Whether or not we’re really alone in this universe is a question many of us ask, but do we really want to know the answer?
It’s also a question scientific and mathematical experts have pondered for quite some time.
And it's a topic that can divide a nation, with some claiming to have seen or experienced unworldly encounters while others are complete sceptics.
Will we ever know?
Well it seems we might, researchers at NASA have been given the go ahead to study the phenomenon of unidentified flying objects by the new head of the super space agency.
It comes after the Pentagon prepares to publish a ‘bombshell’ report later this month into UFOs.
When questioned on Late Late Show, even former US president Barack Obama weighed in on the debate.
Confirming ‘footage and records’ do exist, he said: ““When it comes to aliens, there are things I just can’t tell you on air.”
New NASA head Bill Nelson, who was an astronaut himself, told CNN he will allow the agency’s scientists to explore the unidentified high-speed objects that have been spotted within the Earth's atmosphere by US military pilots over the years.
"We don’t know if it’s extraterrestrial. We don’t know if it’s an enemy. We don’t know if it’s an optical phenomenon," Nelson told CNN.
"We don’t think it’s an optical phenomenon because of the characteristics that those Navy jet pilots described… and so the bottom line is, we want to know."
He is now setting up a formal task force to allow NASA scientists to explore different facets of the unidentified objects.
Jackie McGuinness, NASA’s press secretary, also told CNN: "This is a really interesting phenomenon and Americans are clearly interested in it, so if the scientists want to investigate, they should.”
The hotly anticipated declassified intelligence report regarding what appear to be unidentified objects from the Pentagon is expected to be published on June 25.
The New York Times has reported it will say the vast majority of the 120 sightings made by US Navy personnel over the past 20 years were not American military or other government technology.
