Extraterrestrials in fiction

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In popular fiction and conspiracy theories, life forms, especially intelligent life forms, that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to as alien and collectively as aliens. Prime examples of how aliens are viewed are found in the movies Alien, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Signs, Independence Day, and War of the Worlds.

This usage is clearly anthropocentric: when humans in fictional accounts accomplish interstellar travel and land on a planet elsewhere in the universe, the local inhabitants of these other planets are usually still referred to as "alien," even though they are the native life form and the humans are the intruders. In general they are seen as unfriendly life forms. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" as referring to "other," in contrast to "us" in the context of the writer's frame of reference.

Typical characteristics

In popular culture, such as movies and comics, "aliens" are often depicted as somewhat humanoid in their appearance (See Greys, Little green men).

There are several reasons for this humanoid depiction in popular culture. It makes it easier for an alien in a movie scene to simply be a disguised human actor. Aliens in movies, in order to catch our attention, must trigger instantaneous emotional reaction; this requires a design based on recognizable human facial features and expressions. It is easier to relate to an alien with features we recognize such as arms and legs, two eyes, a nose and a mouth, as well as behavior we recognize such as baring its teeth in anger or widening its eyes in shock or surprise.

However, if real extraterrestrial life exists, few people expect to find humanoid characteristics, believing that this would be too great a coincidence given an entirely different evolutionary scale.

One Extraterrestial Encounter that Inspired a Movie

In 1961 (September 19th), Betty, then 41 and Barney, then 39, Hill (well known in UFOlogy) were stopped by visitors from Zeta Reticuli who were, quite actually, asking for directions. The aliens showed Betty Hill a star map which she was able (only) to reproduce later under hypnosis. It has since been determined that the map that Betty Hill saw was a star map of the Reticulum Constellation.

Shortly after the story of the Hill's extraterrestrial experience hit the newspapers many other individuals throughout the country (USA) started to claim that they were channeling messages from the alien Reticulums and the Hill story has since become popular folklore in UFOology. Not one of the supposed, after the fact, Reticulum channelers (to my knowledge) has come up with any information that could not have been easily fabricated. No one has provided any technological or scientific data and much of the "information" presented sounds like the Old and New Testaments with a new age twist and, also, there is no astronomical evidence of any planets around either Zeta 1 or Zeta 2, however, our current theories regarding planet formation support the assumption that planets SHOULD be present in Zeta Reticuli. Nevertheless, the Hill event became the template for all future alien abduction claims.

The Hills did not attempt to capitalize on their experience nor did they seek publicity. In fact, Mrs. Betty Hill seemed to have dealt with her experience in a "matter of fact" type of even minded way. The Hills' post-abduction demeanor contained no sensationalism or hysteria. The event took on a paranoid flavor only after the story got into the hands of the lunatic fringe who have since embellished the tale and created a whole Reticulum Civilization out of the Hill's story.

The abduction of Betty and Barney Hill was the first Alien abduction case to be reported and thoroughly investigated. The case was the first that employed hypnotic regression in the investigation of Alien abductions. Many consider the Hill's experience to be the only authentic close encounter reported in recent times.

If your own parents told you that they had been abducted by aliens for approximately two hours and each parent's repressed memories about the event were clearly refreshed under medical hypnosis then this hypothetical situation places you in the precise context of the Hill's 1961 circumstances. You are receiving a virtually fantastic story from two highly credible people who have no motive other than honesty, and perhaps, a need to make psychological sense out of their extraordinary experience.

It is an especially credible case because of the integrity of the Hills and the skeptical predisposition of the hypnotherapist, Dr. Benjamin Simon, a Boston Psychiatrist who specialized in hypnotic therapy. Pease Air Force Base supposedly confirmed that they (The Air Force) had indeed tracked an unknown object around the time and location of the Hills' close encounter, however, I have not been able to confirm the accuracy of the claim that radar data supports the story.

The Hill abduction matter was documented in a film called " The UFO Incident" (Universal Studios, 1975) and a book entitled " The Interrupted Journey" (by John G. Fuller, July 1997 also, an earlier out-of-print edition from Dial Press, 1966). John Charles Webb July 21st 2005

Extraterrestrial life in fiction

The existence of alien beings (intelligent extraterrestrial life) has been one of the enduring themes of science fiction.

One of the first fiction writers to use Alien beings from another planet was H. G. Wells. The War of the Worlds is the best known of his works; it also introduced the modern reader to the recurring concept of interplanetary invasion by malign aliens.

The alien invasion was one of two themes which was to crop up again and again in the 'pulp science fiction' years, the 1930s to 1960s. The Cold War made people particularly receptive to the idea of evil and incomprehensible beings coming to destroy or enslave earthly (usually American) life. Examples of these include the short story "The Liberation of Earth" by William Tenn.

The contrasting picture of aliens during this time was that of the wise and civlised race coming to Earth to impart their wisdom and solve our problems. These stories were almost as popular as the invasion theme, at a time when mankind looked as though it was in the brink of destroying itself. A good example of this story is the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Aliens are also used in fiction to examine the human race from a different perspective; the author wishes us to examine ourselves in a new way by contrasting us with an imagined alternative. This was one of the functions of Mr. Spock in Star Trek.

One of the most frequently portrayed alien races from our own solar system are the Martians, Mars being the most romanticized of the other planets whose surface conditions are closest to being amenable to life. See Mars in fiction for more details on the red planet's numerous roles.

Popular fictional tales of the first half of the 20th century also include many fanciful tales of alien races and civilizations on our nearest neighbor, the Moon.

Many of the aliens have been hostile and alien invasion has been a very popular idea in English-language science fiction.

Writers have created a long list of extraterrestrial creatures and intelligent beings; see the list of aliens in fiction.

Silicon based life

There are examples of silicon-based life in science fiction, such as an episode of the original Star Trek series, which included a silicon life form called the Horta or the Chenjesu and Taalo in the science-fiction adventure game Star Control II. The Doctor Who story The Hand of Fear featured a silicon-based being, and indeed made great play of the exceptional rarity of silicon-based lifeforms.

External links

Oficial Government documents, conspiracies, video and audio streams

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