Reaction to First contact...

[Nephtys]

Tomorrow, a UFO the size of a small town takes up orbit over.. let's say... ten major cities. Like in Independance day, but they stay there and don't open up, don't land and wave, don't destroy the White House. At least not immediately. All they do is transmit some EM signal that we're going to take a good while to understand.

What would you do? What would you think? What would the Government(s)/People/Church/World would think/do?

[The Spartan]

What would I do?
-Start stocking up on bottled water, canned fruit, vegetables and beans. Then find a place in the country to hide.

What would I think?
-Those bastards are up to no good. I could just be paranoid but I'd rather be safe than dead.

-What would everyone else do?
The government would tell people not to panic while preparing for a possible attack. The people would fall into these catagories: 1. Do more or less what I'm doing. 2. Stand around waiting to welcome the aliens/begging them to take them away. 3. Suicide. The Church(at least the ones I'm familiar with) would likely insist that it was all a trick of Satan and/or that we should start praying for the end is NIGH!!!!!

[Lord Zentei]

What would I do?
-Start stocking up on bottled water, canned fruit, vegetables and beans. Then find a place in the country to hide.

What would I think?
-Those bastards are up to no good. I could just be paranoid but I'd rather be safe than dead.

-What would everyone else do?
The government would tell people not to panic while preparing for a possible attack. The people would fall into these catagories: 1. Do more or less what I'm doing. 2. Stand around waiting to welcome the aliens/begging them to take them away. 3. Suicide. The Church(at least the ones I'm familiar with) would likely insist that it was all a trick of Satan and/or that we should start praying for the end is NIGH!!!!!

Bah, you forgot to stock up on pr0n and a power generator.

But if they really meant to wipe us out and were smart enough for stardrive technology, I doubt that we could hide from them if we wanted to.

Otherwise I pretty much agree on what the general reaction would be. Apart from the mass panic that would likely result in some areas.

[FedRebel]

What would you do?

loot and hide

What would you think?

"I really need a gun"

What would the Government(s)/People/Church/World would think/do?

Governments: Militaries would be on high alert and leaders would be moved to "safe" locations

People: Panic, looting, suicide, nut jobs trying to shoot down the ships with a 12-guage, etc.

Churches: speechless while the scramble to think up a "divine" solution

World: Nations stop pointing their nukes at eachother and start pointing them up at the sky, meanwhile the populace of every nation is in disarray

[Firefox]

I'd buy a rifle or two to ward off looters, but given that I'm not near any major city (no, Wichita isn't a major city), I wouldn't worry too much about evacuation.

[Zor]

First off, i would basicly keep my eyes glued to the TV while continuing to do my thing. Winnipeg is by no means a Major city and this would be completly Facinated by it. I think that this is not likely to be an assault, if it was we would have seen some orbital bombardment by now.

Religions vary on this, alot. We get to see the UFO Weirdos doing what they did in independance day. There would be alot of people going to church services.

We would most likely see lots of US Armed forces, PLA and JSDF (some other nations armies as well) patrolling around it, including fighters, tanks and whatnot. There spacificly ordered not to fire unless fired upon.

Zor

[Quadlok]

Watch more TV and post more than usual, and use it as an excuse to skip class.

[Drooling Iguana]

I'd make sure I have a towel handy, and some peanuts.

[Molyneux]

I'd make sure I have a towel handy, and some peanuts.

Always a good idea...the Guide could definitely have stood to include a good book in that list, though.

Come to think of it...the Guide itself does count as a good book...guess they really covered all the bases ^_^

[Morilore]

I would try to be rational and figure that if they have the industry to travel between stars, they probably don't need anything here they can't get more of elsewhere. Unless they're religiously or ideologically motivated. Then we're screwed.

In the world, lots of explosions, insanity, war, chaos. Like poking a beehive with a stick.

[The Spartan]

Bah, you forgot to stock up on pr0n and a power generator.

But if they really meant to wipe us out and were smart enough for stardrive technology, I doubt that we could hide from them if we wanted to.

Otherwise I pretty much agree on what the general reaction would be. Apart from the mass panic that would likely result in some areas.

Bah, power generators are heavy and I'm traveling light. Less conspicuous that way. Besides there are magazine that I can use in place of porno movies.

You're probably right though, if they wanted to wipe out every last human, they there'd be no hiding. If they just wanted to knock out our big population centers to cripple our society, then maybe making a run for the boonies isn't such a bad idea.

This of course assumes that they have less than noble intentions but as I indicated earlier I'd rather err on the side of caution for this.

[Darth Fanboy]

I would try and mate with their women, and assimilate myself into their great society. Once I have gained acceptance, I will sell their advanced technology on EBay.

[wolveraptor]

...you sick, sick bastard.

I'd probably panic for the first few hours, but then get to my senses and just stay in my house, watching news updates. I mean, where can I hide? They could probably blow it all to bits if they wanted, and unless they're unusually sadistic, and wanted to watch us panic, they'd have done that already.

Chicago is a major city, I suppose, and I live in a suburb outside it, so I might even get a view of the ship, depending on how big it is. Suppose they just stay there like that for days. I'd probably drive into town, and try to get on some huge building and watch it, just because its fucking cool.

[Zero]

I would probably get really pissed off that these ass holes have the nerve to come here, just sit there up in the goddamned sky all day, and not tell us what the fuck they want! If they're so goddamned smart, then why can't they send us a message in our own fucking language? If they can come this far, and have to send us a message that'll take us years to decode, I'd be a bit suspicios. Probably want us dead...

[Chmee]

I get out of the city and do a little camping ...

Not because I'm worried about the aliens, as much as what the general public reaction will be. Fuel up the truck and the big fuel can I use for the boat, take all my camping & cooking gear, a few good books and a couple spare boxes of ammo more than usual, and see what the radio tells me while kicking back at one of a few nice spots I know in the National Forest about an hour's drive from home.

[Surlethe]

I stock up on ammo, fuel, and water. I think, "AWESOME! THERE IS ET LIFE!" I also try to get my hands on that EM signal, and though I won't have any luck decoding it, I try anyway just for fun.

Maybe I'd try to go up to Chicago to take a look at one, too. That would be cool.

[Crossroads Inc.]

I get out of the city and do a little camping ...

Not because I'm worried about the aliens, as much as what the general public reaction will be. Fuel up the truck and the big fuel can I use for the boat, take all my camping & cooking gear, a few good books and a couple spare boxes of ammo more than usual, and see what the radio tells me while kicking back at one of a few nice spots I know in the National Forest about an hour's drive from home.

Wow, thats proably the best advice in the whole thread. It really doesn't matter if the aliens are going to be good or bad. the population as a whole is going to freak anyways, the fundies more then anyone.

Getting away from it all would sound like a really nice corse of action.

[Chmee]

Wow, thats proably the best advice in the whole thread. It really doesn't matter if the aliens are going to be good or bad. the population as a whole is going to freak anyways, the fundies more then anyone.

Getting away from it all would sound like a really nice corse of action.

Truck campsite alpha, the building is not a bathroom, some Bureau Land Management shack with a satellite uplink that relays data on the water flow in the creek that's down about a 5' embankment behind the shack -- there's about 4-5 good tent sites at this location, a big firepit, and obviously plenty of water

Truck campsite beta -- high above Snoqualmie Pass -- this is my preferred spot for summer meteor-shower/stargazing, far from the city & high altitude ...

Truck campsite charlie ... private, off the main road, good firepit and windbreak with trees ... short hike to water.

[wolveraptor]

Charlie....you couldn't have uses Gamma. It had to be Charlie.

[Morilore]

About those EM signals. Think about the weird shit we broadcast into space, thinking someone somewhere will actually someday be able to decode it. They are probably just sending an alien SETI greeting and parking ships over our cities to make sure we speed our asses up figuring it out.

[Zero]

If it was just their version of a SETI thing, wouldn't it be more likely that they start with something simple, like some mathematical sequence or something? I would still wonder, but I gotta admit, if they were looking to destory us, it'd be smarter to do so quickly, so that we wouldn't have time to flee. Why would they give us such a signal? If they're here, they must have known about us for some time... why can't they design an EM signal that we can actually understand? Blarg... this makes no bloody sense.

[Morilore]

If it was just their version of a SETI thing, wouldn't it be more likely that they start with something simple, like some mathematical sequence or something?

The only reason they would do that is to prove that the originators of the signal are intelligent, something that bigass ships hovering over our population centers do much, much better, methinks.

I would still wonder, but I gotta admit, if they were looking to destory us, it'd be smarter to do so quickly, so that we wouldn't have time to flee. Why would they give us such a signal? If they're here, they must have known about us for some time... why can't they design an EM signal that we can actually understand? Blarg... this makes no bloody sense.

They're lazy?

[Zero]

If they're lazy, why did they use so much energy getting here?

[Coyote]

Chmee-- site beta has better observation qualities. So long as you have overhead cover it would be best.

As for me?

I already have plenty of guns. I'd try to get some more ammo (I have lots of 7.62x39 and 5.56 but very little 9mm and 12-gauge). I'd stash it with some friends in the mountains while reporting for ASrmy Reserve duty and getting my hands on some serious hardware-- if the military falls apart before an alien onslaught, I grab what I can and bug out to meet aforementioned friends.

Bear in mind, folks, that every campsite will be filled, people wil be fighting over them, and roving bands of well-armed thugs will be taking ever 4-wheel-drive vehicle and ATV in site. So if you are or know someone who is a "soccer mom" type with a 4-wheel drive SUV for "safety" reasons, be prepared to have this beat-up person come to your door begging for help after their truck is stolen.

Canned food and MREs will be hoarded, prices will skyrocket, mass panic, dogs and cats living together, etc... religious nuts will be all over, highways will be crowded as people empty the cities...

...It might, in fact, be better to stay in the cities, depending on what sort of stronghold you can secure. Not from the aliens-- from rampaging, fear-crazed fellow humans. Law enforcement will be overwhelmed and will eventually shut down, too. Civilian air traffic will be shut down so your far-off family members will be panicing. There will be a revival of train travel, perhaps...

It would be an interesting few months.