Outer Limits + Occam's Razor

There are a lot of stories promoted by folks on this site and conspiracy theorists in general that all boil down to the same idea : since the 1950s at least, The Powers That Be have been regularly revealing "the truth" through media outlets, for purposes of preparation (for disclosure) or disinformation. Most of the influential science fiction works of our time have been discussed as having a secret kernel of real-world truth, from the Day the Earth Stood Still to Star Trek to Close Encounters.

I have been checking out old episodes of The Outer Limits lately (1963-1965) and I have to say I was surprised at the number of themes that echo current and popular ufology stories and conspiracy theories. From the Serpo exchange story, to the SDI agenda, control of the moon, alien-human hybrid experiments, and countless secret government/alien meetings. The early sixties seemed to me to be prime timing for this kind of "leaking" of the big secrets, and at first I thought that maybe The Outer Limits was an under-scrutinized vehicle for whatever the real "information" was.

Until I applied Occam's Razor.

I thought about Reagan's famous speech in defense of Star Wars, and how feasible it would be for that old actor to have been 'inspired' by an old show he remembered; and when I think about the timing of some of the theories so many of us accept as probable, I wondered how many other 'sources' could have been inspired in the same way.

The Outer Limits is full of alien agendas and cold-war era paranoia, government experiments and cover-ups. Enough of them, and early enough, that it just seems far more likely that it, or any of the similar shows and movies from the time, gave our conspiracy theorists a huge grab bag of easy ideas to lift from.

As a matter of fact, I bet you can trace most major modern-day ufo 'theories' (or stories) back to a fictional inspiration, and I'll bet there are a lot of sci-fi writers that would back me up. I cannot prove my own little theory, but Occam's Razor does give me the benefit of the doubt.

Here are a few plot synopses from The Outer Limits:

The Architects of Fear (1963)
Grimly concluding that a common enemy is the only hope in unifying the warring nations of Earth, a group of scientists set out to secretly create the ultimate, global threat -- an all-powerful alien monster.

"The Mice" (1964)
A convicted murderer volunteers to be teleported to another planet in an inhabitant-exchange program with alien beings.

"The Invisibles" (1964)
Alien parasites take over the bodies of influential human beings in an attempt to overthrow the governments of the world.

"The Children of Spider County" (1964)
Alien beings returns to Earth to claim five young geniuses, born of human women but sired by alien fathers.

"Moonstone" (1964)
Lunar base personnel come between a globe containing alien intelligences and the alien leaders.

I look forward to your thoughts.

Cheers,
Skip

I think you're right. The Outer Limits was one of my childhood favorites. It had plenty of BEM's (bug-eyed monsters), sinister or beneficial aliens, weird technology, and so on. Many of those themes play out even now in fiction and in many "close encounters".

I'm not sure that we're being inspired by Outer Limits, though. What I *think* is happening is, we have many of these themes or archetypes floating around that need expression. So Outer Limits, abductions, close encounters, etc., are inspired by the same themes.

I think all these experiences are psychological. I'm not claiming that abduction victims are crazy or psychotic or lying, only that the reality of their experience is internal, rather than external. Something along the lines of what CG Jung believed. The experiences are real, even if no one but the victim can see or hear what's going on.

It seems as though mankind always needs some kind of myths to keep us going. We've outgrown angels and demons, so now we've got aliens. But it's much the same thing - aerial travel, beings of great power and knowledge, interventions with humans, even sometimes sexual connections. Much like the Greek and Roman gods, the Sons of God in Genesis (who mated with earthly women), and so on.

It is just possible that The Outer Limits is responsible for our modern preconception of hairless aliens with large eyes; 12 days before Barney Hills hypnotherapy session in which he reported being abducted by such beings The Outer Limits aired an episode which featured aliens with at least some similarities to the ones commonly described.

More here:
Betty and Barney Hill Abduction at Wikipedia

I personally do not believe this to be the case, but others have made the connection and believe it to be a factor so it does deserve mentioning.

You should look through some of the authors works in this article, "Golden Age of Science Fiction" on the Wiki.

I grew up reading the stuff from that era. My Sister had all the Sci-Fi publications and left them in boxes from her childhood in the 1930's.

You will find that the Outer Limits pulled things from earlier works.

Asimov, Heinlein and Bradbury put out marvelous stuff. I in particular liked Bradbury.

If you factor in the technology of the day you will find mention of Alien Abductions go back to the Old Testament days. The terminology changed is all. Demons and Angels became Aliens. Technology and terminology changes and most other things stay the same.

reply to post by skip_brilliantine


Everything old is new again... "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Originally posted by Blaine91555
You will find that the Outer Limits pulled things from earlier works.

No doubt! I love early science fiction (just reread the Martian Chronicles) and although I was thinking of the particular plot points and mass exposure of this particular show at the time, your post strengthens the argument; there is so much fantastic science fiction from the twentieth century, a hundred years or more of it, that has influenced how we imagine extraterrestrials today... why not ask whether it's likely that at least some of the stories we've heard weren't originated from fiction like that, and its influence over the years... rather than the other way around.

reply to post by skip_brilliantine


I think it most certainly plays a part. We see people here often who think for instance that the Matrix movie is not fiction among others.

All good fiction has some basis in fact. Look how closely "1984" came to hitting the nail on the head.

Many of the early Science Fiction authors were scientists of merit in their own right. It stands to reason some of their flights of fantasy would resemble facts.

The idea of Aliens from other worlds is clearly very old. Biblical in fact. What is an Angel if not an Alien from another place? Were they real? It is possible.

I need to go back and read stories I read in the 60's from my Sisters collection. I wish I still had all of her stuff. She had all the old magazines and Sci-Fi journals. She was twenty years older than me, so they went back to the start of the genre.

Rather than the outer limits or other fiction giving rise to conspiracy theories I would have thought the factual answers we have received from authority bodies has done more to cause people to question.

Just take the old chestnut Roswell where 3 official explanations have been provided.

That, in other words, is a conspiracy right there, no need to have watched Star Trek. The true explanation may be very terrestial however that is still a conspiracy to cover the truth and even the most hardened skeptic would have to concede that.