# Why would aliens come to earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 6, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379 "2011-02-06T09:11:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![N8N8N8N](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@N8N8N8N](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N8N8N8N)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/1 "2011-02-06T09:11:48Z")
Lots of metals minerals and the like out there why come to earth if not for the Protien? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/2 "2011-02-06T09:17:56Z")
They just really like to probe our butts. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/3 "2011-02-06T09:46:59Z")
humans are strange creatures. first they think they’re the center of the universe, then they think people would actually travel across space and time just to look at their ass. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/4 "2011-02-06T09:51:59Z")
Perhaps for similar reasons we would like to go to other planets with life on them - curiosity, science, adventure, and to live there/colonise. It’s not practical for us to do this, and probably never will be, but it’s too far to go for a meal (technologically far easier to synthesise food), or to solve any problems we have on Earth (because any race capable of making the journey would be able to just solve the problems) ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/5 "2011-02-06T10:06:46Z")
Maybe all the SETI signals we’re emitting are buggering up their bandwidth … and to find to what question 42 is the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/6 "2011-02-06T12:29:42Z")
Duh. Because our women are the most delectable in the Galaxy. Did the 1950s teach us nothing? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/7 "2011-02-06T12:39:35Z")
Bathroom break? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/8 "2011-02-06T13:04:38Z")
Yeah it’s still a common thing in films that our earth is the great prize and any ETs will just hoover off the annoying sentient species and its culture to live here. It doesn’t really stack up when you think about it, and in fact it’s only really curiosity about the native sentient species (and other species) that would bring them here. I think they’ll find our culture interesting, but not as much as star trek would imply; where entire planets are culturally homogenous except for earth. * * * btw Obviously an interstellar species has access to huge resources. But I had no idea that it could be as simple as mining asteroids: > [@BBC News](#): > > In the 2,900 cubic kms of Eros, there is more aluminium, gold, silver, zinc and other base and precious metals than have ever been excavated in history or indeed, could ever be excavated from the upper layers of the Earth’s crust. > > That is just in one asteroid and not a very large one at that. There are thousands of asteroids out there. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/9 "2011-02-06T14:04:55Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > They just really like to probe our butts. [Obligatory link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz7sBTHtcLU) ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/10 "2011-02-06T14:16:40Z")
Well… we’re Mostly Harmless ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/11 "2011-02-06T14:19:44Z")
Because we’re an anthropological dig. Everyone likes looking at ancient history. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/12 "2011-02-06T14:26:15Z")
I don’t think the aliens would be interested in Earth, perhaps to convert it into a gigantic farm for their war machine. My bet will be that they are more interested in the other planets of the solar system. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/13 "2011-02-06T14:53:47Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > humans are strange creatures. first they think they’re the center of the universe, then they think people would actually travel across space and time just to look at their ass. Well the sun shines out of mine, so… ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/14 "2011-02-06T15:20:13Z")
> [@N8N8N8N](#): > > Lots of metals minerals and the like out there why come to earth if not for the Protien? [“They’re made out of meat?”](http://www.terrybisson.com/page6/page6.html) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/15 "2011-02-06T15:24:21Z")
I had an idea for an SF story that someone determined that all of the dates of actual alien visits correspond with the dates of total solar eclipses, and that was the reason for the alien visits. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/16 "2011-02-06T16:40:56Z")
Why? Because Earth girls are easy. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/17 "2011-02-06T17:04:35Z")
To point at us and laugh. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/18 "2011-02-06T17:15:30Z")
More seriously, I have to suspect that any interstellar voyage would be handled by machines and AI, unless that alien species did figure out a way to get around the limit of c. Otherwise, we’re talking several decades of travel at the least, and probably more like hundreds or thousands of years to get from there to here. Of course, we can imagine a species that invests in a generation ship, or is so technologically advanced they’ve cracked suspended animation, or has lengthened their lifespan to almost immortal levels and are immune to “space madness”. But, realistically, I have to think that almost any biological intelligence will send something automated or of sufficient autonomous artificial intelligence that it can take the journey, do some recon, and make contact before we ever try to meet (meat, heh) in person. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/19 "2011-02-06T17:41:37Z")
For the Cannoli. Antareans can’t make desserts to save their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379/20 "2011-02-06T18:09:55Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I had an idea for an SF story that someone determined that all of the dates of actual alien visits correspond with the dates of total solar eclipses, and that was the reason for the alien visits. This is a subplot in Iain Banks’ novel _Transition_. A character theorizes that the one thing aliens would find interesting on earth is the neat fit of our moon over the sun from the viewpoint of the earth, and that you should look for alien tourists at eclipses. So you’ve been at least partially scooped. Unless you’re Iain Banks, in which case, well done. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-aliens-come-to-earth/570379.md?page=2)