In 1610 Galileo wrote in Sidereus Nuncius (The Star Messenger) on the similarities between the Moon and the Earth that he saw through his telescope, thus revealing the possibility and probability of lunar life: “If, therefore, anyone wished to revive the old opinion of the Pythagoreans that the Moon is, as it were, another Earth, the brightest part would represent the surface of land, while the darkest part would better represent the surface of water.”
As far back as ancient Greece, Democritus, a Greek philosopher who wrote extensively about the cosmos and contributed the word “atoms” to science, speculated that space was populated with habitable worlds.
It was probably 1898 by HG Wells The War of the Worldsa novel describing a Martian invasion of Earth, which fueled our collective imagination – and fear – of extraterrestrial life. But Wells was not the first in the 19th century to describe a fictional encounter with aliens. That honor might go to Belgian author Joseph Henri Honoré Boex (pseudonym JH Rosny Aîné – “aîné” means older, he had a younger brother with the same pseudonym), who wrote a novella in 1887, The Xipéhuzabout a battle between Neolithic nomadic tribes and a geometric, non-organic alien life form.
Wells likely based his novel on the then-popular speculation that Mars was lined with canals, a theory that arose from dark lines on the planet's surface first spied by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877. Percival Lowell, a British astronomer, proposed that the dark lines were actually canals, possibly created by an intelligent civilization. Such speculation has fueled the enormous influence that our solar system's red planet has had on our wild and colorful theories about extraterrestrial life.
In 1926, Hugo Gernsback – after whom the coveted Hugo Awards are named – launched America's first science fiction magazine, Amazing storieswhich included stories and images of such extraterrestrial life. Science fiction didn't exist back then. The emerging genre, which blurred the lines between fiction and fact, was known as scientificity.
In the 1960s, NASA launched a program focused on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.SETI. Although the program was discontinued in 1993, several research initiatives for extraterrestrial life continue, including NASA's own search for habitable worlds.
1906: War of the Worlds by HG Wells, originally published in 1898
Illustration by Henrique Alvim Correa for the 1906 French edition of H.G. Wells War of the Worlds. Martian Fighting Machine in the Thames Valley.
On Halloween eve in 1938, Orson Welles broadcast a 'news bulletin' based on HG Wells' 1898 novel, The war of the worlds. But he failed to reveal that his news bulletin, which described a Martian invasion of New Jersey, was fake, confusing listeners and causing some hysteria.
In 1929, the 100-inch Hooker Telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory in California was the largest in the world and the best way to see distant worlds and galaxies. Photos of the moon's surface taken with the 100-inch Hooker Telescope were detailed enough to reveal topographical relief, such as the rims and valleys of craters, but not detailed enough to capture possible life forms, especially lunar crustaceans.
It's no surprise that both science journalists and science fiction writers could credibly speculate about life on the moon. Popular science Contributing writer Thomas Elway made a compelling case in 1929 for the possibility of extraterrestrial life on the moon in the form of moon crabs, with hard outer shells to “prevent the loss of bodily fluids in airless space” and “eyes that could convert sunlight into food.”
In a 1930 story that perhaps crossed the line between science and fiction, Popular science Contributing writer Thomas Elway (of moon crab fame) makes the case for giant beavers as the dominant life form on Mars: “Now there is one creature on Earth for the development of whose counterpart the supposed conditions on Mars would be ideal. That animal is the beaver. It's life on land or life in water. It has a fur coat to protect it from the 100 degrees below zero of the Martian night.”
To be honest, the best real images of Mars looked like fuzzy marbles as seen in these photos taken by the 100-inch Hooker telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California. With only these images to work with, there was plenty of room for the imagination.
Originally published in Wonder Stories, Weinbaum's short story, set in the early 21st century (approximately now), depicts Martians as bird-like creatures. Of course, channels play a prominent role in Weinbaum's Martian terrain.
1950s: gray aliens
Probably the most common alien form associated with human abductions. Gray aliens are known for their lanky humanoid shapes, bulbous eyes and large skulls. Whether these visions arose from the UFO incident in Roswell, 1947, or have some other origin, they are certainly not considered friendly. This particular variant of an alien persisted for decades of science fiction, more recently in works like The X Files, StargateAnd countless other television shows and films.
1968: Monoliths (Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey)
In Clarke's science fiction classic, aliens are so much more advanced than humans that they can control and manipulate energy at will. Although not aliens, the iconic monoliths are in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey are machines that the aliens use to manipulate human evolution.
1979: Xenomorphs (Alien)
Alien Life took a distinct turn toward horror with Ridley Scott's (director) 1979 film AlienArtist HR Giger created the terrifying species known as Xenomorphs, a parasite that survives by preying on other species, such as humans.
Whether we as humanity will survive long enough to encounter intelligent extraterrestrial life is the question. These highlights from the beginning of the last century show how much fun it is to fantasize about what cosmic visitors might look like.
