Life As We Don't Know It (Part 3)
(other than the general lizard thing) that I have concerning ID4's version of first contact. In Independence Day, these creatures enter our solar system in an enormous mother ship, then deploy dozens of smaller saucers, and then proceed to destroy our cities. There is no warning or explanation, they just step on us. Like ants.
Why do we think that our little backward civilization, which hasn't even visited its own moon in 30 years, would be so interesting to all of these aliens? We don't even know if they exist and therefore are of no threat to them. If they are aware of our existence, they probably have little interest in undertaking a massive project just to come here and stomp us out.
AND BEHIND DOOR NUMBER TWO
Energy! This is the second problem. Even if they decide it's best to make the trip to exterminate us and steal our minerals, simply arriving here is no small feat. The amount of energy required to make the trip is so enormous that it could hardly be worth the while to come all the way here just to rob us of some natural resources. We have become so caught up in the idea of aliens visiting us, of UFOs zipping overhead every night, and of some conspiracy to cover up the fact that our government is in communication with E.T. that we forget to consider the practicality of the whole matter.
Because of the laws of physics, interstellar travel isn't like jumping in your car and running down to the supermarket for some ice cream, even if you've got Ben and Jerry's new Antimatter Delight. The distances are enormous and there appears to be no good way of getting anywhere quickly. So the aliens in Independence Day would have had to detect our existence, make plans to come here, and then take many years to do so.
AND WHAT'S LARRY GONNA DO?
Now, we know that there are no highly advanced civilizations anywhere near us. We've been searching for some time and they would have given themselves away by now. But let's just suppose that these aliens live about 15 light years away and have been listening to our TV and radio transmissions for some time. Everything's fine and then suddenly this morning they find out that Jack is getting married and get upset when Three's Company becomes Three's A Crowd. They decide that any civilization that would allow this to happen must be set straight. They take a few years to plan their little war, then hop into their frying pans and head our way.
If they can travel
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