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See Also: List of extraterrestrials in fiction , '' E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial ''.]] In Popular Culture s, Life Form s--especially intelligent life forms, that are of Extraterrestrial Origin , i.e. not coming from the Earth --are referred to collectively as Alien s, or sometimes ''' Visitor s'''. This usage is clearly s in Fiction al accounts accomplish Interstellar Travel and land on a Planet elsewhere in the Universe , the local inhabitants of these other planets are usually still referred to as "alien," even though they are the Native life form and the humans are the Intruder s. In general they are seen as unfriendly life forms. This may be seen as a reversion to the classic meaning of "alien" (see Foreigner ) as referring to "other," in contrast to "us" in the context of the writer's Frame Of Reference . ALIENS IN POETRY There is a long history of writing about imagined meetings between aliens and humans, and , relates the observations of the inhabitants of Venus about humanity. HISTORICAL IDEAS The fictionalization of extraterrestrial life occurred before the 20th Century . The didactic poet Henry More took up the classical theme of Cosmic Pluralism of the Greek Democritus in "Democritus Platonissans, or an Essay Upon the Infinity of Worlds" (1647).1 With the new relative viewpoint that understood "our world's sunne / Becomes a starre elsewhere", More made the speculative leap to extrasolar planets, :the frigid spheres that 'bout them fare; :Which of themselves quite dead and barren are, :But by the wakening warmth of kindly dayes, :And the sweet dewie nights, in due course raise :Long hidden shapes and life, to their great Maker's praise. The possibility of extraterrestrial life was a commonplace of educated discourse in the 17th century, though in '' Paradise Lost '' (1667)2 Milton cautiously employed the conditional when the angel suggests to Adam the possibility of life on the Moon: :Her spots thou seest :As clouds, and clouds may rain, and rain produce :Fruits in her softened soil, for some to eat :Allotted there; and other Suns, perhaps, :With their attendant Moons, thou wilt descry, :Communicating male and female light, :Which two great sexes animate the World, :Stored in each Orb perhaps with some that live. Ancient stories and texts about Demons , as in the Bible , may also have some connection to modern stories about Alien Abductions , mind control, and so on. Fontanelle 's " Conversations On The Plurality Of Worlds " with its similar excursions on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, expanding rather than denying the creative sphere of a Maker, was translated into English in 1686.3 In "The Excursion" (1728) David Mallet exclaimed, "Ten thousand worlds blaze forth; each with his train/Of peopled worlds."4 SEE ALSO ]] Types of alien
UFOs
Other alien phenomena
Alien studies
Aliens in fiction
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