In tune with Close Encounters of The Third Kind
01/12/2008 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
For Uncle Geoff, re-watching the three versions of the film 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind' raised some odd questions regarding first contact with an alien species visiting Earth, assuming director/writer Stephen Spielberg isn't too far off the mark with how humans would react. Logistically, an alien species would not be exactly world conquerors nor even wishing to impart their knowledge or wisdom to the primitive apes that populate this planet. Buy Close Encounters of The Third Kind in the USA - or Buy Close Encounters of The Third Kind in the UK  They came. They sampled. They came back and wanted a different sample. All rather straightforward. We might well do the same thing ourselves one day.
In many respects, CE3K is a unique film in the annals of Science Fiction films in that it approximated what would happen in real life, albeit under a 1970s protocol and life-style, with a first visitation of an alien species even if everything was under their terms. Even more remarkably, no other SF film has ever considered going in this direction or even emulating it in a re-make. In that respect, CE3K is probably considered the definitive article. As such, it is worth considering how such agendas would work in real life for, well, you know, just in case it could happen for real and how prepared we really are for such a visitation. So be prepared for an investigation of the Willmetts kind using the film as the template.
There has already been much speculation as to why any alien species would come our way. Even with the discovery of planets surrounding other stars there has been no indication that any of them actually contain life let alone their own civilisations. That really is a mote point considering the time it takes light to reach the Earth, a planet could evolve and have several civilisations, blew themselves up or just died out before any evidence reached us. Even if we spotted some evidence of an advanced civilisation now, there's no guarantee how long it might last.
A message sent now to a benign species could well have turned aggressive for all sorts of reasons and motives or vice versa before receiving it, assuming they lived that long. Assuming there are similar limitations to how fast anyone can travel in normal space and there is no discovery of a more instantaneous way to travel, if an alien species wants to explore, then they'll either pack family and friends and go and look for themselves or send an automated spaceship.
Visiting primitive planets, such aliens would not to want to interfere with the dominant sentient planetary life, especially if they regard it as being primitive and possibly xenophobic - look at our own media for examples of this. Even so, there would still be a necessity to take samples to understand them sufficiently for a proper first contact or even out of pure scientific curiosity.
An observation of the time when 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind' was filmed is that mankind was making its first steps into outer space and was already developing nuclear technology. It might only be a tiny step but would show that significant development had been made to risk a proper contact and test the water so to speak. This time, steps would be needed to allow some form of communication. The sentient samples taken already would have indicated that direct communication would have been difficult and indeed, no such action was carried out by the aliens or their sample subjects who seemed equally mystified where they had been taken.
The plan would require two steps. Leave sufficient clues that they were in the neighbourhood by returning various artefacts previously taken and initiate messages based on a simple tonal system and lights along the way. Let the humans learn their basic language would be easier than the reverse. At the same time, a more refined sample would be required with probes sent out to programme some humans to come to the landing site. The choice of the isolated Devil's Tower in Wyoming appears to be a strong image that could be conveyed to their new selected test subjects within an easy travelling distance and the co-ordinates conveyed to the humans searching the skies for them.
Interestingly, the aliens seemed to have a grasp of terrestrial co-ordinates suggesting that some knowledge was learnt from the test subjects. The fact that they wanted and did indeed abduct another subject, Barry Guiler, would no doubt act as a reassurance that no one was harmed and all would be returned, no matter when they were taken. It is reasonable to assume that the aliens would have preferred to have an adult as well as a child to prove this but as it turned out the humans at the landing point couldn't tell the difference. It would have been interesting to match their leaderboard as to who the aliens hadn't taken as I imagine a more serious detective investigation of terrestrial crime would have to take place in the aftermath.
If there was any disappointment from all of this was only one of their induced subjects arrived at the landing point. The aliens were clearly interested in only their own choices and the other primed volunteers were ignored. No doubt the next trip, the humans would understand differently and ensure the correct subjects would be waiting for them. In that respect, it could be considered that aspect of the sampling had failed. The humans clearly did not understand or allow the selection process although I doubt it that made much difference to the aliens.
With the movement of the smaller mobile alien craft searching around, there is a distinct possibility that they might have gone and picked up their other choices anyway. Certainly they would have spotted the unconscious Larry Butler on the Light Side Of The Moon. The welcoming of Roy Neary by them at the landing point could well have been the finding of the last test subject rather than the only one. As neither of the Guilers were picked up again there is a distinct possibility that they had served their purpose in proving that no physical harm would happen to their subjects. It would explain why Jillian Guiler switched from a rapid urge to get to Devil's Tower to interested bystander with the arrival of the mothership. It was less about her 'not being ready' and more like there was no need for her any more. Judging by the choices on the helicopters, the aliens were not thinking of breeding stock.
There was, however, still the coded message to deliver. The five tone hello communication would begin their first communication although the speed it took was quickly replaced by computer obviously suggesting that it was a mathematical code. Indeed, the aliens might well have been waiting for the development of computers for their faster processing power. It wasn't a message that needed an immediate reply and might well have been just the basic tonal language for the next encounter. Interestingly again, the aliens themselves carried no such audio-visual devices and there is a strong hint from this that we haven't met the actual alien pilots themselves but only another species on-board the alien mothership.
Consider that the chief alien representative looked slightly different to his brethren and only mimicked the hand signals and smile of Claude Larcombe does not indicate he understood what was going on other than a few meaningless gestures. Human do. Alien copy. The contact was purely one way. Without the five tones to accompany it, there would be no indication what it might represent and certainly Larcombe had no idea what the five tones actually meant.
Had these aliens created the audio/visual effects surely they might have indulged in one last message without the use of the mothership? Certainly all the time with humans on-board might have allowed for more than a non-verbal copy of Larcombe's gestures. The real alien pilots might well have come from a planet with a much more hostile environment or indeed, the mothership itself might well be totally robotic in nature.
An examination of the original test subjects shows they were mostly taken from isolated areas rather than large communities. Something that was attempted even on this visit. Apart from reducing direct contact, they would be more likely seen to sustain prolonged absence from other people. Even so, the cross-selection demonstrated a wide-range of skills not to mention a large representative sample. This time the selection was quite small in comparison.
The only things shared by current selection as at least demonstrated by those captured by the military were all adult with some artistic ability. Whether this was a primary reason to choose them or the ability to assimilate and paint the destination where they were to go is uncertain. More likely the fact that they could induce a programmed response might have been seen as a means to aid communication. Although the previous abductees weren't harmed, they might have had some difficulty understanding what had happened to them. Something else to consider is the latest human selections might well have been chosen to facilitate communication with the smaller more empathic aliens than with the alien pilots.
All the security carried out by the human side was deemed necessary to restrict those who would know what was going on. There has been countless discussions over the effect that there have been regular alien visitations in the past to realise that it would change mankind forever if it was discovered without some preparation and that couldn't be handled until after the first visit. It would certainly have a profound effect in all manners of things. If, as it was discovered later it was only a fleeting visit and nothing more than a few pleasantries of communication and exchange of 'guests' was carried out, I can well understand that there might have been a lot of disappointment. On the other hand, after the visit, it would have been impossible to keep the information top secret forever and might have encouraged the governments to slowly adjust their people to the possibility that we are not alone.
From the alien perspective, arriving at night would also have allowed them to indulge the native population with a light show unobstructed by the local star's light. Whether there was any apprehension of being attacked or not is something purely for speculation. Considering most of their recent visits were at night suggests that they might consider humans adapted to the night based purely on city lights. From an alien perspective, the night-lights could have been interpreted as a message of life than any movement during the day. They might even have considered that humans at night were more relaxed after working all day.
The alien mothership demonstrated several properties. The fact that it turned right over on arrival strongly supports that it had its own gravity system and any docking would be at the base. It is also likely that it has been in the Earth's atmosphere before, returning the aircraft and ship, both of whom would have been far too big for the smaller space vehicles to transport. Unlike the smaller vehicles, the mothership also did not disrupt local electrical systems although their study of the landing point before might have been ensuring nothing would be affected. Certainly, they were aware that their vessels could disrupt terrestrial electrical systems. I wonder if anyone examined the patterns of their countrywide trips after the aliens left to see if there was any significance in their movement. Certainly, not all the smaller spaceships disrupted electrical systems.
Any measure of success of this close encounter depends entirely on perspective and more so from what would have been left out of such a filmed imaginary. For the humans, it would have been their first encounter with an alien life-form. No doubt there would be long nights afterwards speculating what it all meant. For the aliens, a rather disruptive plan for picking up new samples and the humans clearly not understanding all their polite demands. As the message is clearly there that they return their samples, no doubt they will try again. Whatever these unseen aliens are, the one thing they do have is infinite patience. They just have to wait for a slow mankind to grow up and that, as we know, is still a slow progress.
Should a real-life first contact happen today things would still mirror much of what happened today. From a political point of view, I suspect somewhere like Russia and its satellite countries would be more akin to America and even Europe with how they would attend such a meeting and at least ensure there was a selection of volunteers from across the world for the aliens to select from. That's assuming that they understood that the true volunteers who turned up weren't part of a plot to undermine what was going on.
The real consideration would be on the human psyche and the religious factions. The effect of knowing that if God had made humans in his own image what God made in an earlier time was in a different image is likely to have a profound effect on any believer. Such a change if it was allowed to spread would either stun extremists or potentially become even more radical extremists denying any such possibility. In many respects, it would make sense to show as many people as possible the evidence and let everyone make their own decision than keep things hidden.
The long-term effect would be profound. People have always thought there is life out there. Having it turn up on your doorstep kinda affirms this. The fact that it might not be as you thought it would be in that the aliens just see us as samples to be examined might put a damper on everything thing being equal. There could even be a parallel to the reaction the disbelieving Pharisees had when their Messiah walked in and spoilt their arrangements.
It would certainly be interesting to see how it would affect our own genre. Would Science Fiction survive or would it be seen as a guidebook to learn to understand alien protocols? It would certainly have an effect on future output. Thankfully, to some extent, we don't see every alien out there as being a monster to be destroyed any more. The fact that the aliens would have a similar viewpoint would produce a better ground for acceptance.
The final question really should be are we ready for a first contact situation. Truthfully, I don't think we'd be ready in any situation. All we can do is hope we can live up to the expectation of what the aliens think we are ready for.
GF Willmetts
(c) GF Willmetts 2008: all rights reserved - please ask before borrowing |
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