Difference between revisions of "Alien Invasion"

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'''Alien Invasion''' refers to a move by extraterrestrial civilization to conquer earth. A staple of science fiction since HG Wells, it is also a possible [[doomsday]] scenario.  
[[Image:Alien Invasion.jpg |thumb|right|This is how humanity ends]]
 
'''Alien invasion''' refers to an effort by an [[Extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] civilization to conquer [[Earth]]. A staple of science fiction since HG Wells, it is also a possible [[doomsday]] scenario.  
 
== Depictions in Science Fiction ==
== Depictions in Science Fiction ==
*''[[The War of the Worlds]]''
*''Independence Day''
*''V''
*''The X-Files''


== Real Threat ==
== Real Threat ==
Considering the sheer scale of our galaxy, let alone the universe, it is quite likely that, like on Earth, life started on extra-Solar planets, and some of that life might evolve cognitive capabilities rivaling our own. A civilization from an intelligent species older than ours could conceivably develop a method of interstellar travel (such as putting the crew of a ship into suspended animation and having it fly through space at a [[General relativity|relativistic]] speed), allowing them to spread themselves across the universe. If they came this way, they could easily destroy our civilization via [[orbital bombardment]] and set up their civilization over the remains of ours or subjugate ours with the threat of orbital annihilation, gradually displacing our own. In most conceivable scenarios, humanity would be unable to resist an assault by an alien conquest fleet.


Considering the sheer scale of our galaxy, let alone the universe, it is quite likely that like on earth, life started on extrasolar planets and some of that life might evolve cognative copacities rivaling our own. A civilizatation from a sapient species older than ours could conciviably develop a method of crossing the stars (such as puting the crew of an antimatter pulse detonation powered ship into suspended animation and have it fly across intersteller distances at a decend fraction of the speed of light) allowing them to spread themselves across the universe and if they come this way, they could easily destroy our civilization via orbital bombardment and set up their civilization over the remains of ours or subjugate ours with the threat of orbital Annihilation, gradually displacing our own. In most conceivable scenarios, humanity would be unable to resist an assault by an alien conquest flet.
==Other depictions of Alien Invasion==
Some science fiction portrays alien invasions as a more gradual infiltration/assimilation of Earth and its people over a span of decades to millions of years, perhaps playing off of alien abduction accounts, UFO sightings, and conspiracy theories. A prominent example of this is the 90's television series ''The X-Files'', which depicted an increasingly convoluted alien plan to infiltrate Earth governments and create alien-human hybrids.  One possible rationale for aliens using such a strategy would be that they lacked FTL technology, so they could not deploy the forces for a full-scale invasion.  However, the aforementioned ease with which even a small force could cripple humanity by orbital bombardment, as well as a time scale which makes terraforming a dead world seem potentially more efficient, make such a method of invasion seem somewhat questionable.


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[[Category: Science Fiction]]
[[Category: Doomsday Scenarios]]

Latest revision as of 22:55, 21 January 2015

This is how humanity ends

Alien invasion refers to an effort by an extraterrestrial civilization to conquer Earth. A staple of science fiction since HG Wells, it is also a possible doomsday scenario.

Depictions in Science Fiction

Real Threat

Considering the sheer scale of our galaxy, let alone the universe, it is quite likely that, like on Earth, life started on extra-Solar planets, and some of that life might evolve cognitive capabilities rivaling our own. A civilization from an intelligent species older than ours could conceivably develop a method of interstellar travel (such as putting the crew of a ship into suspended animation and having it fly through space at a relativistic speed), allowing them to spread themselves across the universe. If they came this way, they could easily destroy our civilization via orbital bombardment and set up their civilization over the remains of ours or subjugate ours with the threat of orbital annihilation, gradually displacing our own. In most conceivable scenarios, humanity would be unable to resist an assault by an alien conquest fleet.

Other depictions of Alien Invasion

Some science fiction portrays alien invasions as a more gradual infiltration/assimilation of Earth and its people over a span of decades to millions of years, perhaps playing off of alien abduction accounts, UFO sightings, and conspiracy theories. A prominent example of this is the 90's television series The X-Files, which depicted an increasingly convoluted alien plan to infiltrate Earth governments and create alien-human hybrids. One possible rationale for aliens using such a strategy would be that they lacked FTL technology, so they could not deploy the forces for a full-scale invasion. However, the aforementioned ease with which even a small force could cripple humanity by orbital bombardment, as well as a time scale which makes terraforming a dead world seem potentially more efficient, make such a method of invasion seem somewhat questionable.