= alien n.
It was a terribly, utterly alien form of life. It was not human, not animal—not even life as we know it at all. And yet it had intelligence. But it was strange and foreign and devoid of feeling.]
I have thought of it at length. It is disgusting. Compelled to traffic with an alien form of life! ]
It’s a unicellular creature—Janna told me—an alien life-form, developed along lines unfamiliar to us.
As in the past, I have tried not to invent things that are too far removed from life as we know it on this Earth. The weird ‘whip’, for instance, has its Earthly counterpart not only in the ant-eater, but in the sphinx-moth, which sports a hoselike tongue a good deal longer than its own body. Cousins to the ‘Venusian buzzard’ can be found under any microscope in the biology lab. While the Murri, of course, finds its obvious image in the Proboscis Monkey…. I do this because I feel that if a reader has some basis of comparison, when reading about alien life forms, he will be able to visualize the story more clearly and perhaps give himself an added measure of enjoyment and appreciation.
For just as on Earth sentient life can exist in the freezing Arctic wastes, the torrid jungles, the sea’s greatest depths—so we know it is possible for alien, unique life-forms to exist on each of our planetary neighbors, equipped mysteriously to combat every force known to science.
Very interesting. Very interesting!… A most definite alien life form. Of course, may be mutation. Can’t tell. Haven’t the facilities.
We want to employ you to investigate the presence of such alien life forms.
If Kzanol had not spent so many years controlling alien life forms, growing used to the feel of alien thoughts, his whole personality would have been drowned.
A poohka was an alien life-form from off-world and created with its small, furry body the instant desire to cuddle—a perfect pet.
While engaged in exploration and colonization, he had encountered many other alien life-forms.
The undeclared war escalates into nuclear conflict because of an alien life form in the city, a life form whose existence was unsuspected until the end.
He…tries to reason with Saxton, pleading with him to let him live so that the alien life form that has been on the planet for two million years can continue to thrive.
antedating 1937
Henry Kuttner, in Weird Tales
Rick Hauptmann submitted a 1931 cite for the form "alien form of life" from E.E. Smith's "Spacehounds of IPC"; and Fred Galvin submitted a 1928 cite for "alien form of life" from Jack Williamson's "Metal Man".
We would still like pre-1937 cites for the usual form.
Last modified 2021-02-07 10:33:29
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