# SF story ID
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-story-id/754348
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 8, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-story-id/754348 "2016-05-08T23:33:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-story-id/754348/1 "2016-05-08T23:33:23Z")
Did I read this or did I make it up? Google fails me.
Typical alien invasion story written or set in fifties. Aliens send two-person scout craft ahead with aliens made to appear human based on received TV images. Scouts are immediately captured because they’re in “black and white” instead of actual living color.
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### Author:  [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-story-id/754348/2 "2016-05-09T20:10:01Z")
Sounds somewhat like "Trouble With the Natives " by Arthur C Clarke .
The aliens don’t.appear in black and white but multi coloured with inappropriate clothing gleaned from TV broadcasts
They’re not captured but leave in frustration when their BBC accents confuse the local villagers
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-story-id/754348/3 "2016-05-09T20:13:36Z")
> [@Damfino](#):
>
> Sounds somewhat like "Trouble With the Natives " by Arthur C Clarke .
>
> The aliens don’t.appear in black and white but multi coloured with inappropriate clothing gleaned from TV broadcasts
Here’s a description of the story [Home - Amazing Stories](http://amazingstoriesmag.com/2014/07/trouble-natives-arthur-c-clarke/)
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-story-id/754348/4 "2016-05-09T20:15:52Z")
> [@Damfino](#):
>
> Sounds somewhat like "Trouble With the Natives " by Arthur C Clarke .
You beat **Andy L** to the punch on a SF ID. That ain’t easy!
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### Author:  [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-story-id/754348/5 "2016-05-09T20:21:40Z")
Thanks **Andy L** , a better description than mine . I hope it’s what the OP was looking for .
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### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-story-id/754348/6 "2016-05-09T23:00:56Z")
have read (and re-read) most Clarke enough to know that it wasn’t it. The black-and-white thing is the punchline, though, not anything similar.
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-story-id/754348/7 "2016-05-09T23:21:53Z")
I’m going to suggest Ron Goulart and Robert Sheckley as possible authors for this (I’d suggest William Tenn and Fredric Brown, too, but I think I’ve read all of theirs). Probably written sometime between 1950 and 1970, right?