Having had two abduction experiences (sleep paralysis, not "real" abduction experiences) involving two very distinct manifestations of Grays, I hypothesize that they're largely the product of vestigial brain structures. Specifically, a combination of a competing hominid identification mechanisms and a predator identification mechanism. Typically they are a strigiform goblinoids (owl-dwarves), a combination of identifying small-target competitors and a serious nocturnal threat to our primate ancestors. While the classic Grays are a meme from the Betty and Barney Hill case, similar owl-like figures occur in folklore from around the world, and I think speak more towards a shared quirk of human neurological history than alien contact. Because a lot of UFO encounters also involve cryptohominid sightings like Sasquatch, and there's a long history of cryptohominid folklore the world over (look at any wild-man lore, or the giant lore of the Iroqouis), I'm inclined to believe that these sightings are much the same: activation of vestigial threat identification structures through stress (sleep deprivation or disruption), chemical interference, or magnetic influence on the brain (assuming many related UFO sightings are some form of geo-plasma). If you think my hypothesis is viable, that provides some more options. Gray sightings are internally produced in the brain of the witness, but remain a clear sign of something _deeply wrong_ in the environment. They can also be exploited as avatars in the telepathic communication between an intelligent threat and a cultist or other patsy. Edit: There's a viable example in Aiwass, the alien intelligence that Aleister Crowley claimed to be in contact with in his 1936 book, _Equinox of the Gods._ For games, Aiwass could be a hallucinatory avatar of an alien intelligence. If the image itself is the product of the contactee's brain, players could experience the same intelligence in very different hallucinations, or superficially similar hallucinations. The distinct manifestations would reflect the unique makeup of the contactee (presumably a player character), and may act as player-specific clues.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
Except they are not reported before about 1950. They'd be featured in more legends and myths if they had the vestigial brain origin.
@johnduquette7023
Жыл бұрын
@Sandy of Cthulhu I _did_ say that "classic" Grays are a meme. The meme has traction because it's a confluence of those vestigial identification mechanisms. Dwarf/goblin experiences and large-eyed figures pre-exist the meme.
@dubuyajay9964
Жыл бұрын
@SandyofCthulhu Look at Aiwass. Except for the eyes he looks EXACTLY like a Grey.
@worldofexploits
Жыл бұрын
@@dubuyajay9964 You are talking about LAM, not aiwass... Just google LAM crowley By the way, whether one believes or not, there are plenty of cave paintings depicting grays, even relics from aztecs that were suppressed depicting gray aliens. My line of thought is, those creatures are not related our mind mechanics coping with traumas/whatever.
@SpokenFlesh
10 ай бұрын
the idea of one alien species being controlled/created/enslaved by a bigger alien race, was somewhat explored in Half-Life games, instead of Grays it was Vortigaunts
@myndovamadda
Жыл бұрын
Time travelers was always my favorite explanation, if a UFO debate ever came up at a party. My favorite explanation in TTRPGs, Delta Green's explanation that Greys are psychic puppets used to communicate with human leaders and scientists.
@dubuyajay9964
Жыл бұрын
Yeah. The Mi-Go made them.
@the-real-Lovefist
Жыл бұрын
This is my favorite explanation.
@totallynoteverything1.
5 ай бұрын
there's also aleister crowley's depiction of a demon
@tlivengood1
11 ай бұрын
I've been playing with the idea myself that the grays are a universally identical and partially artificial race that only reproduces through cloning. In the vein of the "artificial servitor race" idea, they could be the result of whatever original alien abductor only collecting a small stock of humans to begin with. These alien masters would clone only the most "useful" servants and occasionally breed useful genes together, but they would eventually reach a point where only one surviving "perfect" genetic template remained. The grays could then variably go insane and branch off or rebel against their masters, be captured by other alien masters to allow narratives with grays on both sides of some inter-planetary conflict, or simply carry out the whims of whatever darker and less-human mind leads them on the unsuspecting population of Earth-humans. To expand on the idea of "humans independently becoming grays" I personally like the idea of some advanced sect of ancient humans achieving space travel. This could be either as survivors of some cataclysm escaping disaster (mechanically-inclined savants of Hyperborea or some such "lost civilization") that erases the evidence of just how advanced they were, a 2001-Space-Odyssey-esque result of alien uplifting, or simply ancient man finding crashed alien technology and blasting away with it. In either case, it would be the equivalent of the crew of a single spacecraft resorting to some form of eugenics either as a last resort to avoid inbreeding or as some hubristic attempt at breeding the "perfect human." After eons of genetic tinkering, biological reproduction would at first be seen as taboo and then eventually impossible as cloning becomes more and more necessary. Eventually, more and more individual genomes are archived and less and less are reproduced as "most useful" until only one is in active use, giving us a wonderful group of hyper-logical antagonists roving around the stars in an awful echo-chamber of their own make, abducting and analyzing the genomes of the "wild, rabid, and under-developed" Earth-humans as cattle. In either case, we're left with a heavily modified race of genetically identical hyper-advanced "humans" that are in many ways simply biological machines. Heads are larger to fit larger brains. Eyes are large and dark to allow them to see in energy-conserving darkness aboard ships. Mouths and teeth become almost vestigial when you consume some form of nutrient paste for all of your food and water needs (and when you use telepathy to fit most depictions of the grays instead of speaking out loud). Most are small to conserve calorie use aboard starships, but some are artificially made taller in scenarios where long limbs make sense for their intended role (engineering applications, low gravity, etc), and those who match the stories of more human-looking aliens among the grays are simply uncanny-valley results of plastic surgery. As a result of genetic tinkering to survive with less life-support and on varied planets, grays would be uncannily tough and may even have tweaked variants for use in different environments, allowing for a great range for use in games: a narrator could use frail ship-bound grays at low levels and later employ more hardy grays as the party becomes stronger or better informed/equipped. Maybe some grays are grown onto some ultra-hard titanium alloy skeletal frame, so shooting one in the head confronts the party with something that breathes and bleeds but appears to be a robot of some kind underneath.
@dylanthomas385
Жыл бұрын
The minor hyperspace aliens need some back ground flavor
@rynowatcher
Жыл бұрын
Grey gaming idea: Greys were created by an alien overlord as a servitor race from human DNA. They had traits altered for such service, but their masters put a genetic drug dependency in them to keep them from rebeling. Like the Jim Hadar in ds9 or the house servants in Dune. They have been objecting humans to see unmodified DNA does not have this dependency in hopes for a cure (hence obductions) and since we are technically the same species, getting children without this trait is nessicary to overcome their overlords. This is a generational war of attrition.
@dubuyajay9964
Жыл бұрын
That's what they are in Delta Green. Flesh robots made by the Mi-Go to do work and serve as a less mind shattering "ambassadors" to humanity.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
I like it. Though we can get even more creative than a drug dependency. What if they need to be plugged into a sleep machine to rest? Or they can't metabolize calcium except via a specific supplement?
@rynowatcher
Жыл бұрын
@@SandyofCthulhu why not make their dependency more carrot and less stick? How about if they cannot process or produce dopamine without a substance the overlord controls? That way they can survive without it, but it is denying them basic comfort without it? That is why they walk around naked; they cannot feel comfort from being warm or comfortable. They eat protein past because without this element they get no joy from good tasting food without it. They work all their lives for those few moments where they can live. If you do not like drugs, let us say it is a specific wavelength of light produced by a unique isotope. They absorb it through their skin (genetically modified from the human base) the same way we absorb vitamin D. And just like a person without enough vitamin D, withdrawal will cause social detachment, depression, and anxiety in the Greys.
@bigsarge2085
Жыл бұрын
As my grandpappy always said, "You can't trust Greys!"
@paulmeagher3416
Жыл бұрын
The idea that Grays are only US military personnel in suits is used brilliantly in the X-Files episode 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space'. Possibly the best episode of the series.
@polishedpebble4111
Жыл бұрын
Aliens were my oldest fear, and cause for nightmare like dreams. I still have vivid memories of scenes at night of looking out a wimdow at night and a saucer hiding behind a water tower then zipping away silently. Lights from the window at night paralyzing. Hidden entities around the house. They were basically magical - wipe memories, paralyze, silent, all seeing, all knowing, teleport in and out anywhere, zip to and from earth easily, and indifferent to humans (suffering?).
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
aliens can be really scary. I had a nightmare in my youth in which hostile aliens were invading, and some were in my house. However, Earth's atmosphere was mostly opaque to the aliens, so despite their tech, they were always seemingly in a dense fog (from their point of view) so I could maneuver around and fight them from surprise. Always wanted to put that into a game.
@i.m.evilhomer5084
Жыл бұрын
Apparently the Grays have some roots in H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds. They just so happen to resemble illustrations of the humanoid livestock that the Martians prey upon. A similar thing happened to the Loch Ness Monster, it went from having numerous conflicting descriptions to being described as a plesiosaur-like creature after the original King Kong was released.
@virtualshark9203
Жыл бұрын
I know they're generic, but somehow there is something about the appearance of Greys that terrifies me, even pictures, things I know are fake, I always feel like it's staring back at me. I think it's the eyes the way they're so massive and often pure black.
@toddellner5283
Жыл бұрын
Like the Black Eyed Kids urban legend from a few years ago
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
yes the eyes were a good call for whoever made them.
@purepwnage007
Жыл бұрын
maybe it's just a helmet. if we made contact they'd think we were albino cyclops. does that make u feel better
@YaroslaffFedin
Жыл бұрын
I remembered your channel but could remember the name. Really wanted to revisit it but KZitem never suggested me your videos! And I am subscribed. Until today, I’m happy to find it again
@VK-sz4it
Жыл бұрын
One of the best PC games of all time is 1994 XCOM. It had quite interesting aliens.
@JaRew
Ай бұрын
Hi, I’m a new subscriber. Just wanted to share that I really enjoy these theory crafting type of exercises. I find myself doing this on a regular basis just before going to bed and thinking through scenarios a lot. Sometimes I end up having some fun dreams and try to write down those ideas as well when I wake up. Looking forward to more hopefully!
@chanrga
3 ай бұрын
came for the doom dev commentary, stayed for amazing stories and editing
@lalotime
Жыл бұрын
I know it's a controversial movie but prometheus had some really cool ideas. People mistook it for it being a prequel to aliens. But it was really its own movie set in the same universe. The main focus wasn't the creation of xenomorphs, but instead it was showing the creation of mandkind. The engineers, who have similarities to Grey's, created human life. And it wasn't that they just created humans in a couple years. They expiremented on their own kind. Engineers were genderless. But they decided to create 2 sexes as a way of growing colonies. So over millions of years they eventually evolved into humans. And its also possible that other species on earth have dna from other species outside of earth. Explaining why an elephant and a human aren't anything alike beisides ears nose and bones
@pillarnexustheancientgladiator
7 ай бұрын
This reminded me of the Level 7 board games (Escape, Omega Protocol, Invasion) which have the Ghin, aliens that look like the Grays with a sense for detecting human fear, but due to a crisis were having to be cloned for survival, with the government covertly helping them out. There were also clone-human hybrids with their own terrifying capabilities. Then Invasion happens and the Hydra show up, also bipedal but bigger and tougher, notable for how they adapt; the harder the human armies fought them, the harder they could fight back. The only way to defeat them was to ally with the major villain of the previous games.
@templar976
Жыл бұрын
I think there's an obvious answer we're all missing, convergent evolution. There's a video on youtube called "Why Do Things Keep Evolving Into Crabs?". The question is why do so many unrelated species end up looking more or less like crabs, to the point it can cause some taxonomical confusion (some species which aren't crabs are commonly known as crabs). The answer is that the crab-like structure is evolutionarily useful for locomotion and survival. Whenever that structure arises, it's efficient enough for it to survive and reproduce. That is also why orcas, whales, dolphins, and fish look similar in spite of being very different. This may be the reason why there are greys/grays. The humanoid structure is useful; bipedal stance makes us better hunters and joggers, hands are useful for making tools and, of course, smart brains are self-explanatory. Bilateral symmetry is common on Earth; Why can't it be elsewhere? Who knows? Maybe they're here to figure out why we look like them! LOL Another possible reason is that they're humans from a far future; a post-transhumanist dystopia in which humans have surgically and genetically "enhanced" themselves to the point they're not even recognizable to us. They figured out time travel and they're here to study their prehistory, or to get genetic samples from the original humans, perhaps for medical purposes. Maybe, in this future, normal, non-transhumanized humans fight the grey transhumans for supremacy, and the transhumans travel back in time to get samples of DNA from unsuspecting humans who don't have the technology to avoid getting kidnapped by them in order to make biological weapons that target normal humans specifically.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
In the first place, the only things that evolve into crabs are other closely-related crustaceans. Not everything. In the second place, NOTHING evolves into a humanoid shape - we have not a single "brother" in the entire evolutionary history.
@Ratstail91
11 ай бұрын
I like that construct idea!
@DoublinCommentates
Жыл бұрын
Hey Sandy! I would love to hear your ideas and interpretation of the Reptilian Race of the Nameless City from H.P. Lovecraft! Love your work!!
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
huh. I did talk about the Nameless City in my talk on why I love Lovecraft.
@daredevevil
7 ай бұрын
I think Stargate had a good explanation for the grays where they were originally more like humans, but changed their society to be clone based and over time lost the genetic diversity due to the cloning process making small errors every so often that eventually amounted to the threatening of their entire species. A cool twist on this is that the Grays could be a human invention of attempted cloning gone wrong... Could be very interesting to for players in a game to go down the rabbit hole to figure out why X-Files style, or maybe these clones are causing real harm by just existing and not knowing society, causing car crashes etc and someone needs to go in and put a stop to it. Maybe that's what the original grays were? If only reality was as cool as sci-fi.
@amaruqlonewolf3350
Жыл бұрын
I'm not sure if you're familiar with the game Paranoia, a Half-Life modification turned into a retail game. In there, the Russian military is depicted as secretly creating a "super" soldier, who had completely gray skins and and appeared visually the same to one another, but were otherwise completely human in their appearance. Similarly, the Combines create their soldiers from humans in Half-Life 2 by essentially draining them of their life, turning them completely gray in the process and putting them into some combat gear. Combines being an universal force, it'd be an interesting idea that Grays aren't in fact completely natural, but are instead artificially created with technology available to these otherworldly forces, and are sent over to the Earth to scout us humans and other wildlife without risking the lives of their own. You can take this in two different interesting scenarios; these scouts are either sent by this transparent force for learning about other wildlife. Abducting humans and installing probes into them? Perhaps they're not probes, perhaps they're trackers. That's how we install trackers on animals around us when we want to study about their lives within their natural habitat. That's what the transparent force is using their gray scouts for. Or alternatively, if you want to go towards the horror path, they're scout forces sent over to study the human nature and learn about them or essentially engage into combat and weaken them before the real deal arrives in order to invade.
@RantingThespian
Жыл бұрын
Are you no longer making full length videos and only doing Shorts?
@dylanthomas385
Жыл бұрын
And the forget classic monster seires you promised
@kylenetherwood8734
Жыл бұрын
The aliens can choose their form so made one that they thought we would find cute. Small stature. Big eyes. Not sure how you could put that into a boardgame but go ahead.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
wow they really bungled the "cute" angle.
@raynightshade8317
Жыл бұрын
Kinda wish you were still making RTS games cause i would love to see an RTS cthulhu wars with different gods with their own monsters and unique cultists
@nolan412
Жыл бұрын
Play faster.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
I tried to make one in 2012 - even put it up on Kickstarter to an immediate and humiliating failure.
@CloseingStraw97
Жыл бұрын
@@SandyofCthulhu What was this game called?
@raynightshade8317
Жыл бұрын
@@SandyofCthulhu well RTS are kinda having a resurgence right now could perhaps give it another go. What was the game called? There is a mod for AOM that adds a Lovecraft pantheon though they don't have custom models
@adood101
Жыл бұрын
@@SandyofCthulhu As a fan of your work with Id and Ensemble I would like to say, please don't interpret that outcome as whole-cloth truth. RTS games were certainly in a rougher spot in 2012, and I can confidently say you and many other industry icons were a bit harder to find and keep up with 11 years ago. I hate to see veteran developers say 'well we didn't get any response' on projects they tried to get rolling during (practically) the internet dark ages and write it off as being 'just how it is', especially when the state of the industry today is so stagnant...
@i.m.evilhomer5084
Жыл бұрын
The Grays scared the crap out of me as a kid, but now they're kinda funny to me. I can't take them seriously nowadays them thanks to various media like Destroy All Humand, Paul & Futurama. I'm also more privy to the literary origin of the Grays & how biology works. So I got nothing to be afraid of.
@WildShadowsZA
Жыл бұрын
Missing these eps.
@gabriel0santiago
7 ай бұрын
thanks for the great video
@baynemacgregor8441
Жыл бұрын
I love the explanation from the Conspiracy X rpg Grey Sourcebook which I won’t state here because that game is all about layered secrets so I won’t drop spoilers that players would see. Just mention that it’s there for curious GMs to go looking for and find and decide that it’s a game they should run.
@dubuyajay9964
Жыл бұрын
What about Delta Green?
@olaf5929
Жыл бұрын
Sandy, you okay? Where's the new content at?
@ricksmith7490
Жыл бұрын
Love your videos
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
thanks!
@cpunching
3 ай бұрын
One theory I really like is that the alien grays are physically/visually "alien like" but they're cloaking themselves in what they think a human looks like to try to put humans at ease during encounters. Grays could be taking a mental scan of a human's brainwaves and like those blurry images researchers could pull from people's memories the grays are emulating a very fuzzy, distorted, and hazy recollection of what humanity thinks is "human." It could also play into the whole psychology of how humans view certain features more "desirable" or trustworthy - like how disney designs use big expressive eyes for characters they want the audience to sympathize with, or a rounded soft body with more child like proportions to seem less threatening. But because there is something "lost in translation" from the fuzzy images of the human brain's instincts and memories a gray whose trying to look like battle angel Alita ends up looking like... that. So while the grays look humanoid to us we have no idea what their true form actually is or what any of their motives are. It gives writers the best of both worlds where yes, little gray men can be running around but it could quickly switch to something way more horrifying when it shows it's true self.
@jordanritchey5526
Жыл бұрын
Let us know that you are OK Sandy!
@MAJR172
6 ай бұрын
You need to watch "No One Will Save You." Only Gray movie I've ever honestly enjoyed.
@EhurtAfy
Жыл бұрын
Hi Sandy, I think it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Roman civilization being added to Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition through the Return of Rome expansion. With the expansion, they are importing the entirety of Age of Empires 1 into Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition as a separate mode, and adding the 'Lac Viet' i.e. Vietnam civilization as well. Not sure if you're looking to distance yourself from commenting on the Age of Empires franchise, but I and other Age of Empires fans really enjoy your unique perspective on the games and civilizations. The expansion releases on May 16, 2023
@mandead
Жыл бұрын
Always enjoy these kinds of video, Sandy. Thank you! I am curious though: did you ever try speedrunning Doom1/2 or Quake? How are your times?
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
I have never tried speedrunning. As a designer I always want people to enjoy and experience the levels, not blow by them.
@dougcarey2233
Жыл бұрын
If you ever find the time, you should try the MyHouse Doom mod.
@doggastiandoggatore6402
Жыл бұрын
Interestingly, I've been working on a sci-fi setting that plays with the possibility that grays are "future humans" and secretly interfere in past events for their dark goals, the story involves other factions that would also make for an interesting game. I subscribed to your channel back when I first started thinking about making a game around that plot and watching you now talk about grays felt kinda reassuring.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
you shoudl do it.
@doggastiandoggatore6402
Жыл бұрын
@@SandyofCthulhu Thanks! I'll keep working on the lore.
@ronschanlaub2619
Жыл бұрын
Space is too vast and sending living creatures on decades long travel is dangerous and expensive. Grays are an android type creature that can act as an avatar for the alien species. They eventually learn to match our outward appearance so they blend in better but the new arrivals still have the generic gray appearance.
@Dylandrawindog
Жыл бұрын
Come back sandy!
@adamthaxton3157
Жыл бұрын
I've always dug the "they're fake" takes - and there's not just the grays but also the blues, who are said to be more "positive" in their encounters. Greys are usually attended by a taller "leader" that's usually referred to as the mantis alien, perhaps the mantis was created to supervise and control the greys, and those who go lose theirs or are from an earlier iteration of greys are the blues, who are free enough that they don't need a mantis but too free for the liking of their original creators.
@general0mega
Жыл бұрын
So 1996-ish I wrote a short story involving gray aliens from Mars as time-traveling future humans and while I never felt like I invented the idea, I don't remember where I got it. Since you mentioned it, do you have any good examples of film or literature where that interpretation is used?
@dubuyajay9964
Жыл бұрын
Some Binary from a 80's UFO sighting in the UK pretty much said that when converted to English.
@IloveOtherPplsMsry
Жыл бұрын
Sandy, you familiar with Aleister Crowley's sketch of a demon he supposedly made contact with? It looks an awful lot like a gray.
@thomaswaithe6833
6 ай бұрын
They don't have to be indistinguishable from humans to interact with us. If you're say, non-vocal and your body language is... starfishy, then grays would be good in-betweeners to handle human communications. Being a not-quite-human could actually be an asset. If they looked 100% human, but didn't act quite right, the humans might actually be more freaked out.
@Samael_de_Monasteriis
Жыл бұрын
Dear Sandy, A colonization craft traveling to Jupiter jammed it's stabilizer throttle. It completely overshot it's target moon base. The crew hastily reacted to avoid asteroid debris, but the jam had ruptured a primary fusion cell which began to burn up an engine, which drastically increased the craft velocity a second time. The force of the secondary propulsion heaved the crew against the internal walls of their protective suspension chambers, knocking 5 crew members unconscious and killing 2 instantly. The craft continued on a trajectory directly out of the solar system with extremely increasing velocity. A chunk of the ruptured fusion cell melted through the engine and blasted the craft forward at even faster, blistering speeds. The pilot regained consciousness and knew he had to reach the manual control station. He began to drain his suspension chamber in an effort to reach it. As the fluid began to drain, he realized his final mortal mistake as his skin began to ripple from the front of his body to his back. The pilot quickly reached to his waist and activated his powered exoskeleton. As the fluid completely drained from the suspension chamber the weight of sheer velocity pinned the pilots bones to the metal frame of his powered suit. His skin flapping, his eyelids lifting above his brow, he activated the forward motion of his suit, slowing creaking bones with each agonizing step. Eyes bloodshot, cracked cheeks, he reached the control terminal & with a final heart beat aimed the craft to slingshot around Neptune with a chance to return to Earth. The crew wake 2 months later... Staring directly into space from inside their suspension chambers... A controlled deceleration had forced the pilot through the primary control terminal & breached the hull. The damage to the craft was limited to the control room & primary engine. The life support systems of the craft were stable, and the compound systems were intact to provide nutrients & water. The gravity drive couldn't be repaired so the return trip to Earth would have to be made without gravity. Running on a reserve engine and limited fuel, the estimated travel time to Earth was 286 years. Of the 4 remaining survivors there was an even division of genders that resulted in the creation of 2 families. The colonization craft was designed to accommodate an expanding populace, but concerning observations had been recorded by multiple generations of the craft's physicians. The observations concluded that there were irreversible development issues when the human body grows without gravity, in low light conditions, and when subject to large amounts of radiation. The progressing issues for each generation included; muscle loss, increased fragility, enlarged eyes, & greying of the skin. Unfortunately, at the time of the 3rd generation they had distinctly different traits to the elders. They had lost all hair, their pupils filled their eyes from staring into dark space, some had lost their little fingers, and others had gained extra fingers & toes. Concerns were raised if they would be able to survive their home planet's gravity. The craft physician decided to stop all colonization, primarily out of concerns for the well-being of the survivors when they eventually arrived home. This decision was protested & ultimately not adhered to. The 4th generation no longer had a choice, by that stage it appeared that all of the 4th generation had lost their ability to reproduce. This resulted in the creation of a geneticist team instructed to begin the process of cloning the elders and splicing their DNA with the 2nd & 3rd generations. The 4th generation were denied participation due to the genetic defects, causing the rise of unregulated cloning & crime amongst the colony. Kind regards, The Pilot
@ZombieByte1
Жыл бұрын
Gray Idea: Grays are another human species cousins of ours, similar to Neanderthals. Grays evolved a couple of million years before us, they achieved a space civilization and realized planets that produce sentient life are not that common. There's a galactic council that protects earth like planets, once a civilization reaches certain state, the council reaches out to them and makes them move out of their mother planet to live in space citadels. This way the planet can produce more sentient bio diversity. The grays are the first Earth civilization, they're primates like us and we have ancestors in common, the tale of Atlantis comes from them so technically they're the original Atlanteans , even though they don't live here anymore.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
I did present the idea that grays are from an earlier human species in the video. I'm not sure how a benevolent council makes sense or a good story but sure why not? I did do a whole campaign (not published) about benevolent aliens restarting Earth after we ruined it.
@ZombieByte1
Жыл бұрын
@@SandyofCthulhu Maybe there's some interesting dynamics hidden in the council thinking that they're doing a good thing while still making everyone move out of their home planet regardless of what that race actually wants.
@slack128
Жыл бұрын
This was super interesting. Did you ever play the original X-COM? Would love to see you review it. I was 11 when it came out and it radically changed my understanding of what was even possible in a game. Hiring scientists to discet bodies then getting to read the reports on it was such a great experience.
@nikolaikolev7833
Жыл бұрын
Sorry for off-topic, but Return of Rome for AOE2 is out on may 16th on Steam, another remaster for AOE1, can you do a video on it, master?
@toddellner5283
Жыл бұрын
Combine time or space travel with Paul Park's _Celestis_ . Humans from the future or a past civilization which (purposely or not) left no traces which we have identified and headed for the stars colonized other places. The Grays are a faction of their non-human colonials suffering from extreme _kasumba_ , a Swahili term for idolizing the oppressor and have modified themselves to look more human. Maybe the humans Out There died out. Maybe most of the Grays rebelled against them. Maybe this faction has some kind of weird fundamentalism and wants to get close to the original humans. They have come to Earth in search of their ancestral-type gods. And they will either treat us with creepy and unwholesome reverence or want to wipe us out when we fail to measure up.
@Palendrome
Ай бұрын
Sandy, they are built from us (dna or whatever), by something else.
@jack02krauser
Жыл бұрын
2 things, first love the Delta Green version, which pretty much uses the "created by the migo" thing. and second but... why is Cthulhu humanoid!? I know Alan Moore barely touched that in his graphic novel Providence, but why do you think that is. Great Channel btw.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
I was unaware that Cthulhu was humanoid, at least in the stories - he's described as a squid-dragon. He does have six limbs (two of them wings) and a head at one end, but a "head at one end" is not unique to vertebrates.
@jack02krauser
Жыл бұрын
@@SandyofCthulhu yeah, thanks for the clarification Sandy, many life forms have that shape. Did you read Providence?
@cropathfinder
Жыл бұрын
One of the "fakes" idea i made and worked on for a DM friend of mine was that the aliens thought the "greys" would be found cute and appealing by humans and it would not make humans aggressive towards them or creep us out too much because they actually wanted to have a diplomatic first contact but kept fucking it up not just with humans (yes this was a bit of a comedy). I dunno the exact reason why but it was either due to the original aliens being too grotesque and having some old ones like affect and mind breaking most humans they came into contact with. The grays were basically just remote operated encounter suits. Also the "cute and appealing" design was decided by a marketing team who were not properly informed about humans and for cost saving measures the suits themselves were made by the lowest bidder which is why their movement is often described as weird in media and by people who supposedly encountered it.
@casual_villain
Жыл бұрын
I misread the title as “alien gays”. Can’t tell if I’m relieved or disappointed…
@alexanderchippel
Жыл бұрын
I know this kind of goes against a lot of common conjecture, but I think the greys are the most realistic alien. As far as we know life can only exist on a planet with a similar atmosphere and environment to Earth, and Earth produced a hyper-intelligent bipedal creature with forward-facing eyes. Think of it like a race car. Sure you could have a race car with 6 wheels, but you just look at it and do some thinking it's very obvious that four wheels would be optimal. Look at the oldest standing human structures. They're all pyramids. Why? Because the triangle/pyramid is universally recognized as the strongest shape from a structural perspective. Now people won't bring up crustaceans because a lot of convergent evolution involves creatures evolving into crab like creatures, but my reputation of that is when was the last time you saw a crab society, let alone develop any form of tool use? The overwhelming majority of hyper-intelligent preachers have been humanoids. Not just primates like chimps and orangutans, but all the other species of humans that have gone extinct long before we came about. Anyway thanks for coming to my TedTalk.
@mackdmara
Жыл бұрын
Something about the greys is off putting. They are just human enough, without being human. Truely creepy. Fire in the sky was said to be a true story, but it could be fiction, idk. That was a great movie about these grey aliens. What I do know is hands it seems are needed. If you have tentacles out of water, you need some kind of mucosal cells, which has the detractor of it harming whatever you are touching. That is bad for bussiness if you want to manufacture things. If it is in water, the obvious problems exist, as air is a much easier fluid to live in. Dolphins have basically two brains just so one can sleep at all times. The effort is pointed at survival, not so much adaptation at that point. If you have something like arachnids, crustaceans & insects, there is a limit to size & environment. The hydrolics they use to move, also limits size as higher pressures are needed to move larger limbs. This causes the need for very strong internal structures, that are not likely to evolve. Again, the survival cost is high. Now, don't get me wrong. I like the idea of odd aliens, with foreign shapes or oddly proportioned bodies. The issue is all the data I have suggests that something similar (with more or less arms, legs, or digits) would be their shape. It makes them humanoid unfortunately if they exist in this Universe. The execption would be interdimentional beings or extra Universals, that come from some place else with diffrent physics. That kind of fiction is where I always placed these kind of stories. Something that shouldn't be here has creeped into our realm. It has come to conqure and reeks of havoc! Great topic all the same.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
Arachnids, crustaceans, and insects are simply an example I use for non-human shapes. They have, in the past, reached sizes comparable to humans (pterygotids, arthropleurans, etc.). In fact, crustaceans and insects DO have internal structures when they reach a certain size. And certainly an alien being without a calcium phosphate skeleton could evolve and use other structures - for instance hydrostasis - to exist. Plus even other vertebrates don't adopt our body plan, so it's obviously weird.
@sentor98
Жыл бұрын
I believe the story your thinking about with the fungal Grays is the Mythos Saga called Dark Worlds.
@dubuyajay9964
Жыл бұрын
Isn't that Delta Green?
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
Dark Worlds indeed uses it, but I got the germ of the idea from elsewhere
@nameless5413
Жыл бұрын
How about using the Atlantian mythos as springboard? maybe there really was an advanced civilisation (lets say that they were heavily technocratically focused and somewhere nice and warm) that managed to figure out aviation and even space travel to slightly further than we have now and decided to give a shot to Mars as home so as not to deal with far more numerous yet primitive other human subspecies. Somewhere over 2 billion years ago. Due to different environment they started to adjust physically to conditions of lower gravity changing their shape to smaller grey skinned beings. In this the fate and indeed much more recent reports of Atlantis from Plato was it? would've been result of the greys that were left on earth as de-facto emissaries and conducted interviews with interesting individuals, eventually realising that he'd reported on them and moving out to avoid overwhelming warmongers trying to usurp technology by force. This would probably have to be something to do with whatever psychedelics or narcotics they'd used to usually wipe memories of their guests not quite working because Plato ate i dunno a Gyros or something unexpected that messed with chemistry of how the memory wipe works. Now, few milenia later their observations and interactions with humans are under more and more scrutiny and they are trying to remain anonymous through any means, not just memory wipes but discrediting individuals gassing them with hard drugs etc. Result of both curiosity and hubris on their part is the core of conflict, both human traits that'd make sense within "they are just us but different branch". I mostly chose that way because humans are fucking awfull to one another in general terms, in person they at least attempt to pretend to not be but looking at these results i refuse to accept that we are all or even mostly good.
@guyrandom8235
Жыл бұрын
I don't know if humanoid, or at least remotely human SHAPED creatures are too completely out of the realm of possibility for intelligent aliens fulfilling the same ecological niche as civilization. One could argue that the weird shrink-wrapped design with atrophied facial features and few extremities sort of makes them what some people would consider the bare minimum for a big-brained land creature convergently evolved with us. Evolution as we know it tends to push for somewhat symmetrical creatures, so paired sets of limbs would be more common (unless they were singular limbs like trunks and tails) and for their intelligence to effect their environment, they would most likely want some manipulating limbs and some propulsory limbs for movement. Now, many intelligent creatures like elephants, dogs, monitor lizards, and corvids have found alternatives to hands, (usually with their mouths, or trunk in the case of an elephant) but it definitely seems like, if you were intent on not handling things with only one manipulator or your mouth, specializing one of your pairs of legs into arms would be the way to go. From there, at least a semi-upright posture with a big human-like head (if natural selection on that planet indeed created animals with heads) could easily be the evolutionary route these animals took. Star trek aliens are maybe *too* coincidental, but I think gray aliens are distinct enough that something like them could well have come about on their own by sheer coincidence. Of course, on its own the idea that the grays are merely a parallel civilization similar to ours that arose independently of natural forces isn't as interesting as the other explanations for why they might look like us, but I think certain interpretations are potentially a lot more alien than they might seem.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
I'm sticking to my belief that humans are practically non-existent in the universe, as I've posited and argued for in several videos.
@PKAmedia
Жыл бұрын
So possibly bring in some weird interpolation of multi-verse theory into it. This is also reinterpreting an idea from Neal Stephenson Anathem, and just the general Christian, "made in gods image" thing and a bunch of other things. But you have a stacked multiverse, and intelligent life "higher up" the stack, unconsciously affect the evolution of some being "lower down" the stack. So the evolution of some intelligent life in that universe gets unconsciously pushed towards a certain form, and lower down than that, another group of intelligent life gets pushed towards them, so you have this badly photocopied affect going on. Side affect of that would mean than you can also have Grey squids/octopus, dolphins, birds, cat/dogs. And the mystery of what the above and below layers on the multiverse stack of us look like.
@noblecommando4269
Жыл бұрын
Hey Sandy, I'm a huge fan and i would love to hear your opinions on the world building and slien designs in Halo. Especially the flood.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
You strike a sore point with me. Back when Ensemble Studios was around, we were actually working on a gigantic Halo MMO, and my job was to do ALL the background lore and world building. So I researched a TON about the aliens, the Forerunners, the worlds, and the Flood. All carefully annotated and all lost in the destruction that Don Mattrick wrought in 2009.
@RekoneInkings
Жыл бұрын
Aliens are so advanced in technology they considered unnecessary the use of clothing 😅
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
that I can believe. If I lived in a climate-controlled spaceship all the time I might wear less. But clothing is pretty handy for a naked-skinned creature without an insulating fat layer, because it helps to equalize temperature change.
@radek4634
Жыл бұрын
In fact, for aliens who look like us, theres a very simple explanation. Just look at humanity in antiquity, which developed in separate civilizations that had no contact with each other. There were no telephones, no communications, and not even much developed commerce for some time. Indians developed independently, China, Aztecs, Europe, etc. Simple inventions, however, are similar all over the world, despite the fact that they are made of different materials conditioned by the place of residence and the availability of raw materials. The explanation for this is simple - we are all human beings and with the same abilities we invent similar things, because physically conditioned we need similar things such as food bowls, spears and bows for hunting. Similarly with the pyramids, they are all built in the same way, because that was the only way they could be made at that time, and in different corners of the globe everyone came to the same conclusion. It was the only way to build something tall - to make a 'mountain' out of available materials. Now, based on the knowledge that gravity affects the entire universe and is present on every planet - and it must be present, because only in this way the atmosphere and conditions for life are created. Even if on other planets there are other materials and raw materials unknown to us, they are affected by the same forces of the universe. So aliens, however different, will be similar to us on this basis. Because what can you do with gravity? Crawl, swim or fly. In general, however, walking is best when in contact with the ground. There is not much friction, so it is economical and safe. As long as the alien doesnt levitate or actually fly, it will look similar to us based on these basics. To think of aliens in non-walking terms, we would have to have life developed in a different universe than our own, for only then would other physical forces influencing the development of life be in effect.
@CloseingStraw97
Жыл бұрын
My idea is that the greys are humans from a previous universe who found a way to only travel forward in time. Don't know about how to write why they wouldnt completely take over the universe if they have such high end technology but i do like the genetic bottleneck idea. That or they realize they can do very little to change anything as the universe is set in stone. Idk, I have a hard tims with this one.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
They can't take over the universe because our universe has Great Old Ones in it. Perhaps they time traveled from the previous universe to escape Cthulhu, only to find he's already here, which is also why they have the bottleneck. Plus if you see my "why don't Lovecraft aliens use technology" video you'll see why I have little faith in technology saving the day.
@CloseingStraw97
Жыл бұрын
@@SandyofCthulhu or maybe Cthulhu died but again, cyclical and repeatative realities ensured that Cthulhu's existence was ensured to happen yet again.
@ingframin
Жыл бұрын
Grey origin idea: Maybe they are the result of a failed genetic experiment by some organization on Earth that wanted to engineer enhanced humans that can survive long space travel. Or even better, they succeed to engineer humans that can sustain long space travel. Then, they send them into space and when they come back they look like grays because something horrifying happened to them.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
Sure. that's a possible explanation of their form. Now to use it for a cool story or game
@nolan412
Жыл бұрын
Little green men--the army saw Robot One fights and placed an order?
@nolan412
Жыл бұрын
Dolphins from the future.
@nolan412
Жыл бұрын
...they discover coffee or bananas on a beach? The cat vs dog nuclear war destroyed the oceans?
@nolan412
Жыл бұрын
Not the radiated octopi driving them to the beach!
@nolan412
Жыл бұрын
Cats were individualists while dogs ran a tight hierarchy based on breed. Both fascinated by the plastiscene period's artifacts.
@Rodrigo_Vega
Жыл бұрын
The early departing branch is the one that sounds most like hard-ish science fiction. Genetic bottlenecks isn't even all that unusual. Specially among an hyperconnected society, they could have also genetically "weeded out" weaker "defective genes" and or the early population that departed from Earth might have contained only a small sample of their source population. Maybe way back when they only had the technology and ressources to carry a fistful of their kind into space (space travel takes a lot of effort and ressources!) and they sort of bottled themselves up and now they are back here to fix it.
@georgekostaras
Жыл бұрын
You’re very good at this , the men in black should offer you a job
@singletona082
Жыл бұрын
Gaming Idea: either Mad Science, or Millitary project to try splicing Elderthing or Shoggoths with human genetics t otry making something more able to adapt to things like... shoggoths or elder things.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
neat
@josejoaquim4344
Жыл бұрын
What if the Grays were Avatars for other aliens? What I mean by this is: what if a group of aliens wanted to visit us, but the only way they would be able to do it was by creating these artificial Gray bodies that are vessels for their thoughts?
@Elkantar_Rostorgh231
Жыл бұрын
The ay lmaos
@attractivegd9531
Жыл бұрын
Feel like I am at the church with the echoes, also being stoned doesnt help i guess) also heard at 6:00 I hope we can save florida and the panthers), also half life 2
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
we need to save half life 2?
@attractivegd9531
Жыл бұрын
@@SandyofCthulhu Was a bit "tired" when I wrote that sorry. I meant the last part when you develop the last idea about greys reminds me a lot of the HL1 plot (not HL2 actually, was too stoned).
@Solaar_Punk
9 ай бұрын
I think Grey is just the English spelling.
@kevinvito8336
Жыл бұрын
What if the grays are just our own distorted reflections? The actual aliens just have highly reflective bodies. Or maybe the greys only seem to have humanoid faces because of our pareidolia?
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
If they turned their heads we'd still see our faces, so doesn't seem that way. And I don't buy pareidolia, because it doesn't make us see "human" faces in scorpions or sea anemones.
@gwynplaine4198
Жыл бұрын
Going more of the high-strangeness route, I've had the idea that greys are the best step in the life cycle of the men in black (who are often very weird and inexplicable in their own right)
@FirstLast-ew1st
Жыл бұрын
One idea I like is that the large eyes are pressure bubbles with radiation shielding, similar to astronaut helmets, and that the featureless and genderless appearance of the Grays is because they're actually wearing full-body spacesuits. The actual aliens themselves look completely different to how we expect. Kind of like if an alien saw an astronaut and concluded all humans were bulky, hunchbacked cyclopes with unblinking golden eyes.
@AaronLitz
Жыл бұрын
The _Quatermass_ shows are really good, especially _Quatermass and the Pitt._ I like the movie version best. Well, they're _mostly_ great, but at the end they tended to get a little iffy; the final _Quatermass_ really came across to me _just a bit_ like the ramblings of an out of touch old man who was terrified of these weird young hippies with their scary and dangerous new ideas like less sexual repression and... flower power? (Such scary ideas.) And really, the reveal that it's all an ancient alien plot to _harvest human protein?_ Really? I can think of a _lot_ of easier ways for aliens to get protein. I like the Delta Green explanation for Greys (I prefer spelling grey with an "E.") In Delta Green the Greys are just genetically engineered puppets of the Mi-Go. The Roswell crash was actually staged by the Mi-Go to establish their Grey constructs with the Humans in a situation where the Humans _believed_ they were in control, but everything was actually all carefully manipulated by the Mi-Go. I even envision CthulhuTech as actually being a continuation of the Delta Green timeline, with the simpler Greys of the 1940s essentially being a prototype for the Nazzadi project of the 2050s. The Mi-Go designed the Nazzadi as an upgrade of the Greys, giving them full sapience and installing a control mechanism of false memories and an engineered culture that aligned with the goals of the Mi-Go, instead of relying on the cumbersome control mechanism of every Grey being just a mental blank that needed to be constantly psychically puppeted. The Mi-Go used the Nazzadi to attack Earth, launching the First Arcanotech War... until the Nazzadi eventually discovered their true origins and rebelled against the Mi-Go to ally with their Human cousins and defend Earth. (The situation is meant to parallel Robotech and the First Robotech War, with the Nazzadi in the role of the Zentraedi.)
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
I agree that Quatermass IV is the weakest. Still had some scary moments. I also agree that Quatermass III is the best.
@DeadSmoke813
Жыл бұрын
Grey and Gray are technically twos separately listed colors. One is darker than the other.
@tabletopgamingwithwolfphototec
Жыл бұрын
Yeah you missed a lot of details. The loss of genetic diversity is due to extreme cloning issues.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
hey it's a 10 minute talk about alien grays. I wasn't trying to plunge into the depths of genetic bottlenecks, just talk about how they can exist. You are of course correct that I missed lots of details.,
@tabletopgamingwithwolfphototec
Жыл бұрын
@Sandy of Cthulhu it's okay. I simply love aliens & spent a lot of hours on various websites looking over aliens & cryptides. You started and left me wanting more [ In Dr. Zoidberg voice ].
@wesc6755
Жыл бұрын
Right, humans have more chromosomes in common with jellyfish than we would with a species that evolved under a completely different set of environmental conditions. And even if their planet were identical in every way to Earth, chaos and happenstance would cause enough variation to make it essentially impossible. Also, their spacecraft always seem to resemble the aircraft being experimented with. First, they're silver and shaped like bullets... then they're saucers... then they're black triangle. Gee, I wonder why.
@SandyofCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
Hey I'm not arguing in favor of UFOs or alien grays, just trying to make them cool
Пікірлер: 150