Why we imagine aliens the way we do

Aliens often resemble life on Earth. How did we land on that concept of extraterrestrials?

No one really knows what aliens look like, but we all have similar ideas about them. It’s often a creature with a big head, long arms and legs, and big buggy eyes. We see these common images of aliens depicted in movies, books, and on TV shows—which are made by us.

Science fiction stories often explore the relationship between humans and aliens. So we often find extraterrestrial creatures entangled with relatable human features. In this video, we talk to Oscar-nominated VFX supervisor Charley Henley, and the director of SETI Research Center at UC Berkely, Andrew Siemion. They both give us their views on how we, humans, perceive aliens and how that shapes our imagination of life beyond our planet.

[captainmalice]

Meanwhile in alien YouTube, Top 10 Scary Images that proves Humans Exist.

[Stormsolid]

man, aliens kind of disappeared from youtube since so many people have FullHD cameras in their pockets...

[slorr]

We cant really imagine things we’ve never seen before, all we know and imagine is related to something we’ve seen before, it is like telling someone to come up with a color they’ve never seen, so unless we see real aliens all the aliens we design or create will have animal or human like characteristics cause that is all we know

[Nananananaheckyes]

On one hand I need aliens to be revealed within my lifetime, on the other hand I need enough time to write alien erotica before it gets awkward. @aliens if you see this wait until the time is right

[kidatanakafan]

I like how Joss draws a bacterium rather than a stereotypical 'alien' 😂

[AakashKalaria]

Joss did it right with bacteria kind of creature.

[tifa]

"Are we alone?"
Introverts: yes.

[jacobs]

0:23
“Bring me to your dealer”
get this man a medal

[bluebrickmax]

I think Arrival has one of the most interesting depictions of aliens. They are extremely different from humans, seeing all time at once.

[sarahmonkey]

If we discover aliens before they discover us they'll probably be some kind of plant/ vegetation

[ADogWithGlasses]

1:52 sounds like the narrator had a difficult time saying that line

[angelic]

Pretty much the only thing we can assume with some degree of accuracy is that any technologically advanced civilization would have some way to manipulate the environment with their body. Grip, twist, etc. And that they would have to have a community driven mentality because only by many individuals(not necessarily including individuality) working together they can create something much larger than themselves.
That's our strength and reason for surviving this far.
Math is also a safe assumption.
Beyond that... *shrugs*

[kangaroosinantarcticayes]

This means that me might have already found alien life (or it is somewhere close), but they are so different that we didn’t even think they might be aliens.

[rewer]

I certainly hope aliens look likes cute animals such as cat. *look at my cat and wonder is it an alien*

[salokin]

Not saying that it’s aliens... but it’s aliens man

[crysteltheriault]

I swear everytime there’s an alien aparition it happens in Delaware and it always filmed with a 0.3 megapixel flip-phone

[SciencewithKatie]

I think I would’ve drawn something similar to what the girl at 0:14 drew! Just a blobby single cell type thing!

[Sophistry]

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”

[petergriffin]

Alien: take me to your leader
Me: uh, I'm the leader
Alien: oh chill. Anyway...
Me: why didn't you think I was the leader?
Alien: no no...
Me: why?

[eray]

Area 51 workers: *heavy breathing intensifies*