The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) timeline

[Hnau]

I just watched the older black-and-white version for my film history class. It was surprisingly engaging! I loved it. I guess I'm a sucker for Christian allegory in science fiction. Warning: This thread will feature heavy spoilers!

It's October 1951 and in the last few days shocking events have occurred. Klaatu, an extraterrestrial emissary from an interstellar community of advanced alien civilizations, landed an atomic-power flying saucer in Washington's D.C., was shot at while trying to present a gift to humanity and afterward was medically treated and interrogated at a nearby hospital. There is much excitement and agitation because of his arrival. Klaatu desired an international conference to be organized so he could give his message to the leaders of nations of the world, all at one time. Frustrated with political impediments to the organization of such a conference, Klaatu escapes the hospital and masquerades as "Mr. Carpenter" in order to experience human society. He visits with a leading American scientist, Professor Barnhardt, who agrees to help him assemble a meeting of leading world scientists who would listen to his message. In order to convince humanity of the graveness of the situation, Klaatu re-enters his flying saucer and using technology inside is able to shut off electricity all over the world for thirty minutes. Hospitals and airplanes are not effected. This alarms the entire world. Klaatu is discovered by the military, is shot and killed, but his robot Gort retrieves his body and has it rejuvenated in the flying saucer. Klaatu speaks briefly to about a hundred scientists representing the international community and also the soldiers charged in guarding the dormant flying saucer. His message is that the interstellar community has created a number of robots like Gort with amazing destructive power who are charged with patrolling the inhabited worlds in order to identify and eliminate violence. The interstellar community has been observing humanity, and has been content to leave them to their own internal violent conflicts, but if they expand their violent activities into space, the policing robots will be forced to destroy the Earth. Klaatu and Gort re-enter their flying saucer and fly away.

What alternate timeline would this create? Let's look at a few items of interest:

- It has now been proven that probably many sightings of flying saucers and other UFOs are in fact extraterrestrial visitors, most likely the interstellar robotic police force mentioned by Klaatu. It is implied that these robots often navigate the star systems alone, Klaatu is merely there to communicate his message in order to warn humanity. We can also expect these interstellar craft are powered by some atomic process (fusion drives?) and have great destructive power.

- Klaatu may not have had such humanoid body after all. The human doctors examining him remarked that his body was implausibly identical to those of humans. I think its very likely his body was changed in order to communicate more efficiently with the humans, much like in the 2008 remake. But, it must be assumed that those who inhabit the Alpha Centauri system have a similar body plan to humans, evidenced by the humanoid appearance of Gort. Bilateral, bipedal body plans similar to those of humanity must be prevalent for intelligent life throughout the galaxy, a consequence of convergent evolution.

- Klaatu says that it took him five months to travel 250 million miles... very impressive, but at an average speed of 70,000 mph it would take tens of thousands of years to make the journey to the Solar System from Alpha Centauri. This was probably a mistake by the writers, but I don't want to go against canon. What could explain these figures given by Klaatu? One idea is that there could be some kind of "Warp Point" 250 million miles away, maybe an area where the gravitational effects of the Sun would diminish to the point where a FTL drive is possible. Another possibility is that Klaatu was only awake the last five months of his journey during the de-acceleration phase, in which he covered 250 million miles, but that his ship is capable of much faster top speeds. I'd like to keep with the idea, however, that his ship is powered by atomic energy, perhaps even something like antimatter catalyzed fusion, because this gives him a reason to come to Earth: humans are developing atomic energy, which means they could shortly expand into space. However, it seems unlikely that even advanced versions of a fusion drive would push a space craft much faster than 0.1 c for interstellar distances.

Let's see if STL travel is even possible in this scenario. Okay, a cloaked observation probe in the Solar System deduces that humanity has detonated an atomic bomb in 1945. A tight-beam signal is sent towards Alpha Centauri, which arrives in 1950. Klaatu would have at most one year to get to Earth from Alpha Centauri, an impossible voyage with STL travel. So there must be an FTL drive somewhere.

We've got to assume that some kind of FTL drive is possible, that the technology can be created through the utilization of atomic power, and that it is only functional at about 3.7 AUs from our Sun. Stars with larger masses might have even larger no-FTL zones. I'm imagining some kind of gravitometric generator that relies on a high amounts of energy which could be produced only through advanced fusion, which could in turn create not only artificial gravity but a field that would "pop a spaceship out of regular, three-dimensional space itself" in a process that this article hints is somewhat theoretically possible.

So, observation craft picked up evidence that humans had detonated an atomic bomb, they warped to Alpha Centauri, then Klaatu warped back into the Solar System, traveled from 3.7 AU to Earth in five months. The probe leaves in August 1945 after the the Hiroshima explosion confirms findings from the Trinity test that humanity has mastered rudimentary atomic power. It arrives at Alpha Centauri A about April 1948, tight-beams the info to the habitable planet there (~1.25 AU from the star), a decision is made to send Klaatu. Klaatu travels passed no-FTL zone, warps to the Solar System, hibernates on the way there, arrives in-system around April 1951, travels five months to Earth and lands in Washington D.C. around October 1951. What does this all mean? Klaatu's fusion-powered FTL drive can attain average speeds up to perhaps 2 c.

That's coming from a civilization that has mastered the technology. Perhaps humanity's first experiments create engines much less efficient and it must be perfected over long periods of time, but even with spacecraft using engines 10% as efficient, an aggressive humanity could conceivably travel to nearby star systems and take part in violent action. The interstellar community would have good reason to be frightened and send such a rapid response to the Earth after having discovered their development of atomic power. Also, it must be relatively easy to build this drive, perhaps it is just beyond our current 2012 level of technology... otherwise, why wouldn't the aliens take a bit more of their sweet time to give us this warning?

- Interestingly enough, humanity wouldn't be aware of FTL drives or no-FTL zones immediately. I think Klaatu dropped enough hints that scientists could figure it out after some hypothesizing and testing. But initially, it is assumed that Klaatu came from Venus or Mars, according to the American radio. Humanity has no idea these planets are inhabitable. This could create more of a motivation to send probes to these planets to discover if there is life there.

- Only a hundred scientists and some American soldiers were there for Klaatu's Speech. Looking at the footage, it looks unlikely that there were cameras rolling. Would audio-recorders be small enough at this point that they'd be easy to conceal? If so maybe some of the scientists were carrying audio recorders and picked up the speech, but if not, the scientists and soldiers will be incredibly important as witnesses to Klaatu's warning. The scientists were said to be "the best in their fields from the international community", but they arrived very quickly in Washington D.C. Klaatu gave Dr. Barnhardt only two days to assemble the meeting. That's very little time to send invites and organize transportation. I think its likely that only a couple of the scientists were from the Communist bloc, as communication between the scientific communities divided by the Cold War was difficult at that time. Most were probably American scientists. With little corroborating evidence and observation by Russian scientists, Stalinist Russia could deny the speech as a hoax, a capitalist ruse. Even in the United States of America, many will create different theories about Klaatu and his warning. It's undeniable that he arrived here in an advanced interstellar craft and that he stopped electricity worldwide for half an hour, but perhaps the scientists are bluffing about Klaatu's real intentions! With more than a hundred individuals to testify, it would be hard to cast doubt, but doubt will be cast, especially by those outside of the United States and the Western bloc.

I expect that these scientists will organize under the leadership of Dr. Barnhardt to defend their claims and become proponents for world peace and the peaceful development of technology, lest the Earth be destroyed. People will inevitably listen to and heed their message, more and more as time passes, but initially it may not be so.

- How will the visitation of the Earth from beyond affect technology and especially the Space Race? I mentioned before that humanity will be at first more motivated to send exploratory probes to Mars and Venus. What else? Atomic power has been confirmed to be very useful in interstellar travel, so plans for nuclear thermal rockets might be developed sooner and more money would be invested into these projects.

Scientists would be divided on the proper course of action. Should humanity wait until it grows out of its violent tendencies before sending spacecraft out? If humanity remains violent and develops the technology Klaatu's race feared it would, the Earth would be destroyed. It might be a good idea to stall space technology development until political problems are solved. Others, however, will point to the visitation as proof that space travel is possible and other civilizations are doing it rather easily, so we should get into space as soon as possible! They would argue that these robotic police patrols will only destroy the Earth if they take violent action against other worlds... as long as we keep our space craft from going to other systems, we should be fine. Heck, we could even fight wars between each other in our own solar system, after all, didn't Klaatu say that his civilization wasn't concerned with their own internal violent squabbles? And shouldn't space be militarized as soon as possible to defend from possible threats by these robotic police patrols?

The result, I believe, would be a polarizing effect on those scientists that believe in Klaatu's message. The majority faction would advocate peaceful development in space but would hold back against nuclear propulsion and even manned exploration of the planets until violence on Earth has been eliminated. The minority faction, still influential I would assume, would believe it is more important to build up defenses against this new threat, just in case, to give humanity a fighting chance, and that there is no reason why they should hold back on technological development as long as they don't send ships to other inhabited worlds.

More students would be interested in space-based technologies, too, because of the events of The Day the Earth Stood Still. That would whip up the public imagination like the Apollo landings never did. More scientists would thus enter those fields. If the government devotes more attention to these technologies, and more funding, then there will be more drawing hearts and minds to the industry.

The development of space exploration technologies will no doubt be accelerated in whatever case following the 1951 visitation, at first mostly in the United States, followed eventually by the rest of the world.

- What political developments would occur because of Klaatu's message? Most of the scientists who heard it were American, Klaatu visited the capital the United States of America, and was interrogated by Americans. Americans, as such, will be influenced by this message earlier and to more of a degree than any other country. There is now a group of a hundred individuals, the best minds of Western civilization and a few other cultures, who are active proponents of world peace... lest we all be destroyed. That's a powerful message. How might this affect the ongoing Korean War? What about this period of the Cold War? How would this influence future elections?

There's no doubt in my mind that, if anything, the 1951 visitation of Earth by Klaatu will encourage pacifistic government policies and pacifistic movements. If anything, we can assume that American policy will eventually start leaning towards more pacifism and conciliation with others. Eventually, the whole world will be influenced to one degree or another to be more critical of wars and violent activity. The Cold War will cool off faster and detente will begin sooner and most likely be longer lasting, perhaps even permanent. Perhaps when Kruschev begins the period of de-Stalinization in the Soviet Union, he might throw light on the issue of Klaatu's message and accept it for more than an American trick. Who knows what might be possible because of this, but I think the results can only be positive for world peace.

Any other ideas? Would anyone like to see a timeline made from this?

[sandoz12]

Would love a timeline like this. Have some ideas but too late atm for me to coherently suggest them at present.
Will subscribe and see what i can add on weekend.

[Dialga]

The big question is: Can violence be eliminated from the human heart, and if so, how?

Somehow I feel it can't be done and humanity is screwed.

[Hnau]

Klaatu's Speech

"I am leaving soon and you'll forgive me if I speak bluntly. The universe grows smaller every day and the threat of aggression by any group anywhere can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all or no one is secure. Now this does not mean giving up any freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them. We, of the other planets, have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of aggression. The test of any such higher authority is, of course, the police force that supports it. For our policemen we created a race of robots. Their function is to patrol the planets in spaceships like this one and preserve the peace. In matters of aggression we have given them absolute power over us. This power cannot be revoked. At the first signs of violence they act automatically against the aggressor. The penalty for provoking their action is too terrible to risk. The result is we live in peace without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war, free to pursue more profitable enterprises. Now, we do not pretend to have achieved perfection, but we do have a system, and it works. I came here to give you these facts. It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you."

Now, the question on everyone's minds will be: how much violence will the interstellar community tolerate? It seems like violent crime perpetrated by individuals will not lead to the destruction of Earth... I mean, have the other alien civilizations really advanced to the point where crime has been completely eliminated? I highly doubt it. The robot policemen apparently act "against the aggressor", and maybe wouldn't condemn the entire human race to a fiery death in the event of violent aggression against the interstellar community. Even if the Soviets, for example, launched a fleet of ships for a military offensive against Alpha Centauri, might the robots only destroy that fleet? Would they lead an attack on all Soviet military? Would they extend their destruction to the bureaucracy in Moscow, to the entire city of Moscow, to the entire population of the Soviet Union, to the entire population of the Communist bloc, to the entire population of Earth?

It seems very uncivilized to blame all the nations of the world for the actions of one nation, but then again, Klaatu's warning was quite dire. It seems they have some very rigid uncompromising laws in place concerning the punishment of violence. I have to assume that if a country coordinated an attack against a member of the interstellar community, then the robots would "declare war" so to speak against that country. Their fleets would vaporize that country's military and space tech wherever they could find it, and would follow up with a direct attack on Moscow and wherever the ruling government could be found until the Soviets surrendered and signed a peace agreement to never extend their military into space again. If such coordinated attacks happened again and again, the robots could very well blame the entire human race and destroy the Earth. I doubt they'd want to make a planet inhabitable... more likely their ships would just vaporize every human and human settlement they could find.

[Color-Copycat]

Very cool. I'd like to see more for sure.

[Hnau]

Flight to Mars (1951 film)

Originally targeted for a November release, after the events of October this movie would probably be pushed back to a Christmas release. The movie was filmed in only five days, so it probably wouldn't be hard to film new footage to portray it differently. What footage they kept would be heavily re-edited so that the Martian civilization could be shown as part of the "Galactic Community". Some characters would also have dialogue mentioning the visit of Klaatu. Instead of heading towards the Moon originally, the astronauts would be heading directly for Mars to visit Klaatu's people. While they wouldn't find Klaatu on Mars, the astronauts would find a much more pacific Martian culture than in the OTL plot. Much more attention would be focused on the utopian nature of the Martian civilization, and also the romantic triangle between main character Steve, his female Martian assistant, and Carol the woman astronaut on the expedition. The intrigue between the Martians and the humans is completely cut out of the film unlike in OTL, the Martians help the human astronauts rebuild their ship and return to Earth with gifts for humanity.

The film would no doubt prove popular after the real, extraterrestrial visitation in October, and would be followed by a sequel Voyage to Venus in 1952. The utopian Venusian civilization featured in that movie would be similar to the Martian one. In the end, the astronauts return to Earth with a ship full of Venusian fruit trees which are planted in Earth's soil. The message of the two films would be that, yes, humanity can explore space peacefully, can have peaceful relationships with other planets, and bring back fantastic new technologies and commodities to Earth. Another theme is that science and logic is of extreme benefit to society and can solve any problem.

[Hnau]

Truman presidency

What differences would there be until he leaves office in 1953? Well, I think he might give more attention to establishing an actual armistice in the Korean War. However, by the time it becomes apparent that he won't win another term, the author of the Truman Doctrine would probably continue supporting ongoing warfare in order to roll back communism as much as possible, and leave the trouble of ending the conflict to his successor. So few to no divergences here.

I see little reason why Truman would differ in his opinions against Senator McCarthy, or why he would react differently to the coal and steel strikes of 1952. What would there be to change? Perhaps there will be a presidential address in reaction to the events of the Klaatu visitation. No doubt many of his speeches will reference those events and the revelation that advanced civilizations are watching ours from afar. Less attention will be given towards anti-communism and more attention will be given towards the responsibility that humanity now has to unify the world and spread peace to every corner of it.

Perhaps Truman will do more to unify the scientific and bureaucratic forces that need to come together to begin development of space technologies. I like the idea that late in 1952 he leads the transition of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to a non-military agency that would manage the development of space technology, a NASA analogue. Taking a cue from Lords of Creation, let's call it the National Aerospace Force Administration (NAFA) or just the "Aerospace Force". Let's see what butterflies that would create.

As for the hydrogen bomb, let's also say that enough scientists are upset by the Klaatu speech that development of the hydrogen bomb is delayed somewhat. "Ivy Mike" isn't tested in November 1952, rather, Truman leaves his successor to decide on testing it and to give the press release concerning the development of this new weapon. The first hydrogen bomb isn't detonated until sometime after January 1953.

Now, the question is, would Eisenhower still win the 1952 election? And if he does how might his presidency diverge from that of OTL?