One Day History Will Repeat Itself

A common theme in science fiction is that aliens will suddenly show up in front of our doorsteps one morning. The dramatic image of a gigantic and ominous spaceship looming above motionless taking up half the sky is used quite often. A recent example of this is the movie District 9:


Past examples of this dramatic device have been in the movie "Independence Day," where alien spaceships hover quietly over every major city on Earth before lasering the crap out of everyone like roaches:


And in the 1980's TV series "V," which is being remade and set to air in November:


The concept of alien spaceships popping up over every major city and looming eerily overhead was first introduced in the Arthur C. Clarke book Childhood's End:

"The humans' arms race is brought to a halt by the sudden appearance of mysterious spaceships above all the Earth's great cities. After a week of silence and increasing tension, the aliens, who become known as the Overlords, announce by world-wide broadcast that they have benign intentions and desire to help humanity but also that they will henceforth assume the minimum amount of control which will achieve their aims. As enforcers of peace, they bring salvation and life. They also bring the death of some dreams, as humanity is no longer completely independent and may not pursue certain scientific goals, such as space exploration."

Believe it or not, this dramatic type of "first contact" has happened in this manner before. Of course I'm not talking about aliens popping up and saying, "Howdy neighbor!"

I'm talking about human history. Japan was an isolated country, closed to the outside world, until one day...

"On July 8, 1853, residents of Uraga on the outskirts of Edo, the sprawling capital of feudal Japan, beheld an astonishing sight. Four foreign warships had entered their harbor under a cloud of black smoke, not a sail visible among them. They were, startled observers quickly learned, two coal-burning steamships towing two sloops under the command of a dour and imperious American. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry had arrived to force the long-secluded country to open its doors to the outside world."


Can you imagine if you were a Japanese fisherman who never left Japan and only knew of wooden fishing boats? You're heading out the door one morning, and you see ironclad monster ships spewing black fumes:

"OK, bye honey! I'm going to work... WHAT THE HELL?!"