Mythical Aliens Attack!
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| Mythical Aliens Attack! |
It is not uncommon to come
across habitats, systems, or even whole regions of space in the Fringes
which are convinced that there are unknown xenosophonts out there. In
such situations, the believers fall into one or more of several generic
types - or stereotypes, if you prefer:
1) Those who would greet the new xenosophonts as potential friends
2) ...as potential resources
or
3) ...as potential threats
There is a fourth general grouping as well - once that believes that a
given area is under the control of unknown entities. Sometimes, this is
a correct perception - as in some of the less baselinophilic virches
manipulated by near-blight intellects or in the case of God Dwellers or
certain brazen Hider clades. However, in many other recorded cases,
there are no detectable intellects within the region(s) in question.
What is of particular interest to many
baseline psychographers/memetic researchers is the similarities amongst
some of these claims across broad swaths of space. In clades which have
no apparent linkage since the nanoswarms and expulsion from Earth,
there have been recorded up to 40% comparison of at least three types:
a] the "tentacles" - intelligently-acting tentacular devices
often springing from native soil or (rarely) rock. These are often
noted for their violent response to physical interaction.
Traditionally, there are no detectable changes in the soil structure
where a tentacle has been noticed, except occasionally from physical
violence against sophonts and/or their tools in the area.
b] the "lights" - glowing objects often of small diameter
(<.1m) but occasionally of planetary scale which appear to observe,
track or otherwise non-invasively perceive baselines, baseline
activities, and/or baseline technology. There have been many
'successful' data capture events where baselines were allegedly able to
garner data on such things, but invariably these records are either
discovered to be forgeries, technical aberrations, or are corrupted.
(Of course, some baselines see this as a sinister plot of some sort...)
These phenomena have been called 'Foo' or
'Yufoes' in various regions since early times.
c] finally, only a few baseline communities have had encounters
with 'shifters' - bipedal beings which are capable of swiftly
changing personas and physical identification, often at a level capable
of foiling non-invasive nanotechnical sensors. There have been
high-carbon leavings of some of these devices, as they appear to have
some sort of self-destruct method which renders them into a graphite
slurry with little if any resultant recoverable parts.
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Note: both the Institute
of Xenoscience on Eden and the
Board of the Encyclopedia
Galactica on Ken Ferjik
currently reject the possibility of hidden xenosophonts within the
Terragen Sphere. However the Zetetic Institute of Phenomena
Investigation
on Millennium III in the Terran
Federation has suggested some
possible scenarios for the continued persistence of these legends of
undiscovered xenosophonts in the very heart of human space. Once human
derived civilisation encountered true xenosophonts
in the third millennium and found them to be nothing like the legendary
aliens of old, belief
in the yufoes and shapeshifting aliens declined, but did not disappear
entirely.
Belief in hidden aliens has a long history, dating back to the
Industrial age of Earth; this may be the reason for the
perceived similarities between the legends. Another reason might be
shared unconscious imagery, inherited by human derived clades all over
the Orion Arm. It is notable that xenosophont legends are markedly
different among provolves
and vecs
compared to those found in human derived species. The Zetetic Institute
has mapped such psychological imagery in the deep structure of baseline
human brains and of several derived clades, and reports that not all
the legends have psychological origins.
According to the Zetetics, if xenosophonts are hidden among
the stars and worlds of the Orion Arm, then they must either have
technology far in advance of the archailects,
who presumably would be able to detect widespread xenosophont activity,
or they have already been detected and are known to the archailects.
One possibility rejected even by most authorities in the open-minded
Institute is that contact has been secretly maintained since the early
Information Age, when several mythical sightings of xeno craft were
made on Earth.
One minority view notes the bizarre and inconsistent behavior of these
legendary xenos, and suggests that they represent a post-intelligent
relic of some earlier species, perhaps the Auld
Limners or the Thyresta.
Such a vanished civilisation could have evolved into one or more
species in which sophonce has atrophied and now is only
sufficient to enable the creatures to hide efficiently and operate
their autonomous and self-repairing technology.
Another minority view suggests that the hidden xenosophonts are in
league with the a-human AI's of the Diamond
network or the Panvirtuality,
or with the Meistersingers,
or are in fact themselves a faction of the Meistersingers.
