silicon), it follows that there is a perogative for carbon. (This is just a theory as so far no-one has fully traced the evolutionary path of these organisms). Our understanding of what actually comprises life, - the science lesson list of sensitivity, movement, feeding, etc, - would probably fall apart if we were presented with anything other than a carbon/silicon-based life-form, so the question is; if we found it, would we recognise it? Our search therefore is not so much for life, but for life we can recognise and understand. Arrogant in some ways, but it is impossible to search for that which is beyond our understanding - truly alien in every sense of the word. The universe is unimaginably huge, there has to be something out there, but whether it could ever visit us - or even be capable of that very human need to explore and colonise - is something else entirely.
However, did I tell you I once saw this really weird........
Scientists look for carbon-based life-forms, partly because that is what they understand, but mainly because carbon behaves in such a way as to make life possible. The methane based argument is redundant as methane comprises of carbon (CH4), therefore 'methane-based', would be carbon-based and it is an organic (formed from living matter) molecule. It is thought possible that silicon could also act in a similar way to carbon and so silicon is often considered too.
There is a theory that a certain eco-system in deep ocean vents evolved completely separately from all other life on earth and as this too is carbon-based, despite living in an area with high concentrations of other chemicals (including silicon), it follows that there is a perogative for carbon. (This is just a theory as so far no-one has fully traced the evolutionary path of these organisms). Our understanding of what actually comprises life, - the science lesson list of sensitivity, movement, feeding, etc, - would probably fall apart if we were presented with anything other than a carbon/silicon-based life-form, so the question is; if we found it, would we recognise it? Our search therefore is not so much for life, but for life we can recognise and understand. Arrogant in some ways, but it is impossible to search for that which is beyond our understanding - truly alien in every sense of the word. The universe is unimaginably huge, there has to be something out there, but whether it could ever visit us - or even be capable of that very human need to explore and colonise - is something else entirely.
However, did I tell you I once saw this really weird........
Meaning botty burps have a life of their own!
Let's go diggin' dirt.... 
There's still a 'Flat Earth Society'
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