NASA Astronaut Winston Scott Convinced Alien Life Exists
NASA astronaut Winston Scott believes in life beyond Earth and warns that military tensions between world powers could lead to armed conflict in space By Latitude0116 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5/Wikimedia Commons

NASA astronaut Winston Scott told Fox News's Jesse Watters Primetime on Wednesday that he believes alien life exists beyond Earth, while warning that military conflict in space remains possible.

Scott flew on two space shuttle missions in the 1990s. His comments came days after the Pentagon released declassified UFO files containing accounts of mysterious craft and alleged encounters with beings.

Why Winston Scott Believes Alien Life Exists

Scott's confidence rests on the number of planets in the universe. With billions of potential worlds, he reasoned, some must have developed in ways similar to Earth, allowing intelligent life to emerge elsewhere.

'I do believe there is life someplace else out there in the universe. Now, whether or not it's visiting us here on Earth or not is a topic of discussion. I think E.T. is out there some place,' Scott told the programme.

'We can't be the only one that has intelligent life,' he added.

His remarks distinguished that belief from the unresolved question of visits to Earth. The Pentagon files described by the Daily Mail included witness claims of unusual encounters, which do not establish proof of alien contact.

The US government's position is that no physical proof of extraterrestrials has been discovered on Earth.

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Military Rivalries Shape Winston Scott's Warning

Scott's concerns about armed conflict centred on relations between the United States, Russia and China. He hoped space exploration could bring countries together, but cautioned that cooperation on individual projects did not remove wider political divisions.

'Russia is our partner in terms of the International Space Station, but they are not our ally,' he told Fox News.

He characterised the US relationship with China as more 'military-oriented' and pointed to preparations for potential threats beyond Earth.

'We live in a world where we have to be prepared to defend ourselves militarily. We hope we don't see conflict and combat in space but I would not rule it out,' Scott stated.

A military spokesperson separately told the Daily Mail that hostile satellites could pose threats to the United States.

'The US has warned about Russian and Chinese weapons testing and operationalization since 2007. Due to their actions, it is no longer a question that space is a warfighting domain,' the spokesperson stated.

Scott also referred to what he described as US Space Force confirmation that it had placed weapons in orbit to counter China. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify that deployment claim.

The Daily Mail noted that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, signed and ratified by the United States, prohibits nuclear weapons in orbit but does not impose the same prohibition on conventional weapons, signal jammers or military satellites.

Winston Scott Backs Competition for the Moon

Despite those concerns, Scott remained optimistic about lunar exploration. He endorsed competition between Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin to develop vehicles capable of reaching the Moon's surface.

'Competition is the American way,' he declared.

Scott credited private space companies with making exploration cheaper, more efficient and more productive. He viewed their competition favourably even as he warned that rivalry between governments could extend to combat beyond Earth.

The vehicles being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin are intended to reach the lunar surface by 2028.

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