"I propose that at least some accounts of alien visitation can be attributed to a humanoid species indigenous to the Earth,

a sister race that has adapted to our numerical superiority by developing a surprisingly robust technology. The explicitly reproductive overtones that colour many encounters suggest that these indigenous aliens are imperilled by a malady that has gone uncured throughout the aeons we have coexisted. riven by a pu!!ling mixture of hubris and existential desperation, they see" to perpetuate themselves by infusing their gene#pool with human $%. &hile existing at the very margins of ordinary human perception, they have succeeded in realms practically unexplored by "nown terrestrial science, reinventing themselves at will and helping to orchestrate a misinformation campaign of awe#inspiring scope". 'anderson at several points suggested the possibility that the "occupants" of ()*s might be artificial life forms. +e was not dogmatic about this, and also entertained the idea that they might be an as#yet un"nown life#form indigenous to Earth. 'till, the concept of ()*s as a form of artificial intelligence is fertile enough that we might have expected some follow#up.