Once he had finished Alien, Ridley found himself visiting the Planetarium in Pasadena and there he met Carl Sagan, the famed American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences named (who would a year later come out with the world famous TV series Cosmos.) and so Carl attended the premiere of "Alien".
b) Carl's Response to Alien
After the showing, Carl in a very dismissive frame of mind about life on other planets came up to Ridley with a glass of Champagne and said to him "Hmm, the premise is entirely ridiculous of course."
Ridley replied "Lighten up , Carl, it's only a movie."
Carl further explained "What you present here is actually impossible. There will be no aliens discovered in your life time or mine, or ever. There are no other aliens in the universe. However I am writing a book which goes against what I just said."
Ridley asked him "How, then, do you account for the fact that we're the only ones, the only accidental selected piece of biology since the big bang?"
From the same conversation, it appeared that Carl told Ridley "There will be no aliens discovered in your lifetime or mine"
c) Ridley's thoughts on evolution
Ridley's thoughts behind this were that our evolution, from the bang, to the earliest forms of life is so organically unlikely that it's actually impossible. There would have had to have been a billion decisions made by accident for that to have occurred, so one has to wonder, who is in charge?
d) Sagan wrote Contact
Carl Sagan later went on to write the book "Contact" which Ridley would like because it ended before the aliens would arrive. So the main character would have 12 years to prepare herself. He thought it was a really smart way of doing it. and so Ridley also thought that also must have meant that deep down, Carl believed it was possible.
Source Quotes
- Ridley Scott: I remember talking to Carl Sagan at the premiere of “Alien.” At the end of the movie, he said, “Hmm, the premise is entirely ridiculous, of course.” I said to him, “Lighten up, Carl, it’s only a movie.” But then, later on, he wrote a bloody good book called “Contact.” The book was really smart, because it ended 12 years before the aliens would arrive. So, the main character would have 12 years to prepare herself. I thought that was a really smart way of doing it. It also must have meant that deep down, Carl really believed that’s possible. (June 8th, 2012 http://entertainment.inquirer.net)
- Ridley Scott: After a screening of Alien, I was told by Carl Sagan, who wrote the book Contact, "What you present here is actually impossible. There are no other aliens in the universe. However I am writing a book which goes against what I just said." So I asked him, "How, then, do you account for the fact that we're the only ones, the only accidental selected piece of biology since the big bang?" Our evolution, from the bang, to the earliest forms of life is so organically unlikely that it's actually impossible. There would have had to have been a billion decisions made by accident for that to have occurred, so one has to wonder, who is in charge? (1 May 2008 www.theguardian.com/)
- Yahoo: So, you’ve made Alien but also The Martian, where Watney is the only living organism on the planet. Do you believe there are aliens out there, in real life?
Ridley Scott: Yeah, of course. It’s kind of ridiculous to think not. Even though Carl Sagan — I met Carl Sagan when I had just finished Alien and we were in Pasadena at the Planetarium. The week it was opening, Carl Sagan was attending, and he came up to me with a glass of champagne, and he said, “Of course there will be no aliens in either your or my lifetime.” And I said, “Lighten up there, Carl. It’s a movie.”
( September 29, 2015 https://www.yahoo.com/movies/Ridley Scott on Bringing 'The Martian' to Life and How He's Reviving 'Blade Runner') - His films don’t provide concrete answers, but may encourage a more pliable scientific mind-set. He cheerfully recalls the skeptical reaction of famed astronomer Carl Sagan at an early screening of “Alien”: “He came up to me, holding a glass of champagne, and told me it was nonsense, that there would be no aliens in my lifetime or his, or ever.” Six years later, of course, Sagan wrote the novel “Contact,” directly addressing the possibility of alien life.(http://variety.com/2015/film/awards/ridley-scott-walk-of-fame-watch-1201633782/)
- This led Scott to equating God with that which is superior to us that we cannot understand. Which led into Scott discussing a conversation with Carl Sagan 30 years ago and in which Sagan said, according to Scott: “‘There will be no aliens discovered in your lifetime or mine’ … I said, ‘Lighten up, Carl, it’s only a movie.’ And now, 30 years on, NASA has said there are trillions of evolutions around us in space. Science and mathematics is art at that level.” Sure. (http://movies.blog.austin360.com/2017/03/10/nine-things-we-learned-about-alien-covenant-at-sxsw/)
- Ridley Scott: ''I remember talking to [astronomer, NASA adviser and author] Carl Sagan after the premiere of Alien and he said, 'The premise is ridiculous, of course,' and I said 'Lighten up Carl, it's a movie.' Later he wrote a bloody good book, Contact, that ended 12 years before the aliens were coming … so I think deep down he really believed that was possible, too.'' (http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/the-truth-is-out-there-20120606-1zx67.html)
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