In an article reported by FOXNews.com, Reverend Joe Gabriel Funes, Jesuit priest, astronomer, and director of the Vatican Observatory said, “The questions of life’s origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration.”

Thirty Catholic and non-Catholic scientists from the U.S., France, Britain, Switzerland, Italy, and Chile attended a five-day conference called to explore among other issues “whether sentient life forms exist on other worlds.”

In 2008, Reverend Funes published an article in L’Osservatore Romano, the newsletter of the Vatican Observatory (translated here), as reported by Wired.com.

Some theologians believe that the existence of other life forms will be inconsistent with the existence of God — or at least organized religions — while others agree that since God created the universe, he would have created aliens, too.

NASA chief historian Steven J. Dick, author of The Biological Universe, says, “Religion hasn’t gone away after Copernican theory, after Darwin. They’ve found ways to adapt, and they’ll find a way if this happens, too.”

Clearly Einstein believes in extraterrestrials and he is in good company. According to Reuters, the wife of Japan’s next prime minister, Miyuki Hatoyama, is quoted in her book as saying, “While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus.”

It’s not just the far out and freaky who believe. Among the famous to embrace the thought are former US presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan, and Richard Nixon and former head of state of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev.

While I think most of us agree that a stressful job could send you over the brink apparently those marshaling us concur, General Douglas MacArthur, J Edgar Hoover, and Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding are known for endorsing the idea.

If that’s not enough theologians (e.g., Monsignor Corrado Balducci), professors (e.g., Stephen Hawking), rocket engineers (e.g., Dr. Herman Oberth), and even the director of the US Air Force’s Project Blue Book investigation into UFOs, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, believe we are not alone.

Ancient writings to crop circles, Area 51 to abductions, black-eyed children to Stonehenge — are you convinced?