ALF – Alien Life Form

ALF – Alien Life Form

By James L Hill (aka J L Hill)

Alf was a comedy about a cat-chasing anteater-like alien. His name was an acronym for Alien Life Form. Scientists are seriously searching for extraterrestrial life. For various reasons, we want to prove life exist elsewhere in the universe.

Some scientists will be glad to discover any form of life from the microbiological slime to Mr. Spock. Others, such as those working for the SETI project, will only be satisfied contacting a Vulcan, Romulan, or to a lesser degree – a Klingon. For those of us writing sci-fi and horror, the form our aliens take depends on what we want our aliens to do, or what we plan to do to them.

If our alien is the chasing, killing, world-destroying type, any kind from the Blob to the multi-mandible acid-blooded Alien will do. When the aliens are villains, the less humanoid they are, the better. For villains we want monsters, aliens or otherwise, we want hideous vile creatures. Dehumanizing something makes it easier to accept killing it, whether they are on our planet, or we have invaded theirs (in the name of exploration, of course).

Since the 1950’s we have looked to the stars with dread of what is out there lurking in the dark. Once we reached the technological ability to leave our world we have wondered if others have done the same. As we look for new lands and places to expand our presence, we imagine those are the same goals of our distant neighbors. And it has been our history to plant our flag and call whatever we find ours.

So, it is natural to believe any being that traveled the great distance to reach our beautiful home world would want it all for themselves. And any creature that has the technology to land on our planet would surely have us out-gunned and outnumbered. It will only be our combined ingenuity and never say die attitude that will allow us to defeat the space invaders.

If the shoe is on the other foot and we land on their planet, we will claim ignorance to their being a higher life form. Those aliens, in whatever form they take, and yes, they are still the aliens even though we are on their planet, will have to prove they are at least our equal. Their right to live will be second to our need for their resources. In the name of progress and knowledge we march on. They better have great bargaining powers because we know they won’t defeat us in battle.

Yes, ALF comes in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes they come for good, to show us the follies of our ways and help us take the next step on the evolutionary ladder. They come for our women, our water, our world; bent on destroying and devouring our life. And they come without rhyme or reason. It’s just the roll of the dice, call it the Hand of God, or a random act of fate, that we must rise to the challenge or be swept away like the dinosaurs. One day, we will discover alien life forms, it may be life-altering, or it may be some microbial organism that proves life itself is nothing special. Until then, we will keep making up our own ALFs to suit whatever situation we desire.

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