Friday, October 10, 1997
Alien nation
ALIENS: More awareness of extraterrestrial life spurs questions
over truths
By Matt Grace
Daily Bruin Contributor
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Bulbous eyes and pear-shaped heads of aliens are plastered on
bumper stickers and clothing across America, while at the same time
they have taken over the entertainment industry, landing starring
roles in almost every science-fiction blockbuster.
"The idea of extraterrestrials and space travel touches each one
of us, even the most cynical," said Don Ecker, publisher of UFO
Magazine.
Martians, extraterrestrials and aliens have always been an
integral part of American culture, but until now they have been
limited only to science fiction.
New developments in technology, a general distrust of the
government and the hype of the impending millennium have followed
from science fiction, capitalizing on the elements of fear, hope
and curiosity associated with a possible out-of-this-world
contact.
"There is a basic human need to find out whether or not we are
alone in the universe," said Simon Balm, a lecturer in the
Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA.
The media frenzy surrounding UFO abductions and government
cover-ups (in political spheres) have inspired the public to attack
the questions surrounding the existence of aliens.
In a recent Gallup poll, 50 percent of Americans said they
believe that life exists outside Earth, Ecker said.
People are beginning to attach a sense of realism to one of the
greatest mysteries ever to puzzle humanity.
Knowing the truth about the existence of aliens would be one of
the greatest admissions of the century, if not the entire history
of mankind, Ecker said.
There is more and more public awareness behind the search to
find out the truth about extraterrestrial life.
Programs like "The X-Files" make the alien encounters
believable, Balm said. The images they present are not much further
than reality.
In addition, Hollywood has been capitalizing on the popularity
of science fiction for most of the last half of the century because
it sells.
"Movies present the underlying cultural anxieties," said English
professor Catherine Hayles.
A movie like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" came out as a
response to the ongoing Cold War. People had fears that communists
had infiltrated suburban America and could be someone’s next-door
neighbor.
"Independence Day" was a throwback to the earlier doomsday films
and the classic science fiction of the past.
"Humankind can find its unity again. There are a lot of fears of
the increasing fragmentation of society," Hayles said.
So, "Independence Day" allows humankind, in a symbolic way, to
regain its unity.
Businesses have begun to capitalize on the financial rewards
attached to the exponential increase of aliens in popular
movies.
A Washington-based organization has distributed flyers with an
anti-alien message across the West Coast in hope of jump-starting
their business, Ecker said.
They liken aliens to a covert organization "engaged in a
widespread policy of kidnapping civilians and performing vile and
unwelcome tests on them."
Members of this organization view aliens as an extraterrestrial
fascist group who have been involved in the kidnapping and
victimizing of human beings for quite some time.
The only way to fight these aliens, members suggest, is to fight
them individually because there is no government agency to control
and protect the average citizen from their devious ways.
Not everyone has adopted such a radical standpoint against
extraterrestrials, but the American public wants to know the truth,
regardless.
People believe that the government has kept the wrap on the
truth because they do not believe that the public can handle it,
Balm said.
No country wants their civilians to know that they cannot
control their own airspace in case of an invasion. Mass hysteria
would be an almost certain consequence, Balm said.
It is becoming more and more recognized that the government
cannot be trusted, Ecker said.
There are incidents in which the government has lied to the
American people, hiding the truth for decades.
In the 1940s, a government agency covertly administered
plutonium to unsuspecting victims in attempt to study the affects
of radiation on humans, Ecker said.
As a result of this and other subversions of the truth, a
distrust of the government has surfaced, fueling a growing
curiosity concerning a possible alien cover-up.
The infamous Roswell incident has created a storm of mystery
surrounding it, Ecker added.
The failure of the government to adequately explain the
controversy has fueled the growing interest in extraterrestrial
life.
The growing interest in life outside Earth is also associated
with the turning of the century.
"As a human race we are changing very rapidly," Balm said.
"Whenever we make a turning point like that, we are looking for
changes that might occur."
At the end of the 19th century, a surging artistic movement and
technological flurry assumed center stage.
Reflecting cultural weariness, this movement deliberately
flaunted the possibility of the world coming to an end.
At the same time, there was the idea of bringing together
everything into one global grid, said Albert Boime, professor of
art history.
A tremendous amount of innovation coincides with a new
millennium. People are at a crossroads when the end of the century
nears, people are looking back at the past while at the same time
leaning toward the future, Boime said.
Mystery and fantasy surround the idea of finding other beings
like ourselves, even if they are superior, Boime said.
In the end, the rise in the popularity of aliens in mainstream
America could be a response to the overall need to change and move
forward.
"We are ready to reach a new plateau," said Ecker, "There are
many people fed up with the status quo."