Humans, especially those of the closed minded variety, are giving planet Earth an extremely undeserved superiority complex. In comparison to giants like Jupiter and Saturn, Earth is miniscule in size; we are the smaller kid in the playground of the solar system, easily dwarfed by the larger bullies that we share our space with. The only real bragging right we have is that we're the only planet in our solar system that harbors intelligent life. (Notice the inclusion of intelligent: this description could be argued by some but for all points of this article, we'll leave it there for the time being).

Us UFO buffs here on Earth tend to cast our imaginations beyond the boundaries of our solar system, optimistically hoping that there might be other intelligent life sitting far beyond the reaches of even our strongest telescopic eyes. Of course, admittedly, we sometimes slip into the cliché that these beings would be smarter than us, more advanced and zipping through our skies unannounced in silver discs.

Some people laugh (these are usually members of the closed minded variety mentioned earlier) and ask for proof right away. It seems that the idea of life outside of planet Earth is not plausible to these people. Earth is surely the only planet proven to boast the claim of intelligent life forms because no other civilizations from space have placed a call to let us know that they are there.

Many times, these people include not only our solar system in their argument, not only our galaxy, but the entire universe. And here is my rebuttal to this theory…hell, I'll even be nice and, for the moment, only include our own solar system for the time being.

There is, of course, the Mars debate. There is the face on Mars, which we were told by NASA was nothing more than a crafty trick of shadow and light. Then there are the pyramid-like structures surrounding the face, the layout of which reminds us a bit of the Egyptian pyramids and the Sphinx. We were told that these shapes were of natural origin, erosion, dust storms, the wear and tear of the planet. But when we take the time to look a bit closer, the pyramids that were found in both the Cydonia and Elysium plains seem to be set up to mirror certain sites here on Earth. Even Carl Sagan stated: "The largest are three kilometers across at the base and one kilometer high…larger than the pyramids of Sumer, Egypt or Mexico. They seem to be eroded…perhaps only small mountains, blasted for ages. But they warrant, I think, a careful look."

Moreover, many planetary scientists strongly believe that Mars once had an original atmosphere with incredibly similar surface pressures and temperatures to modern day Earth. In his incredibly book "The Mars Mystery" Graham Hancock refers to Mars as a "murder victim" due to several reasons that are assumed to be the result of some great cataclysmic event much like the event that caused our Ice Age. (Also of note: it is speculated that this tremendous event on Mars occurred roughly 20,000 years ago, right around the same time Earth suffered its Ice Age).

Among the causes of death, Hancock points out the fact that Mars has a rotation rate that is much slower that it should be and has little or no magnetic field. Also, Mars has been the victim of countless craters, some of which like Hellas and Isidis are among the deepest and widest in our solar system. Granted, examples such as this might actually help with the argument that life has never existed on Mars because its history seems too violent.

But then we must look at a few meteorites that have fallen to Earth, escapees of the barren landscape of Mars. First there was the meteorite discovered in Antarctica in 1984 which, it was announced in 1996, contained what were apparently microscopic fossils of bacteria-like organisms. Countless others have fallen, but this meteorite (ALH84001) has made a name for itself and kept the debate of life on Mars alive.

Stepping away from Mars for a while and peeking deeper into our solar system, there is another heavenly body to be considered. And oddly enough, it is not a planet, but a moon. Europa is one of Jupiter's many moons, sharing the space above Jupiter with at least sixty other moons. The only reason Europa stands out is because of its composition. Its outer layer is composed of water, some of it a thick sheet of ice crust with a liquid salt ocean underneath. Due to the ice surface, Europa is the smoothest object in the solar system. But it's what might possibly be beneath all of that ice that makes Europa a strong candidate for being able to support life.

Some believe that there is a layer of liquid water kept warm by a tidally generated heat under Europa's surface. The temperature on the surface of Europa is about -163.15 °C at the equator and only -223.15 °C at the poles. While it sounds as if the entire planet is and has always been entirely frozen, there are indications that somewhere along the line, the subsurface ocean was able to melt through the icy crust (also known as "chaos terrain").

But, due to the tidally generated heat and the suggested idea that underwater volcanic eruptions may have caused underwater activity similar to that found in Earth's oceanic ridges, some believe that life exists beneath the moon's icy exterior. Water is obviously one of the major building blocks of life, so the idea isn't really all that absurd. And even though any life on Europa would probably be nothing more than the same aquatic life found in the deeper uncharted waters of Earth's ocean, it gives us enough ammunition to further our argument for life outside of planet Earth.

When you consider that human beings don't even know what's going on in the deeper, murkier parts of our own oceans, the prospect of what might be on Europa is actually rather fascinating. Still, while planned missions to study Europa have been discussed, NASA has no current plans to undergo any serious attempts in the near future.

And there you have it…without traveling outside of our own solar system, there are two very good cases for life outside of Earth. In the case with Mars, it's more likely that the life that existed there perished long ago. But with Europa, it's anyone's guess. And, as the closed minded population will be quick to point out, there is no real tangible proof for any of this.

But consider this passage, taken from Hancock's The Mars Mystery:

"Most scientists do no see the need for comets or aliens. Their theory, the mainstream view, is that life arose on Earth accidentally, without any outside interference. They further argue, on the basis of widely agreed calculations about the size and composition of the universe, that there are probably hundreds of millions of Earth-like planets spread randomly across billions of light years of interstellar space. They point out that it is improbable, amid such legions of suitable planets, that life would have evolved only on Earth."

And when we take Earth and the other two possible candidates we've discussed, the odds become raised. Even little green men, on whatever planet in whatever system they come from, are no doubt just like us in some ways…they started very basically, from some universal and biological soup. Who is to say what lurks about on the ocean floors of Europa, or what extraterrestrial eyes looked heavenward from their place on Mars tens of thousands of years ago?

And who knows…maybe somewhere on the other side of the universe there is an empty and featureless planet, sharing space with other planets in their own solar system. And maybe water molecules are beginning to form just right or maybe some finely woven aspect of its atmosphere has finally gathered enough strength to properly filter in sunlight from whatever star shines down onto it. And maybe, on that unknown planet, life is beginning.

And over some great passage of time, the life on that planet will begin to walk on two legs, to have a logically thinking mind, to understand what it means to look up into the sky and wonder if they are alone.