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atomicsnarl t1_iugn0li wrote

I've always wondered why, if the alien was smart enough to mimic/occupy a human, why it just didn't communicate that way and say "take me to your leader" or some such.

Really! Or did the alien(s) who piloted the ship die and this thing was a space flea infestation?

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SouthernEast7719 t1_iugpja5 wrote

I like the idea The Thing was a invader on the ship as well, maybe the pilots were trying to escape it after finding it on some planet and the ship crashed after they were taken over...

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MattyKatty t1_iuh404m wrote

> I've always wondered why, if the alien was smart enough to mimic/occupy a human, why it just didn't communicate that way and say "take me to your leader" or some such.

"This thing doesn't want to show itself, it wants to hide inside an imitation. It'll fight if it has to, but it's vulnerable out in the open." - Macready

It's too scared to do that, and it knows it can win if it hides successfully in people.

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dudinax t1_iugxvf6 wrote

I always assumed the thing infected the ship and (indirectly) caused the crash.

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gomjabar2 t1_iuh1nqk wrote

It knew how to construct similar under Blair's cabin. Also my personal idea is that luckily it didn't make itself something small (like a cockroach) and just hide out till spring.

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smappyfunball t1_iuh3s7m wrote

I assumed the craft it was building under the shack was just to get it to civilization, not back to space. I doubt it could build an interstellar ship from helicopter and snow plow parts

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SchrodingerMil t1_iuitvme wrote

It couldn’t have hid as a roach or something due to the cold of Antarctica. You have to remember it was frozen when the Norwegians found it.

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Mazuna t1_iuidct7 wrote

Part of it is I think you’re applying some kind of human logic to an unknowable “thing”. It’s mimicry only extended so far as to keep itself safe. It’s motivations are not for us to know and it could even be said that it’s mimicry is purely instinctual and it’s not even consciously trying to trick people, it’s just as natural to it as breathing is to us.

It may be able to mimic humans but not understand them, like a parrot repeating a phrase.

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KaiG1987 t1_iujqe30 wrote

I definitely always assumed that the Thing was not the original creator of the spaceship it arrived on.

The fact that it crashed in the most remote and inhospitable area on the planet suggests that maybe the crew crashed there on purpose after realising they were infected. Maybe the Thing had managed to influence them to travel to a garden world like Earth in the first place, but they were able to sabotage its plans at the last minute.

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