Isaac/Drone Saga - Inspired by the film Contact?

Sorry if this doesn't justify a new thread, but I think this just might be worth an entirely new branch of "research", and I didn't want it to get lost in all the bickering of the other threads.

I was just watching the movie Contact again last night, and a number of things struck me that suggest the [alleged] drone hoax was inspired by it, at least in part. The reason this is important is that if we can establish enough of a "link" between the movie (or any other movie/book/whatever, for that matter) and these documents/sightings, it might be easier to assert that, in fact, this is the creation of human minds, rather than genuine ET artifacts.

I think proving a link between Isaac and a pre-existing work of fiction serves the same purpose as proving a viral marketing link, but is much more likely than the viral explanation.

Here's what I've found so far. I might watch it again in a few days when I get some more free time and look for more:

(Spoilers below, obviously)

1) In the movie, the researchers receive a message from Vega that's ultimately decoded into an elaborate sequence of characters, curves, and lines. It's displayed in the movie as stark black on white, and look VERY similar to me. I don't think the Isaac guys copied them so much as they were heavily inspired by them, and then put their own spin on it.

2) In both the film and the Isaac documents, a central theme is the continual struggle to decode the meaning of the language.

3) In the film, a breakthrough is made when a "primer" is discovered within the message, which allows them to finally decode it. The film makes very heavy and prominent use of this term. Sure enough, the document Isaac provides that was used as an introduction to the subject of the language among PACL employees (or whomever), is referred to as the Language Analysis Primer.

4) This one cracks me up: in the film, in TWO separate scenes, Dr. Drumlin is talking to the press about a sensor-loaded humanoid dummy they use during their experiments to test the interior of the machine before putting a real human inside. In BOTH scenes he refers to the dummy by saying:

"Who we lovingly call 'Elmer'".

Then, in Isaac's letter, when he's talking about the PACL facility:

"...facility called the Palo Alto CARET Laboratory (PACL, lovingly pronounced “packle” during my time there)."

5) Both the film and Isaac's story revolve around civilian researchers stuck in the middle of government/military bureaucracy. In both stories, the government/military CLEARLY don't want the civilians involved, but begrudgingly allow it because of their skills as researchers. Also, in both stories, the civilians are repeatedly frustrated by the lack of freedom and control they're given.

6) This one I admit is a stretch, but: in the film, the "primer" is both found inside the message, and used to decode the message. In other words, the message provides the means of its own decoding. While I admit this is tenuous, it reminds me to some degree of how Isaac's language can execute itself. I don't consider this to be a smoking gun or anything, obviously, but it's another detail that might have been on their mind as they were concocting this.

7) Both the Contact film and the Isaac/drone saga have a penchant for extremely complex machines with a predominantly radial/circular design. The machine built in the movie, while (IMO) a bit more elegant and interesting than the drones/artifacts, is still EXTREMELY complex and looks more human than it does alien. It isn't just a simple, smooth sphere or something. It's a gigantic contraption with tons of moving parts.

8) They both make effective use of CG. (Just kidding... kinda

[edit on 31-7-2007 by alevar]

I don't know. That movie was pretty hard to believe. Especially the part where Matthew McConaughey sleeps with Jodie Foster.

While the movie is a good adaption, i would advise to read the book.

I don't think, that's the track to follow ( great book nonetheless ), to be honest, i think, that all of your points are very far fetched.

1. Can't comment, haven't got the contact code in mind.
2. I don't believe, that decoding the "Isaac code" is that much of a matter and without something like a rosetta stone, very close to impossible. So far, as i see it, most people search for the origin of the font used, not the meaning of it.
3. How would you call it ? When dealing with any kind of linguistic, "primer" is a common term.
4. "lovingly call" is a common phrase as far as i know, google it and you get close to 2million hits. see 3.
5. While i agree with the "government don't want to include civilians" aspect, i can't find any likeness between Ellie and "Isaac"
6. You said it yourself
7. Spinning rings forming a globe vs. a (as much as we know) fixed center ring ?
8. k, you got me here

Just my opinion
Phil

I'm not saying that the similarities aren't subtle. I agree that in both the case of Contact and the Isaac saga, the detials are reasonable. There's nothing suspicious about the word "primer" in and of itself, or the phrase "lovingly called" in and of itself, or whatever. I just think that when you line all these things up together, it does seem like it MIGHT be more than coincidence.

And again, the only point I'm trying to make is that Contact could have been one source of inspiration, perhaps of many, and that this is a way to determine whether or not that's likely.

But I still gladly admit it could, in fact, just be coincidence.

[edit on 31-7-2007 by alevar]

This thing is going on for at least two months now and when considering the level of detail, the originators put into it, i would say, that they are pretty creative in their ideas and wouldn't rely on a well known book or movie.

All assuming, that this is a hoax of course

Well this got me thinking. What if it was the other way around? I mean, what if the movie contact was directly inspired by the very technology alleged to have been recently leaked? It has apparently been around since the early Eighties. Who knows, maybe disclosure has been happening for a lot longer than we may assume...

Merely an opinion mind. I'm wedged firmly on the fence with the CARET docs.

There's just something peculiar about a 'stealth' publicity campaign, especially since we're now on our third candidate movie. May I suggest that this particular parrot is pining for the fjords?

reply to post by alevar


You are basically just trying to rationalize incredible evidence with humanist culture. Since there is no frame of reference for you to deal with these photos and documents, you try to reason with them from a limited perspective (must be a hoax, viral etc). Logic dictates there must be a reason or motive for making a hoax as elaborate as this. Given the sheer volume of UFO incidents in the military, it is no surprise that some of it would eventually leak out.