Invisible Aliens: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.''|'''Calvin''', ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''}}
The [
This can serve two functions. On the one hand, it can provide the author with some excuse for referencing alien cultures, providing alien archaeological sites, and similar without actually introducing a viable alien culture. On the other, it can allow for the creation of interstellar societies that would otherwise appear [[Plausible Deniability|implausible]], especially when they've been so active in our own backyard lately that we would presumably have noticed them in reality.
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# Disappearing or becoming difficult to observe (at least at interstellar distances) is a natural outgrowth of technological development.
# There's a race of aliens, generally of the [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens|Sufficiently Advanced]] variety, who are somehow ensuring that civilizations don't see each other.
# All the spacefaring aliens are involved in a cosmic conspiracy to [[Masquerade|remain hidden]] from Earth, possibly because [[The World Is Not Ready|we aren't judged to be advanced enough to know about them]], or because [[Humans Are
# The [[Weirdness Censor]] strikes again. The reason we haven't seen any explanation of aliens is that we're overlooking the obvious in our quest to exaggerate our own importance and significance.
# All the other aliens are on a pre-technological (or even pre-sentient) state of development. [[Captain Obvious|No technology = No Radio Transmissions.]]
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Contrast [[Absent Aliens]], in which the simple explanation is taken as correct.
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== [[Anime]] ==
* The [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens|Data Integration Entities]] from ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' are, according to Nagato, undetectable through our normal means. Given that they ''lack physical form altogether'', and seem to exist only as patterns of information, this is perfectly plausible.
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== [[Film]] -- Live Action ==
* In the ''[[Men in Black (
* The ''[[Alien (
== [[Literature]] ==
* In ''[[
* In ''Accelerando'' by [[Charles Stross]], species all seem to build [
* In [[Alastair Reynolds]]' ''[[Revelation Space]]'' universe, there's {{spoiler|[[Neglectful Precursors|a race of ancient aliens]] dubbed The Inhibitors ([[In
* In ''[[Spin]]'' by [[Robert Charles Wilson]], planets with intelligent inhabitants get enclosed by [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] in "Spin membranes", which substantially slow down time on those planets to the point where their inhabitants have no good way to make detailed off-planet observations.
* In one of the stories in ''[[Sherlock Holmes]] in Orbit'', {{spoiler|reviving Holmes after he went over the Reichenbach Falls put Earth out of quantum synch with the rest of the universe.}}
* In ''The Engines of God'' and later books by Jack McDevitt, the galaxy seems to naturally produce things called "omega clouds" every 8000 years or so, strange clouds that are sent out in a wave from the galactic center and can look for and track excessive, clearly artificial regularity on
* "[[
* The ''[[Berserker (Literature)|Berserker]]'' series by [[Fred Saberhagen]] has organic life threatened by the eponymous [[Killer Robot
* The ''[[
* In ''[[The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect]]'' by Roger Williams, there were hundreds of alien worlds containing intelligent life at the time of [[The Singularity|The Change]], but when the title AI became [[Deus Est Machina|omnipotent]], its interpretation of the [["Three Laws
* Addressed in ''[[More Information Than You Require]]'', as seen in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W51H1croBw this excerpt]. Hodgman's theory is that Enrico Fermi himself was an alien trying to deflect suspicion. Why else would he demand his only reward be [[Noodle Implements|two healthy sperm whales]]?
* In "[http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/08/the-fermi-paradox-is-our-business-model The Fermi Paradox Is Our Business Model]" by Charlie Jane Anders, all intelligent life-forms that evolve in the galaxy inevitably destroy themselves. {{spoiler|They were all [[Panspermia|seeded]] by a race of traders who swoop in and pick up all the technology they have lying around after they go extinct.}}
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* In ''[[Star Trek]]'', the [[Alien Non
* In ''[[
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
* Journalists of more sensationalist outlets know the public's interest in the possibility of alien life. They take unpretending basic research and turn it into gonzo stories about the imminent discovery of sapient, technological extraterrestrials. We've discovered more planets (or more earthlike planets) around other stars, therefore E.T.! We've found microbes growing in the most hostile conditions ever, therefore E.T.! We've found new deposits of water or basic organic chemicals in space, therefore E.T.! New theories say there are even more stars in the universe than we thought, therefore E.T.! Our biological research suggests it's easy for life to begin, therefore E.T.! This leads to laymen becoming increasingly disillusioned: We seem to get ever closer to confirming the existence of alien life, yet we never actually get there.▼
== [[Video Games]] ==
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Last
** However it's also implied that the Talmi were only recognized as a sapient species a few centuries ago. Also, most of them are [[Space Jews|Jewish]].
* In ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]],'' Earth is located ''in'' the Nemesite Empire, but the Nemesites have designated our world as a nature preserve and have tried to leave us fairly undisturbed, just like animals in a national park. It's recently been revealed that another reason is that {{spoiler|the Nemesites had a very, very [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20100518.html messy] [[First Contact]] with Earth's [[Ultraterrestrials|pre-human]] [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons|dragon]] civilization, and so they're practicing a loose [[Alien Non-Interference Clause]] approach with us.}}
* Sam Starfall (a highly ''visible'' alien), in ''[[
{{quote|
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* An episode of ''[[South Park]]'' explained that we don't see aliens because all life on Earth was put there by them as part of one really long-running alien reality TV show
* Oddly enough, the Mysterons of ''[[Captain Scarlet]]'' are ''not''
▲== [[Real Life]] ==
▲* Journalists of more sensationalist outlets know the public's interest in the possibility of alien life. They take unpretending basic research and turn it into gonzo stories about the imminent discovery of sapient, technological extraterrestrials. We've discovered more planets (or more earthlike planets) around other stars, therefore E.T.! We've found microbes growing in the most hostile conditions ever, therefore E.T.! We've found new deposits of water or basic organic chemicals in space, therefore E.T.! New theories say there are even more stars in the universe than we thought, therefore E.T.! Our biological research suggests it's easy for life to begin, therefore E.T.! This leads to laymen becoming increasingly disillusioned: We seem to get ever closer to confirming the existence of alien life, yet we never actually get there.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Invisibility Index]]
[[Category:Invisible Aliens]]
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