Timothy Cheseborough

25th Nov 2003

Independence Day (1996)

Question: The Welcome Wagon helicopter brings a message in lights. Exactly how would that work, how do different light patterns communicate any message and who decided what patterns there would be?

Answer: The pattern of lights shows that we are an intelligent race. The lights would show a pattern and then become random. There isn't a message to speak of, but a demonstration of our intellect. Scientist would normally use the lights to represent a scientific equation or something of that nature. The aliens would respond by either mimicing the patterns, or producing a variation of the pattern we showed them.

Timothy Cheseborough

Answer: This is also a homage to Close Encounters of the Third Kind where they communicate with the aliens via lights and sound.