# You're camping out in the mountains, far from civilization.... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028 "2014-04-26T06:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/1 "2014-04-26T06:45:22Z")
It’s the middle of the night. Suddenly, an alien spacecraft appears and lands nearby. It’s all lit up and pulsating with a deep thrumming sound, just like in the movies. A hatch swings open, light floods out, and humanoid aliens walk down a ramp. They head in your direction. Face to face, they seem to smile and beckon you wordlessly to join them in their ship. Do you go? If so, why? If not, why not? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/2 "2014-04-26T13:12:51Z")
No way. They may look friendly, but maybe they’re just the kind of people who like to eat their food live. Until I can communicate with them I’m not going anywhere, and maybe not even then. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/3 "2014-04-26T13:31:18Z")
Are they one eyed, one horned, purple, and fly? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/4 "2014-04-26T13:50:16Z")
Moved Cafe Society to IMHO, via conventional terrestrial methods. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/5 "2014-04-26T14:29:07Z")
I absolutely go. I mean, yeah, they could want to eat me or experiment on me. But it’s a spaceship. With aliens. I’d be curious and there’s nothing here on Earth that won’t go on without me or that I’d be too upset to leave. Damn right I’d go. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/6 "2014-04-26T14:49:08Z")
> [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > I absolutely go. I mean, yeah, they could want to eat me or experiment on me. But it’s a spaceship. With aliens. I’d be curious and there’s nothing here on Earth that won’t go on without me or that I’d be too upset to leave. Damn right I’d go. Yep. We’re not in Kansas anymore, are we? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/7 "2014-04-26T14:50:15Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Are they one eyed, one horned, purple, and fly? They’re humanoid and can smile. You fill in the blanks. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/8 "2014-04-26T14:52:51Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > No way. They may look friendly, but maybe they’re just the kind of people who like to eat their food live. > > Until I can communicate with them I’m not going anywhere, and maybe not even then. **[Voice of Bill S Preston]** Okay, dude. Communicate with them! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/9 "2014-04-26T15:11:18Z")
Sure, I’ll talk to them. Whenever that happens to me, they’re usually just lost and want to ask for directions. I’d be happy to point them in the direction of the nearest more interesting planet. Well, there was that one time with the probe, when I woke up two weeks later in a dirty bedroom in Bangkok. But that kind of thing can be fun sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/10 "2014-04-26T15:27:18Z")
I would go just because if I didn’t, the rest of my life would be spent wondering what would’ve happened if I had. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/11 "2014-04-26T16:21:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Yep. We’re not in Kansas anymore, are we? 😉 I’d take my ass to Oz, too, in a heartbeat. Sayonara, Auntie Em! Toto and I are outta here! “No place like home” my foot! ---
**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:** [April 26, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/12 "2014-04-26T16:30:56Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > I would go just because if I didn’t, the rest of my life would be spent wondering what would’ve happened if I had. On the other had, if you do, you may spend the rest of your life being experimented on and vivisected. Any species with the capability to transit interstellar space will be able to command energies and control technology far in advance to our own. Unless you posit a scenario like _District 9_, where the aliens are dumb workers who have little notion about how to use the technology that surrounds them and has conveyed them to this planet, you have no hope. Nor would their be any expectation that an alien species would regard humanity with respect or decency, and may well view us in the same way we would view a sea slug, i.e. as something to be examined and useful for experimentation, and then discarded when we expire. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/13 "2014-04-26T17:07:35Z")
Any creatures capable of interstellar travel are probably capable of making me come with them whether I walk or not. And…yes, curious. I’d go. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/14 "2014-04-26T17:37:21Z")
I did. They violated me. [sup]It was the best night of my life![/sup] ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/15 "2014-04-26T17:55:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > They’re humanoid and can smile. You fill in the blanks. 😉 Politicians! Run for your life! This thread reminds me of the _Kids in the Hall_ sketch. “We’ve been coming here for 50 years and performing anal probes, and all that we have learned is that one in ten doesn’t really seem to mind.” ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/16 "2014-04-26T19:28:54Z")
Proximity to space aliens has been reported to be fatal to some animals, and injurious to humans. I’d hide and/ or run before they got very close. They’d have to chase me/ find me if they really wanted to be friends. [http://cryptozoologynews.com/marius-dewilde-encounter-metallic-humanoids-france/](http://cryptozoologynews.com/marius-dewilde-encounter-metallic-humanoids-france/) ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/17 "2014-04-26T19:36:42Z")
If I saw aliens, I would run down a checklist which would include: [ol] [li]Am I dreaming?[/li][li]Am I having a stroke or a seizure?[/li][li]Am I high or drunk?[/li][li]Am I mistaking a commonly observed object for something else?[/li][li]Am I observing a rare, but still terrestrial object, for something else?[/li][li]Is someone fucking with me unintentionally?[/li][li]Is someone fucking with me INTENTIONALLY?[/li][li]Am I having a hallucination?[/li][li]Am I losing my sanity?[/li][/ol] If I have gone down that checklist and find none of those criteria adequately describe my situation, then I would run as far and as fast as my legs would take me. They better be some fleet-footed aliens as I’ll be well on my way back to civilization within a short order. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/18 "2014-04-26T20:08:00Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > If I saw aliens … > > I would run as far and as fast as my legs would take me. > > They better be some fleet-footed aliens as I’ll be well on my way back to civilization within a short order. I’d only have to run faster than you. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/19 "2014-04-26T20:10:16Z")
Is the girl good looking? In a _Devil Girl From Mars_ kind of way? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028/20 "2014-04-26T20:17:31Z")
> [@SirGalahad](#): > > I’d only have to run faster than you. This is why one should always go camping with a friend. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-camping-out-in-the-mountains-far-from-civilization/687028.md?page=2)