Is it possible to mistake a space alien for a native Earth lifeform?

We are all aliens to somebody.

From “the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy,” the smartest being in the universe is a potted petunia.

I’m pretty certain my dog is actually an alien that has taken on the form of a dog sent here to observe humans from within their family. He’s pretty good at impersonating a dog, but sometimes he slips up and it’s clear that he’s from another planet.

“Is it possible to mistake a space alien for a native Earth lifeform?”
– For some types of space “alien”, yes.
– Well, and depending on how little good input you’re getting, yes for almost any of them. Like, you could mistake just about anything for a native Earth lifeform, if it were rustling around behind a bush so you couldn’t see it.

“Like octopus? They are super smart?”
– What do you mean by that?

@Zaku That Octopus that escaped its enclosure last year, into the water drain , comes to mind.

I think you need to work harder on thinking about the perspective of other people reading what you write, and what you have and have not said about what you are talking about.

What is the connection you think is clear between your question about aliens, and . . octopi?

Do you mean, “might someone think a space alien is an octopus?”?

There are a ridiculous number of animal and plant species on Earth, and we’ve only documented less than 1/6 of them. Now how many outer space species might exist? What do they each look like? Are you talking about sci fi ones or real ones? I mean, once again, I feel like a thousand things could be said about this question, that make it kind of silly to even try to answer.

And there is like absolutely no way the answer to “Is it possible to mistake a space alien for a native Earth lifeform?” would even be “No, it’s not possible for any alien species – no one can ever mistake any of them for any species from Earth.”

If it is found on Earth, the anyswer is likely ‘yes’.
Evolutionarily, any alien life form will have been subjected to similar, if not identical, environmental pressures that guided its adaptations and evolution. Similar circumstances lead to similar solutions. Phenotypically, the alien would likely appear similar to earth life, past or present. If not, it would probably get shoved in the box labelled “weird animals we have not seen before”, like a lot of the bizarre forms encountered in the deep sea.
Biochemically, it would even have to be similar, to be able to metabolise earth life when it eats it. Remember, food does not get simply “burned” for energy. It is broken apart by enzymes specifically tailored to it, and the results get synthesised into other useful compounds.
If you really want to determine if it is actually of alien origin, you would have to look at its genetics, and even then it is possible it uses the same DNA/RNA system, if life spreads via panspermia.

Agreed, @Zaku. I frequently cannot understand the question.

Possibly. My number 1 contender is slime moulds.

@smudges and @Zaku Just wondering if we can accidentally eat an ambassador from another world thst lost its ability to speak? Like a lobster, or octopus? Aliens don’t have to be 6’ tall and communicate like humans.

@RedDeerGuy1 “Just wondering if we can accidentally eat an ambassador from another world thst lost its ability to speak?”

That would be such a hilarious premise for a movie.

Well, we wouldn’t know we’d eaten an ambassador, so that’s good. ;o

@smudges Then bring on the melted butter!

@RedDeerGuy1 Before writing this question to us, did you try to answer it yourself, at all?

Because in trying to indulge your question, I find myself trying to imagine what you were thinking, and how it would not have been something like what I think immediately just trying to get what you’re trying to ask.

That is:

“If RDG means a sci fi fictional context, then how can anyone even imagine the answer would be NO? Since almost anyone can easily imagine any type of alien in any type of situation, where for any imaginable combination of reasons, there might be a mistaken ID, so obviously yes, this question would not be worth typing out, let alone answering.

So therefore, in RDG means in reality, well, we don’t know for sure if there are aliens, nor what they all look like, nor whether they can imitate humans or other life forms or not. So again, clearly the answer would be something like “we don’t know, but we know even less about how similar any of them might look to any Earth species, etc.””

- So, why did you not think those things? What did you think instead? If you just want us to brainstorm imaginary possibilities for you about humans mistaking aliens for earth species, why not just ask for that? e.g. “What amusing situations can you think of where humans might mistake aliens for earth creatures?”

@Zaku Just being tongue in cheek. Teasing.