Alien Apperance?

[Baby Eater]

I was watching quite a few alien movies the other day when I got a thought that has bugged me since then:If an alien were to arrive on Earth,what would its appearance most plausibly be?

So in a nutshell,when you think aliens,what do they look like to you?

Note:This is not a discussion about aliens existing or not. Just a hypothetical question.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Humanoid as we can't really comprehend anything not already portrayed to us.

But definitely odd... very odd...

 

[PatrickXD]

I like to think they'd be like gorillas with huge brains so their heads are real big. Oh oh and they have wings! And... lazer beam eyes?
Unfortunately they'd most likely look depressingly like us, just with subtle diferences like tougher skin / larger muscles etc.

 

[fenrizz]

My thoughts on how aliens will look is heavily influenced by Hollywood and pop cultures portrayal of them.

Basically something like this:

Spoiler: Alien

 

[CoverYourHead]

Somewhere between Quarians and Elcor. Strange, but possibly humanoid.

 

[Burwood123]

Well, taking life as we know it.. carbon based needs oxygen etcetc.. Theyd look remarkably like us..

 

[Jonluw]

I always thought it would be really fun if they happened to be different from anything we imagined.
Like a blue ball of fur with feet protruding from its entire body, or something.

In the end, I guess it comes down to the conditions on the planet on which they live.

 

[Edorf]

Humanoid as we can't really comprehend anything not already portrayed to us.

But definitely odd... very odd...

This^

 

[Baby Eater]

I like to think they'd be like gorillas with huge brains so their heads are real big. Oh oh and they have wings! And... lazer beam eyes?

My friend you need to lay off the sugar.

 

[dfphetteplace]

I doubt they would look anything like us. The evolution on any other planets would be completely different than that of the Earth, so we know it would be just like us. At least with any planet that would be even (cosmically) close. If the universe is infinite, and matter is always expanding, then there will be other creatures that look like us, but we will never encounter them while our species still exist since they are so far out into the universe in other galaxies billions of star systems away. I figure they would look insect like, since insects seem the most able to adapt and survive.

 

[Jack_Uzi]

They would have mistaken an alien for me when I got out of work I think.
Exposed to unnatrual light for a few years, skin is getting pale and my eyes are getting strange from staring at a monitor all day. Muscle tonus of zero from sitting and typing and nothing much more... yeah.. could fit that discription. And I'm quite long.

 

[Fellwarden]

Aliens is a very generic term. It just means anything that does not come from our own planet (in the sense of the word "extraterrestrial"). In which case, I believe that it is idiotic to think that there is just one or two intelligent species in the universe (being us, and one other). Therefore, I think there would be numerous alien species, which may vary greatly in appearance. However, I love the idea of an alien species that are just an energy cloud, or aliens that look like dragons.

 

[Daverson]

There's no way to answer this question accurately without knowing what kind of environment they originate from. There's also the issue that we don't exactly how life on other planets, being completely isolated from all forms of evolution on earth would function (almost all life on earth has a similar internal structure, so you'll find similar organs in a giraffe to those you'd find in a bluebird)

Basing our assumptions on creatures evident on earth, then it's most likely that an intelligent alien species would either be mammalian (ie, humanoid) or avian (bird-like). As these are the two kinds of animals that exhibit the greatest intellect.

There's a very high chance they'll have opposable digits, or some means of operating devices, and it's probable they'll either be sight oriented, or use echolocation.

Of course, the by their very definition Aliens are something we can't understand until we meet them! So they could be some kind of fish D=

 

[TheTaco007]

We don't know. That's the entire point. In all likelihood, they'll be entirely unlike anything we can comprehend. I always liked the idea that Douglas Adams had about an alien called a "Hooloovoo", described only as "a hyperintelligent shade of the colour blue."

 

[DividedUnity]

I would like them to be some sort of space dragon. Some sort of arachnid type creature would be cool though.

 

[HontooNoNeko]

I don't know how they would look its nearly impossible to what the would even remotely look like. However I could only wish they would look/act like the Hannar from Mass Effect I want to hug their adorable little jellyfish like bodies.

 

[Baby Eater]

My thoughts on how aliens will look is heavily influenced by Hollywood and pop cultures portrayal of them.

Basically something like this:

Spoiler: Alien

By that look their planet would have to get very little sunlight and judging by their fragile body,they'd be the prey of the planet.

 

[tehweave]

It's hard to say. From millions of years of evolution (yes, I believe in it) our appearance and way of life has changed so much. I'm guessing if life could actually exist on jupiter or mars or venus that they would have a completely different cellular make-up than we do, as they lived in an atmosphere without oxygen. Since we require that to live, we couldn't survive over there, there's a good chance they can't survive here. Maybe that's why we haven't seen aliens visit us.

Most likely they would have arms and legs like us, or they might have fins or tails, who knows? We might look like mutant space beings to them. "What are those things coming out the side of your body?" "Those are my arms." "They're HORRIFIC!!!"

That's if they can speak english. They probably can't.

 

[Lunar Shadow]

My thoughts on how aliens will look is heavily influenced by Hollywood and pop cultures portrayal of them.

Basically something like this:

Spoiler: Alien

By that look their planet would have to get very little sunlight and judging by their fragile body,they'd be the prey of the planet.

Possibly nocturnal (large eyes). The small frame may be be the lack of predators being a threat.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

EXACTLY like us except they have ridges on their nose or something. (budget reasons) I imagine they would most likely use U.A.V's and could honestly look like anything as diverse as the life on our planet. It doesn't matter because any species interested in exploration is likely aggressive and we would be harvested like baby seals.