London, May 13 : Japanese astronomers, who returned recently from a space shuttle mission, have said that alien life does exist in the Universe and it would definitely be discovered.

According to a report in The Telegraph, Takao Doi, who had been on a 16-day Endeavour mission to the International Space Station, told reporters in Tokyo that, "Life like us must exist elsewhere in the universe."

Though Doi and his colleagues denied seeing anything that proved the existence of extraterrestrial life forms, but said the scale of the solar system and beyond had impressed upon them the possibility of alien life.

In December, Nobutaka Machimura, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, had said that UFOs definitely existed and that he was firmly of the opinion that aliens were out there.

"If we push back boundaries far enough, I am sure eventually we'll find something out there," said Mike Foreman, a mission specialist.