There is a thread on the UFO UpDates List this past week entitled, 'How Do You Spot An Alien?', and is actually an article written by Catherine Turnell for the magazine The Anomalist. When I first saw the post, the thought that ran through my mind was that the easiest way to spot an Alien would be with a very long handled paintbrush and a lot of luck, but the article goes on to kind of discuss the evolution of Aliens or Extra- terrestrial lifeforms.

In fact, the article is promoting a new book called, Evolving The Alien, written by a science fiction consultant who doubles as a biologist, Dr. Jack Cohen, and his co-writer, Professor Ian Stewart, a mathematician. Both of whom are employed as scientists at Warwick University.

The article begins in a way that left a bad taste in my mouth. Catherine discusses alien beings as they have been portrayed by Hollywood. The lanky white-skinned beings of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The reptilian predator with two sets of steel teeth in Alien and the cartoon quality characters of the movie, Men in Black. And... it appears that the book seems to be somewhat based on showing how these Hollywood creations of creatures are off the mark and alien creatures would likely not be recognizable by us.

In fact, the authors of the book actually comment about how the television and offshoot movies of Star Trek also have depictions of Aliens wrong and then they go on to say that real aliens are probably closer to what we see in the movie Independence Day.

Okay... hold the phone..... What we have here is a book that seems to concentrate on deciding what alien creatures look like from the creative imaginings of producers and special effects people from Hollywood. Matter of fact, the article seems to adopt the concept that there really are no alien creatures out there at all because one of the authors, Dr. Cohen, states, "People who now see aliens in the form of little grey men or big eyed monsters are locating their fear images. In the past they would have dredged up equally supernatural incubi, succubi, witches or ghouls to imagine their experience with. While these new cultural alien icons have proved very lucrative for a few people, and very enjoyable for many, it has obscured what real aliens may look like."

Excuse me?... ."to imagine their experience with?" Am I incorrect or has Dr. Cohen just said that anyone who talks about being abducted by alien beings is simply..... Imagining the whole thing?

Ah, this is the clue that explains the book then. Instead of speaking with people that can claim to have seen the REAL thing, the good Doctor and Professor decided to base their hypothesis of what an alien creature looks like on and against... fictional characters out of movies.

So if you're looking for the book, Evolving the Alien, be sure to check in the Science Fantasy section of the bookstore... and it seems that I was originally correct, the only way to spot an alien is with a very long-handled paintbrush.

But that's just my take on it!