For as long as there has been society, there has been a need to believe in something better. Or at the very least, different. In early cave drawings, you can see that there has always been a fascination with the stars and an undoubted belief that something, or more specifically someone, is waiting for us out there. And over the years, the general consensus is that aliens or extraterrestrial life are all but inevitable. So it is not surprising that when presented with the opportunity to believe the unknown and the strange, we don’t hesitate. This is what it is to be human. Unfortunately, it’s also the reason why when aliens actually show up, we likely won’t realize it.


The inspiration for this piece, which I am calling The Planet that Cried ‘Alien,’ is the lovely monoliths that have visited us the last few months. Although by the time this is published their origin may no longer be a secret, at this time, anything is possible and thus, anything is believable. And for those who are always looking for something beyond, it seems like as good a sign as any that there is something out there. Something trying to communicate.


Just like we thought that the stars were trying to communicate with us thousands of years ago, when in reality it was just planets aligning to make a brighter star. Just like we believe that someone other than humans built out great monuments, when in reality we just can’t fathom the horrific power of slavery. Just like we believe that aliens landed in Roswell, when in reality that actually did happen, but our government won’t give us the details.


All of these times that we yell ‘Alien!’ do nothing but discredit the inevitable moment when we are actually communicated with. It will be like the boy and the wolf, only instead of being unprepared for a predictable foe, we will be wholly without context for what comes after. We have no concept of what that would look like, but wouldn’t you rather go into the situation with humanity behind you, rather than look like the one fool who didn’t see the signs.


I do not do this to rain on anyone’s parade, I just want us to be smarter about how we approach these events. But what you must understand is that true alien life will not come in the way we expect. They will not look like E.T. or a xenomorph or little green guy. They may not even exist on a plane we can see or comprehend. And the signs? They will not appear as random monoliths, they will alter the fabric of what we have come to accept as reality.


So again, all I ask is that we be smart about how we approach potential alien life. Who knows? Maybe if we play our cards right, we’ll get a few fancy monoliths after all.