15-12-2002 01:54									#1
	What will our first alien encounter be like? Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

for the sake of a good argument, let's assume a few things.

1. aliens exist
2. we have never been conteacted before, there's no government conspiracy etc.
3. we may be the ones to find the aliens
4. the aliens arent necessarialy more advanced than us
5. universal translation devices are not feasible

	15-12-2002 02:00									#2
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a meteorite with some alien bactheria inside or something

	15-12-2002 02:11									#3
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quote: Originally posted by Gangerolf a meteorite with some alien bactheria inside or something

Hasn't this already happened? (Though I haven't heard much of it recently, so it might have just been a false finding, or they might still have to be doing tests on it to find out.)

	15-12-2002 02:17									#4
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I think the odds are that the aliens wouldn't be sentient, at least not moreso than the average terrestrial species.

I'd think an 'oh look, something new for our zoo!' to 'what's causing this terrible disease?' would be the norm.

	15-12-2002 02:18									#5
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Probably meet the alien in a bar, buy him/her/it a drink... then offer to show him/her/it our etchings...

	15-12-2002 02:20									#6
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I think it's a theory...


Someone explained to me that it's possible that there was life on Mars before there was life on earth or something, a long long time ago, anyway some rocks from mars get a bit loose, land on earth, containing organic material, and cos our athmosphere is sweet it starts to develop more... later Mars gets more inhabitable or so and life died there..


one of the 1001 possible (though not likely in my opinion) explanations of how life started on our planet..

	15-12-2002 02:25									#7
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If we find them first, it means that we are far more advanced than they are.

The fate of the Aliens depends on whether a group of scientists find them, or a bunch of land-hungry colonists. They better hope it's not the latter.

	15-12-2002 02:42									#8
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^^^Conversely, we might find ourselves looking up into the night skies as a massive Alien battlefleet orbits our world, threatening to rain death upon our cities and lands.

Isn't that such a romantic possibility?

Gatekeeper

	15-12-2002 02:48									#9
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Should we also assume that, given all your initial conditions, the incredible improbability of actually contacting such a species is somehow remedied?

	15-12-2002 02:56									#10
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If we find primitive life on a planet somewhere, I say we should study it, try to find anything useful, and if we don't destroy it all, and plant terran life instead.

Because that's exactly what's going to happen if more advanced aliens find us. ((((((((

	15-12-2002 03:02									#11
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quote: Originally posted by Lord Merciless If we find them first, it means that we are far more advanced than they are.

That's not necessarily true. It is very possible that they may not be interested in travelling beyond their homeworld, perhaps for cultural/historical reasons. Not having a moon or other planets within their originating star system would be that much LESS encouragement to explore. Conversely, they could be very advanced and are experiancing BTDT Syndrome (Been There, Done That) and have simply returned home. In some scenarios, a significantly advanced civilization will turn back the clock to enjoy a simplier life free of their own overwhelming technological power.

quote: The fate of the Aliens depends on whether a group of scientists find them, or a bunch of land-hungry colonists. They better hope it's not the latter.

True 'dat.

	15-12-2002 05:53									#12
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That all really depends on the nature of the aliens. You find such diversity in humans alone that we can't possibly hope to guess the personality of an alien species.

Think about it... if we run into a world controlled by the Hitler of a species, it's going to be very different than a world controlled by their Gandhi.

Being human, it's very difficult for us to imagine a personality type outside of our own. I bet first encounter will filled with many, many misunderstandings.

	15-12-2002 06:24									#13
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Just like before, but this time everyone will be **** probed at the same time.

	15-12-2002 06:57									#14
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1. they are more advaned then us, we try to kill them but they kill us. (or just laugh and leave us alone, or enslave us, or whatever the hell they want to do)

2. they are less advanced, we kill/enslave/domesticate them.

3. It's alien bacteria and it kills us all. Or, it's harmless and the military figures out a way to make it kill us all.

	15-12-2002 07:12									#15
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Perhaps they have found us, but lay low and wait for us to find them. Then perhaps they will judge that we are advanced enough to make contact.

Or perhaps we are in a backwater system with no economical or military interest and they haven't bothered with us. If aliens have warp drives, they will definitely have many better travel destinations than the solar system.

	15-12-2002 07:19									#16
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I think the nature of a sentient species depends on what they evovled from. Carnivores would be very violent, like the Klingons in Star Treck. Omnivores, like us, would have a mix of peaceful and warlike cultures. Herbivores would have a very peaceful disposition. technically, we are omniherbivores, omnivores that eat mostly plant material, but eat some animal products. That puts us about 20% towards the peaceful side.

The exporation habits of a species depends on were it evolved. A species that evoved (like us) in relatively dry areas woud have to search more to find food, species from wet areas would explore less since thier ancestors did not have to go long distances for food.

	15-12-2002 07:47									#17
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I think there is a good possibility they would be nothing like any life on this earth, having traits and qualities which don't have any parallel to those we posses. Aliens in science fiction are based off of humans for the most part, taking certain traits and amplifying them, or combining them with traits from other species on this earth.

These lifeforms certainly wouldn't be based off of us.

An electrical storm in a very dense atmosphere? A chemical process in fluid? Sentience could develope in so many different mediums. Also the scale of those lifeforms doesn't have to be on the same scale as we are. For all we know we are living on a little spec that is a very small part of what comprises these aliens or their environment, or vice versa.

If it does happen, I think that contact, and those beings, will be like nothing we've ever imagined.

	15-12-2002 07:54									#18
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"Man, these spacesuits are really bulky. Makes it kinda hard to walk."

"Hey, Bob! Watch where you're stepping!"

[squish] "Or darn. Ya think it was alive?"

"If it was, it isn't anymore."

"Let's keep this just between you and me, okay?"

"Roger that."

	15-12-2002 08:15									#19
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"That's one small step for Man, *pauses*...one, giant squish for Mankind."

	15-12-2002 08:48									#20
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If they're less technological than us we'll proboly take their planet & put them on a horrible death moon of a reservation, like the Native Americans, on greener. This is of course if they aren't horrible insect aliens like in "Starship Troopers". ( The book, not the movie)

	15-12-2002 09:17									#21
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Ask our Government, but they are not talking. However they do lied.
That Army Air Force Major found something outside of Roswell and it was no weather balloon.
Then there was the incident in England and there was at lease one in Russia.

	15-12-2002 09:34									#22
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The chemistry of living things on different worlds will probably be similar since earthlike planets will probably start out with similar atmospheres; mostly nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, water vapor, and hydrogen, with no oxygen. Pass lightning through it and you get the same thing no mater what world you're on; amino acids, sugars, nitrogeneous compounds that make the code carrying parts (Adenine, Thiamine, Cytosine, and Guanine) of nucleic acids, coenzymes ,("vitamins") etc. The only chemical differences will be in the details. For example, on earth, the backbone of DNA and RNA are based on phosphate ions and 5-carbon sugars. (ribose, Deoxyribose, etc.) On another world, nucleic acids might have a backbone of sulfate ions and 6-carbon sugars. (glucose, fructose, etc.) Amino acids that make up proteins might also differ slightly. Some amino acids may be universal since they were very common in the primordial soup. (glysine, alanine, lysine) But the rarer amino acids, like methionine, tyrosine, aspartate, phenylalanine, etc. on earth, would differ. The major differences will be in the form of the organisms. no intellegent species will look similar to us, that takes far to many doses of convergent evolution.

	15-12-2002 09:46									#23
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They recognize the mouse as the most intelligent lifeform on earth, which they work together with to subjugate humans as slaves.

	15-12-2002 10:50									#24
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quote: Originally posted by UberKruX What will our first alien encounter be like?

quick and bloody.

	15-12-2002 10:51									#25
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quote: Originally posted by Joseph Ask our Government, but they are not talking. However they do lied. That Army Air Force Major found something outside of Roswell and it was no weather balloon. Then there was the incident in England and there was at lease one in Russia.

people who believe conspiracy theories are idiots...

	15-12-2002 12:14									#26
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quote: Originally posted by jdd2007 people who believe conspiracy theories are idiots...

And people who dismiss them (the conspiracies and their believers) out-of-hand are blind and hopeless. We've had plenty of evidence that governments aren't always honest, hide secrets, cover-up mistakes. Pretending such things don't happen or are impossible is just asinine and dangerous.

	15-12-2002 12:17									#27
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Michael Jackson

	15-12-2002 12:18									#28
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quote: Originally posted by Asher Michael Jackson

*shudders*

	15-12-2002 12:23									#29
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quote: Originally posted by DRoseDARs And people who dismiss them (the conspiracies and their believers) out-of-hand are blind and hopeless. We've had plenty of evidence that governments aren't always honest, hide secrets, cover-up mistakes. Pretending such things don't happen or are impossible is just asinine and dangerous.

I think it's fair to dismiss them because contact with an alien species is so astronomically improbable.

Covering up breaking the law is one thing. Covering up what would be the most important discovery mankind has made since fire...don't think the secret could be kept.

	15-12-2002 12:30									#30
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quote: Originally posted by Boris Godunov I think it's fair to dismiss them because contact with an alien species is so astronomically improbable. Covering up breaking the law is one thing. Covering up what would be the most important discovery mankind has made since fire...don't think the secret could be kept.

Didn't say I believe the UFO conspiracies, just saying that calling others who believe are idiots is just begging for the something in the universe to come around and bite the insulting party in the ass...the universe has that tendancy...