the human comedy

i just watched a horror movie.  in it a collection of kids must band together to defeat & kill a supernatural being.  i was thinking, if that being existed on earth, as it is in the movie, it would not be 'supernatural'.  that all powerful creature would be a part of nature & subject to the laws of nature & physics.  that creature would be worthy of study.  it would fit within the natural order of the biome of earth.

then i remember an anecdote by a u.s. astronaut onboard the international space station.  it was movie night.  the international space station orbits the earth about 16 times every 24 hours.  that's a lot of sunsets & sunrises.  so the space station mimics an average earth day of 24 hours.  the lights were turned off.  the crew gathered with their snacks to watch ridley scott's gothic space horror, alien [1979]. 

after the flick the astronaut in zero g scaled thru the cramped spaces to their sleeping quarters.  with the lights off.  & every nook & cranny of the station telescoped into apprehension.  fear.  for after watching such a scary movie an alien could be hidden around every dark spot of the ship.