First contact (science fiction)

First contact is a recurring science-fiction scenario centered on the initial meeting between humans and extraterrestrial beings, or between any two sapient species from different worlds. It draws heavily from the anthropological concept of first contact. H. G. Wells’ 1897 novel *The War of the Worlds* helped popularize the idea, which became especially common in 1950s and 1960s stories, often serving as an allegory for Soviet infiltration and invasion.

The earliest known depiction of humans encountering alien intelligence dates to the second-century novel *A True Story* by Lucian of Samosata. Voltaire’s 1752 work *Le Micromégas* features a 120,000-royal-foot-tall alien from Sirius who visits Saturn, befriends a Saturnian, and then reaches Earth. There, using a magnifying glass, the visitors spot humans and engage in philosophical debates. Though superficially an early science-fiction tale, the aliens primarily serve as outsiders commenting on Western civilization—a common literary device of the era. The trope of conflict with an intelligent alien species is traditionally traced to *The War of the Worlds*, where Martians invade Earth. Earlier examples exist, however, such as the 1888 French novel *Les Xipéhuz*, which depicts prehistoric humans fighting a profoundly alien, inorganic life form, though it is unclear whether the Xipéhuz came from space or originated on Earth.

Murray Leinster’s 1945 novelette “First Contact” is the most famous story explicitly devoted to the concept, though Leinster had used the term in that sense a decade earlier in his 1935 story “Proxima Centauri.” During the 1950s, first-contact stories in the United States typically involved conflict. Communication professor Victoria O’Donnell notes that these films “presented indirect expressions of anxiety about the possibility of a nuclear holocaust or a Communist invasion of America,” with fears shown through mind-controlling aliens, radioactive mutants, dangerous experiments, and near-annihilation. Most such films ended optimistically. The 1951 film *The Day the Earth Stood Still* was among the first to portray first contact as beneficial overall, with the alien Klaatu warning against spreading Earth’s conflicts into space. The 1956 film *Invasion of the Body Snatchers* reflected fears of communist infiltration, depicting aliens overtaking a fictional town. Arthur C.