Ok, I have illustrated my point, on with the debate.
Do UFO's exist?
Clearly they do, however unidentified flying objects could by their very definition be just about anything, from the errant weather balloon to marsh gas to super secret weapons testing over the Nevada desert.
Life on other Planets is another far more complex issue entirely.
First of all we have to consider the criteria needed for life to exist successfully, a rocky reasonably sized planet with an Atmosphere to begin with, that planet would need to be orbiting a sun with the accepted spectra class to support life, the planet would need to be at the exact placement to be in the zone where water is liquid.
The planet would have to have sufficient mavity to both hold on to and maintain a nitrogen/ oxygen atmosphere, atmospheric pressure and density needs to be within very precise parameters.
there are a myriad of other criteria that would take an age to list so I will assume most of you know what they are and skip to.....
The Moon... the Earth has a very unique satellite which is proportionately larger and denser than any other in the Solar system, it also unlike the other was made from an asteroid strike early in the Earth's development and as such is made from the Earth rather than from detritus gathered in the Earth's gravitational field.
The Moon has some rather unique influences on the Earth, namely the tides, which in conjunction with the Sun's gravitational pull helped created one of the proposed requirements for the creation of life, along with the Moon being at exactly the right distance so that our rotation slowed and the planet unlike it's closet neighbour Mars is stable on it's axis, again one of the proposed requirements of life (by life I mean advanced complex life, rather than simple celled life).
We also have the various Gas Giants which soak up asteroids and such objects before they smash into the Earth, without them the Earth would most likely be a very different place, devoid of life regardless of the other criteria.
There are various other criteria that are required for life also, however listing them would not illustrate my point any better so I will leave them for later discussion if they are bought up.
So in face of all this what is the likelihood that all these (and more) criteria, some of which are unique in our experience so far, that there is life on other distant planets that we would recognise as such?
Personally I am unsure, I am aware of Carl Sagan's opinion that it would be improbable for it not to exist within the vastness of the Universe, citing the Drake Equation. I am also aware of Asimov's conjecture that the Earth is unique and that we are in fact alone.
One thing is for sure, and that we on our little insignificant planet on the outer edge of our Galaxy, may well be far more significant that we realise.