100/1 Odds On 'First Contact' Within a Year 309
astroengine writes "After all the kerfuffle of 'Ambassadorgate' — when the UK media went nuts over the rumored promotion of Mazlan Othman to become the UN's first choice as mankind's alien point of contact — it would appear that gamblers saw this as a tip that an alien landing was imminent."
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:5, Funny)
What a waste of an opportunity for a f1rst c0ntact post. Damn, and I even rushed over while the headline was still red!
Re:Game changer (Score:5, Funny)
I'd think it'd be more like "HOLY FUCKING SHIT ALIENS" in some places.
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:3, Funny)
You'll eat your words, YOU'LL EAT YOUR WOOOOOOOORRRRDS!
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*dude, don't spoil the bet for me here, I am betting 1000:1 against it.
Reminds me of another old joke:
Two beggars are sitting on opposite corners of a street. One has a sign: give to a poor Arab, and he has a few dozens of coins in a plate. Another has a sign: give to a poor Jew. He has 1 coin.
A passer by drops a coin into the Jew's plate and says: -You should probably change your sign, it's not working out.
Once the guy left, the Jew yells to the Arab: Hey, Isaiah, he is going to teach us to do business here!
Ya know, I've been thinking.... (Score:1, Funny)
... and please don't rush to the "tin foil hat" responses, but I've noticed a great increase in the number of movies, shows and books dealing with the human races' contact and collaboration with aliens.
Here's my wild speculation theory: The Governments of the world and media are working together to slowly get us used to the idea of aliens being on earth. Little by little we are getting more complacient with the idea and accepting of the reality that alien lifeforms could visit Earth and we could somehow lean to live with each other.
Is this just some grand plan being put forth over years / decades to get humans ready for some type of incredible revelation?
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ya know, I've been thinking.... (Score:3, Funny)
2012, The Mayans knew it, they were waiting.
Re:It's a good tip... (Score:1, Funny)
Double plus improbable?
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:3, Funny)
Now that the western world (especially the US [wikipedia.org]) has an obesity issue, they might just decide that the time is right to migrate back ;)
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:1, Funny)
First the UN appoints an ambassador for extra-terrestrials, then this [youtube.com] shows up in Google News for me.
I even distinctly remember seeing on one of the news channels a number of years back that Canada actually came out and confirmed their existence, but I can't find any reference to it now. Maybe what I had seen was a hoax, but I would like to think that the news channels would have confirmed the credibility before airing something like that.
I'm skeptical that we will have or have had extra-terrestrial visitors at best, but I'd be an idiot to think that we are alone in the universe.
At the same time, even though I've never seen anything that would be classified as a UFO, plenty of people have, including my father and both of my wife's parents, as well as numerous military personnel, and even a former US President.
bogeymen (Score:1, Funny)
"When Wernher Von Braun [German rocket scientist] was dying of cancer [1974], he asked me to be his spokesperson. Von Braun actually told me that the reasons for space-based weaponry that were going to be given - the enemies that we were going to identify - were all based on a lie. He said the strategy that was being used to educate the public and decision makers was to use scare tactics; that first the Russians are going to be considered the enemy. Then terrorists would be identified. Then we were going to identify third-world 'crazies.' The next enemy was asteroids - against asteroids we are going to build space-based weapons. And over and over during the four years that I knew him and was giving speeches for him, he would bring up the last card. 'And remember, Carol, the last card is the alien card. We are going to have to build space-based weapons against aliens, and all of it is a lie.' He was too afraid to talk about it. He would not tell me the details. I am not sure I would have absorbed them if he had told me the details, or even believed him in 1974... In 1977, I was at a meeting in Fairchild Industries in a conference room called the War Room... They continued the conversation about how they were going to antagonize these enemies and at some point, there was going to be a war in the Gulf, a Gulf War. Now this is 1977!" - Dr. Carol Rosin, Fairchild Industries Corporate Manager, Von Braun spokesperson
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:4, Funny)
No, it's good. The first reaction of extra terrestrials on earth will be exactly that, i.e. 'Bullshit'.
All of the good alien movies... (Score:1, Funny)
...always had a African-American President in them. The end is near.
Re:Let me be the first to say... (Score:5, Funny)
Think of the steam engine. It is a single invention that caused and made possible the entire industrial revolution.
Now you're giving Valve too much credit.