# Is Superman and illegal alien? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 29, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-superman-and-illegal-alien/362649 "2006-06-29T16:56:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-superman-and-illegal-alien/362649/41 "2006-06-30T12:20:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My understanding is that it’s no longer generally recognized for private property ownership, but that most nations do (theoretically, at least) claim all of the space in the funny-shaped wedge projected from the center of the Earth through the borders of the nation. If Krypton were in the US’s particular funny-shaped wedge at the moment of Kal-El’s birth, then arguably, by virtue of being in that wedge, he was born in American territory. Do they really claim it out into infinity?? I should think there would be a lot of consequences to this on the various space programs - arguments about satellites travelling into sovereign space… arguments about who owns the moon, etcetera. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-superman-and-illegal-alien/362649/42 "2006-06-30T13:11:05Z")
> [@ululate](#): > > That’s pre-1986. Then there was this big time-travel thing where history started back over from zero, and everything unfolded differently; among many other changes, the Kents _ **didn’t** _ go through the two-step at the orphanage. Clark himself grew up thinking he was (a) human, and (b) their kid; he cheerfully became a high-school football star – and even after they told him what they knew and showed him the rocket, he concluded he was probably some weird Soviet super-soldier experiment to put a fetus up in orbit and expose the drugs in its system to radiation or something. They’ve changed it back. I don’t think the details are revealed, but Clark’s known he was adopted and an alien from a young age. (Ma Kent is even a big UFO buff, the way American parents who adopt a, say, Korean kid become experts on Korean culture, Ma tried to sneak into Area 51) ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-superman-and-illegal-alien/362649/43 "2006-06-30T14:58:01Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > But this is a question that would need to be answered. What about if an alien, a real alien, was born in the States? Let me check with my ex-wife, and I’ll let you know. She’s _definitely_ inhuman. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-superman-and-illegal-alien/362649/44 "2006-06-30T15:04:43Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Where/when did _this_ happen? > > Unusual, or so it seems in terms of the Paperwork Hell that adoption is usually described as. I was born in India, iliigitimately to the youngest sister of three. My father was married and ran off. A couple years went by of me being taken care of by the middle sister. The eldest sister decided she wanted to adopt me. The rules of being put up for adoption in India meant that both parents had to sign or be dead. My mother signed the papers but my father was not dead. So my family paid for and obtained a fake death certificate for him. Then my adoptive mother picked me up after a day and adopted me. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-superman-and-illegal-alien/362649/45 "2006-06-30T17:25:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My understanding is that it’s no longer generally recognized for private property ownership, but that most nations do (theoretically, at least) claim all of the space in the funny-shaped wedge projected from the center of the Earth through the borders of the nation. If Krypton were in the US’s particular funny-shaped wedge at the moment of Kal-El’s birth, then arguably, by virtue of being in that wedge, he was born in American territory. Actually, not true. According to Unca Cecil: **“A 1967 treaty declared that the “exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies . . . shall be the province of all mankind.” Though the frontier of outer space was not defined, some experts argue that it begins about 90 kilometers above the earth’s surface. This is the lowest level at which orbital flight is practical, and it’s also out of range of most nations’ guns.”** Also, according to Cece: **“But some courageous countries are pushing the envelope in this respect. One valuable portion of outer space is the so-called geostationary orbit, located approximately 22,300 miles above the earth’s equator. Satellites in this orbit appear stationary relative to the ground, which is useful for communications, weather surveillance, and other purposes. Recognizing a revenue opportunity when they saw one, eight equatorial countries proclaimed in the Bogota Declaration of 1976 that they owned the portion of the geostationary orbit above their territories. They demanded that any nation wishing to place satellites in said orbit first obtain permission from the country beneath. Since the equatorial nations’ ability to enforce this claim at the time was approximately zilch, the U.S. and other developed countries said: In your dreams.”** [Can I declare a “no-flight zone over my house?”](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_136.html) ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-superman-and-illegal-alien/362649/46 "2006-06-30T18:34:17Z")
> [@Unca' Cecil](#): > > A member of an extraterrestrial species, however humanoid in appearance, would not be a member of H. sapiens and thus would be ineligible for the presidency, although I’m betting **he could still make a good living in TV news.** Morbo agrees! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-superman-and-illegal-alien/362649.md?page=2)