posted on Jun, 4 2010 @ 07:48 AM
This is a really interesting and important question for debate, OP.
My own feeling is that there are two main types of popular vision of alien: fictional types and those purported to really exist.
The fictional alien types are those that have been invented to fulfill a part in a novel, film or TV drama. For example, the bi-pedal, english
speaking aliens of Star Trek, the cold and clinical alien from The Day The Earth Stood Still, or the terrifying animals from the Alien series of
horror films. None of those types are likely to have a grain of truth to them, as they entirely reflect the exigencies of narrative form, rather than
scientific inquiry.
The second set of aliens are those purported in conspiracy circles to really exist. Here we have the ubiquitous greys, the tall whites, the nordics,
the tribal blues, etc. Interestingly, all of these are portrayed as bi-pedal too, although not as obviously human in nature as those in Star Trek.
Does the fact that all of these archetypes are bi-pedal automatically disqualify them? Not necessarily. Some really interesting work in astrobiology
suggests that certain features of our biology on Earth might reasonably crop up again in a separate evolutionary process on another planet. That is
because nature appears to lean towards certain solutions like eyes, feet and other sensory organs regularly on its own. Then there is the other
possiblity that there is some kind of cross-breeding/panspermia going on behind the scenes that produces these similarities.
Personally, I feel that the majority of "grey" or green alien imagery, with the long elongated chin and almond shaped eyes, don't seem to match
the "unofficial" record of what witnesses claim to have seen at Roswell and other crashes. In the folklore, those alien bodies are often described
as having huge heads and bulging eyes, rather than slim faces and almond-shaped eyes.
So if I were asked to give my opinion on what the most "real" alien would be like, I would say: large head on a slim build, large bulging eyes
without discernible iris/pupil, light brown or tan colored skin, 3-4 feet tall. In terms of demeanor, non-threatening, physically weak and highly
analytical.