how many members are from ohio?

My rendention of the planet Caprica firing off a missile to intercept a Cylon nuclear ware head during the first wave of the Cylon attacks again the Twelve Colonies of man.

Basically all I did was find an image of the DRADIUS console display erased what was in the center and saved the image as a gig file. Next I looked through Yhaoo news photographs and found one of an Isreali missile being launched and right clicked on the photo and slected copy.

Next I opened up MS Publisher selected blank page and size then clicked on edit highlighted paste and the missile photo was placed on the page. Then I clicked on insert and selected picture and from that selected image from file and prceeded to look for the new DRADIUS image I just saved earlier. All I would have to after this was a bit of resizing of both the missle image and the DRADIUS imge to get the final result as you see here. My first atempt was using Paint.net and the result that I was getting wasn't what you see here. I was left with alot of coloring in to do and that was what I was not wanting to do. By me just erasring what was all ready there in the center of the DRADIS and saving the converted image as a gif there by making the center part tranparant enough to allow me to place the DRADIS image over the missile photograph and end up with a great looking Dradius screen. Who knows maybe this exact image is what the crew of the Galactica saw when the reports of the Cylon Invasion started to come in from all over the colonies.

Yes folks this was my first time to try out Battlestar Galatica Online today. At first I didn;t even get the online game to work here on my laptop. Oh what a shame!  Well I did not excatully exclaim that I much more said, "Frack!". Luckly I checked out the Battlestar Galactica Online forums boards for the reason as to why the online game did not work. Took me a couple of microns to find the exact problme that I was having and that was that my laptop was missin one key element. It was missing the Web Unity Player to make the game load up and all.

I had to go to the Unity web site at http://unity3d.com/webplayer/ and download the webplayer then install it and ACTIVE STATIONS! ACTIVE STATAION! SET CONDITION ONE THOUGH OUT THE SHIP! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!   Yeah! I was in business! The game loaded up right from the main screen and at once I was on the Galactica on the flight deck looking at Viper Pilot waiting for me to mold into what I want him to look like, For the ladies out there you can change the sex from male to female just look to you upper left there on the screen and you'll see the female/male symbols there. At this character screen you get to pick the face, hair, glasses, helmet, and uniform. once you've done that you get to pick rather you want to be in a Viper or Raptor.

Myself I choose the viper. Your first time out you'll be going through training. Gotta learn how to fly that Viper first. Don't worry you've got a good instructor Starbuck will be flying around tell ya how to handle your craft. I went to far out and missed getting back to the Galactica. Yeah the red line beynd no return, LOL. Any ways the game was enjoyable for me I'll definately will return and try my hand at flying my viper again and hopefully will not end up red lineing myself off the game board. ;)

The Quorum of the Tweleve has approved Rob Tipton as the Aquarian Delegate to the Quorum of The Tweleve by voting 7 (Yes) to 0 (No). Myself and the other Quorum membership welcomed Rob to the Quorum.

Does The Battlestar Vakyrie Have A Nickname? Galactica Was The"Bucket", And Pegasus Was The "Beast".

That's right everyone the frist edition fo the Colonial Alliance New Corps newsletter has been offically published. Where can you go to get it? You can get a PDF Copy of the Colonial Alliance News Corps newsletter at My Caprica website by clicking on the Colonial Alliance News Corps button on the bottom right of the web site right next to the T-Shirt button.

Hey I missed out on the first publication how can I get in on the next issue?

Good question there my Colonial friend. You can get in on the next issue by simplely e-mailing me by placing in your subject of your e-mail client "Colonial Alliance News Corps Issue 2" and send it to my e-mail address of jcecil922930@att.net

That's good and dany but what about those of us who are not as techsavy as our fellow Colonials?

Not a problem. Just address your envelope as follows:

Colonial Alliance News Corps

C/O: James Cecil

        511 Letcher Ave.

        Richmond, Ky. 40475

While doing a web search for some funny BSG cartoons, of which there are not that many of, I came across web site that had various wall paper images  realted to BSG. One of these images cought my eye simplely because it had the Coloinal Goverment seal on it.

That's right I did what every does clicked on the image to get a bigger picture of the thumb nail then right clicked and copied the bigger image. After that I started up Paint.net and pasted the copied image as a new image and began to crop the one part of the image that I really wanted from the oiginal image. This too me a while to do til I got what you have see here in my photoes section of my page. I'm quite pleased with what I found. And who knows, you might see it on some offical Alliance papers one day.

Colonel William “Wolf” Acosta stepped out onto the flight deck.

“Attention!” The Crew Chief yelled out causing all activity to stop and take notice of who just arrived.

Colonel Acosta looked down at the row of bodies then slowly began to walk past each one. Never has he ever witnessed the amount of human life lost in a single battle than the one that he and the rest of Yatleau crew have just witnessed more than a few hours ago.

He turned and looked at the Yatleau's flight deck crew, viper pilots, raptor pilots, and civilians that had been rescued from the planet below the Colonial docking port.

“Five Years ago we embarked on a quest to find new worlds for humanity. Today we came home and found our way of life obliterated. Some want to retaliate, others want to seek out the thirteenth tribe of mankind, and some believe that the Yatleau all ready has the way to the mythical colonial colony called EARTH!

So. We're not going to muster a counter attack against the Cylons. We're not just gonna be slaughtered together like bovine. We're going to take to the heavens and find a new home for humanity even if it takes us 5, 10, or 25 years to do so!”

The Yatleau is a Coloinal Cruiser Class warship that part of the Coloinal Battle Group 41. She has just returned from a long five year exploartion mission to find her Colonial brothers and sisters being attacked by the Cylons. During the course of battle the Yatleau provides fire cover for the Battlestar Pegasus as it disembarck from its berth to the Colonial shipping yards.

Once the Pegagus cleared the shipping yard and got out further away from the planet the ship yard orbited it jumped leaving the Yatleau and her crew to slugg it out with the Cylons. Battlestar Cruiser Yatleau Galactica is a play by e-mail game using Yahoo groups to post the story line. At this present time I'm looking for an Executive Officer (XO), Communication Officer, Tactical Officer, Science Officer, Chief Medical Officer, CAG, Chief Engineer, Damage Control Officer, and a Flight Deck Officer.  There is plenty of room to add more I'm sure I haven't covered everything and if you want to play a Cylon.

To join simply go to http://www.usscommonwealth.org/yatleau and click on the "Character Application" button then either select the "Colonial Computer Network" button that is right above the PDF File file button. If you click on the PDF file button you will down load the character Application form to your computer where you can then fill out and send it to me at jcecil922930@att.net

I look forward to recieving you on board the Yatleau.

Colonials -

I'm a relatively new member of the Fanclub.  But - I have some very cool news to share, and I could use everyone's help.

- I've made it into the Video Finals for the Seattle Space Needle's Space Race 2012 Contest.

- It's down to 20 people (from thousands), and voting via FaceBook has commenced.

- The "Final 5" contestants - those with the most votes between now and 18 March - will go to Seattle and compete for the ultimate prize - a suborbital flight into space.

- It's important to vote daily.  Please vote for me here:

 http://spacerace.herokuapp.com/entries/103

- Please let me know if you might be able to help spread the word to Colonials and Cylons alike - I really need votes!

- The grand prize consists of a suborbital spaceflight, up to an altitude of about 62 miles (100 kilometers), the internationally accepted boundary of outer space. The flight, aboard a vehicle provided by Space Adventures and Armadillo Aerospace, will last about 30 minutes from takeoff to landing, with about 6 minutes of zero gravity. Training for the flight will take about two days.

- Other notable suborbital spaceflights in history include: US astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom's flights during the Mercury program in 1961; flights of the USAF/NASA X-15 in 1963; and the first commercial manned spaceflights of SpaceShip One in 2004.

- Like many of us, going into space has been a dream of mine since I was in grade school.... Watching the original Battlestar series on TV way back then made me want to journey where Galactica and the Viper pilots did.  I really want to win this contest to continue to inspire my two sons (ages 6 and 8) and their  friends, and help keep the dream of human spaceflight alive for their generation.

- Additional background on the Contest:

  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43974022/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/space-needle-wants-send-someone-outer-space/

- More on Space Adventures' Suborbital Spaceflights:

  http://www.spaceadventures.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=suborbital.welcome

Please let me know if you think the club can help push me into the "Final 5"!  I would really appreciate their support in achieving this lifelong ambition.

"So Say We All...!"

- Savan Becker

Stuyvesant H.S. - Class of 1988
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/USAF ROTC - Class of 1992
UND Space Studies - Class of 2004

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4481 Views

By Marc Bernardin

1:26PM on Nov 16, 2011

Not content to swallow up genre viewers with zombies, AMC is moving into alien territory, buying the UFO-centric Thunderstruck, with one of Battlestar Galactica's masterminds on board.

Along with Eick, Thunderstruck will be executive-produced by Paul Boardman and Scott Derrickson (who wrote and directed The Exorcism of Emily Rose), and, according to Deadline, the show will follow:

"Powerful and enigmatic entities that begin appearing all over the world. After one shows up in the town of Great Falls, Montana, the local citizens must grapple with the dramatic effects and growing mystery of repeated visitations."

AMC's development process is a little kooky—they hold a "bake-off" with a number of different projects they've already bought and choose the few they want to actually put on the air—so there's no telling if or when this'll be on the air.

Luckily for Eick, he's still got the Hulk pilot he's co-writing for Marvel, ABC and Guillermo del Toro to keep him busy in the interim

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6826 Views

By Evan Hoovler

1:09PM on Feb 27, 2012

On some obscure TV show, we learned that space was the final frontier. However, with the Kepler space observatory finding dozens of awesome new planets every month, we're starting to wonder if that's true. After all, 95 percent of the ocean is still unexplored by humans.

Which got us to thinking: Wouldn't it be ironic if the first proof of extraterrestrial life came from the ocean instead of the skies? With that in mind, we found eight strange things in the ocean that we think might indicate the work of alien hands (or tentacles):

The Baltic Sea Disc

The UFO world has been abuzz with the reports that a champagne-salvaging team from Sweden discovered something very unusual on the floor of the Baltic Sea. To drive theorists into a frenzy, it won't be possible to reach the object until around May, when the fierce currents die down. The strange, round object prompted a member of the research team to state, "I have never seen anything like this."

The mysterious object is 60 feet long and circular. Tracks lead up to the object from far away, which we must admit is the least mysterious part of this (even ocean rocks have "tracks"). Until a crew can get down there, the craft will remain under 10 stories' worth of salt water.

cap: It turns out, the secret to intergalactic travel is giant, rectangular stones

Ancient Underwater City

At the turn of the millennium, oceanographers were doing what they thought was a routine assessment of India's Gulf of Cambay coast. To the surprise of the team and pretty much everyone else in the entire world, they found evidence of a miles-long city stretching out into the water. Although the age of the underwater ruins is a hotly debated topic, some estimates have put it at about 9,500 years old. That's thousands of years before the area was thought to contain people, and would make this among the oldest cities in the world.

Yonaguni rock formation off of Japan

On the ocean floor off the southern coast of Japan sits a huge formation made from 20,000,000-year-old stones. Though thought to be naturally formed, the patterns created are stunning.

So what is all this for? Our guess is that aliens visited Japan, forcing them to build a resort spa. Hoping to deter the aliens, the crafty Japanese built the worst-looking resort ever, causing the aliens to abandon our planet in disgust.

Bimini Road

Off of North Bimini Island in the Bahamas lie three peculiar straight stretches of "road." Each is composed of hundreds of large rectangular blocks. The main structure stretches linearly for a great distance before disappearing into the sea.

In 2006, Syfy aired a program called Quest for Atlantis: Startling New Secrets. For the show, a team investigated the area around and below Bimini Road. Beneath the road, the team claims to have found a second structure of similarly arranged rectangular stones. Unfortunately, no followup has been planned, perhaps because there was no evidence of ghosts.

The Mayan Underworld

According to the Mayans' system of belief, death is as fraught with doom as their predictions of life seem to be. In order to get to the afterlife, dead souls had to follow a hound through a watery maze full of peril.

In 2008, archaeologists stumbled upon what may have been the very source of these beliefs. On the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, surveyors found a mammoth system of interlocking caves going both above and under water. Stone temples and pyramids can be found throughout the labyrinth of 14 caves.

Researchers are still discovering new features to the cave system. One of the spookiest is a 300-foot road leading into the water. We can only imagine at the very end of these roads is a huge pile of Mayan human and canine skeletons. If we're lucky, that is. If we're unlucky, then at the end of these caves is a portal to hell.

Lake Michigan Stonehenge

While hired to scan Lake Michigan by sonar for old boat wrecks, professors from Northwestern Michigan College discovered a peculiar arrangement of stones. Not too far beneath the frigid waters of a Lake Michigan bay sits a unique pattern of stones that brings to mind the classic UFO landing site Stonehenge.

To make things even more mysterious, the researchers claim that one of the stones contains a picture of a mastodon. While we'll be the first to admit that this seems far-fetched, the state of Michigan is already home to many ancient glyphs and stone circles. As for the origins of the underwater Stonehenge, we have a pretty airtight theory. See, long ago aliens landed their spaceships in Lake Michigan. This angered early man, so he attacked the alien saucers by throwing giant stones into the lake.

Mid-Atlantic Ridge Weirdness

The ocean is home to millions of species, so it's not extraordinarily surprising when we're poking around in it and we discover a new one. Still, this yet-unidentified sea creature makes us wonder if aliens ever checked into a room at Innsmouth.

What makes this organism extra peculiar is that, nearby, researchers discovered a weird stretch of evenly spaced holes.

No further expeditions have been planned to the area, probably because scientists were too creeped out.

Milky Sea

For centuries, sailors of the Indian Ocean told legends about how huge parts of the sea would sometimes glow bright blue at night. This phenomenon went undocumented because people just assumed it was the product of crazy seamen. However, the last century has seen hundreds of reports of giant swaths of the Indian Ocean glowing like a rave all night long.

With the advent of space satellite technology, we were finally able to take an actual look at the phenomenon, to figure out which parts of the legend were based on truth. It turns out that pretty much all of the legend is based on reality. A large cluster of bacteria bioluminescent-ing all over the place is the source of this amazing wonder.

While we haven't yet found the "smoking gun" of a crashed alien saucer on Earth, it would most likely be underwater, since there's just so much of that wet stuff to crash into on this planet. No matter what, we need to keep scanning the seas. There's all sorts stuff that could be found that would blow our minds: aliens, mermaids, a rusting hulk of the Statue of Liberty, etc

Due to some medical, some personal, and some family issues, I was forced to prioritize some things in my life, and I had to push the BFC and some other personal ventures to the perverbial back burner for a while.

So far as my medical goes, I know I don't have the cancer they originally thought I might have, but I do have some other issues that have kept me slow going and highly medicated for a while - if I didn't need what I have, I could pay for my Galacticon trip without any issues!

Anyways, I just thought I would check in here and make certain no one thought I was MIA, KIA, or otherwise off the reservation.  I'm sure there have been changes here so I'm going to try and catch up and try to be a little more visable here.

Again, sorry for my sudden absence and I look forward to becoming active here again.

Jonathon

While me and wife were using our WII gamaing system to find something to watch yesterday afternoon we discovered that NetFlix now has Caperica. That's right I had my wife put Caperica into the queue so that I could watch Caperica any time that I wanted. I've see a few of the episodes of Caperica but not the entire series itself. Yes I'm fully aware that Caperica didn't not last for very long I know it did not make any where a fifth season I'm not certain if it made it to a second season. At least I can now watch Caperica on NetFlix.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Colonials all!

A special greeting to everyone on this day of Saturday February 25th 2012!

It's...let me see...10 full months to the day before Christmas, but I have an early gift for you all.

As you may know (or may not) for over a year now we...as in a dedicated team of us....have been working on, brainstorming on & organizing for a special event that we can present to you.

It's a puppy!

No, just kidding...this is something big...very big.

There was a tradition begun after Battlestar Galactica went off the air...begun with in '93 with the 15th Yahren Convention held here in California that brought the cast & crew together with the fans.

Fast foward to 2003 (and remember that this was just prior to the beginning of the re-imagined series)...and the first Galacticon held in Los Angeles.

Richard Hatch conceived of a special event that would & did bring cast, crew & fans together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show.

In 2008 we took the bit in teeth & did something unique to celebrate the 30th...we did Galacticruise....literally taking the Convention to sea, from the Queen Mary berthed in Long Beach California to the city of Avalon on the island of Catalina and on to Mexico!

We have dubbed that adventure Galacticon II.

We are now ready to present to you the next chapter in our voyage & I'm very pleased to announce our initial guest list (yep, there are more coming), but I think these first guests will excite you.

The first guest I would like to announce is a man who IMHO has had more to do with getting Battlestar back to where it rightfully belongs...he was Captain Apollo in the original series and Tom Zarek in the re-imagined: Richard Hatch!

Playing a counterpoint to Richard in the original series, a roguish character that everybody loves and the first chomper of cigars in the Vipers seat: Dirk Benedict!

From the re-imagined series, the man who kept the Vipers in the air & the fleet ready to fight the marauding Cylon's: Aaron Douglas!

The Commander of the fleet, the master of the Battlestar...otherwise known to his crew as the "old man" a gentleman who is known not only for his role as Admiral William Adama on Battlestar Galactica but the equally heroic Jaime Escalante in "Stand And Deliver" among MANY diverse roles on screen: Edward James Olmos!

Oh & btw....please feel free to take a look at the now active & operational Emissaries: Galacticon III We think you'll like it!

Ok, at ease!

So say we all!

Shawn O'Donnell

President

Battlestar Galactica Fan Club

This two-parter featured not only Randolph Mantooth (Emergency!), but also Ray Bolger (famously known for his role as the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz")....

Greetings From Earth Part I Analysis
By Walt Atwood

STORY SYNOPSIS

Adama records in his memoirs that the Galactica's long-range patrols are continuing to find signs that the course provided to them by the "great white lights" are leading them towards Earth. In deep space, Apollo and Starbuck have been in an in-flight sleep period for six centares, when an alarm goes off. A strange, shuttle-sized sublight vehicle has been detected nearby. Attack computer scans indicate six humans on board the craft, but only at minimal life support. Apollo urges a cautious approach, but Starbuck is so excited he exclaims "We've come millions of hectars for this moment and you want to back off?" But Apollo doesn't want to intimidate these alien humans. He attaches tow lines to the ship without any response from anyone inside.

Adama has to urge the people of the Fleet in a public address to be cautious in the fast-spreading rumors. Once the alien ship is brought aboard the Galactica, a defusing team confirms there is no explosive danger. A probe inserted through the hull finds almost no breathable air inside. A decontamination chamber is attached to allow safe access to the ship's interior. Adama, Apollo, Starbuck, Dr. Wilker (portrayed by John Dullaghan), and Dr. Salik (George Murdock) enter the spacecraft and find humming equipment supporting two human adults and four children in hibernation tubes. How long have they been in suspended animation? Where were they going? Why? Nobody has any answers, but Wilker and Salik agree that this is now their responsibility. They must examine this vessel's equipment and see if they can't revive these aliens. As they begin to do so, they discover nothing they find correlates with any Colonial symbols or systems.

In the officer's club, Starbuck comes to sit down with Athena, Boomer, Sheba and Apollo. Boomer thinks it is wonderful that they've finally found humans from a completely independent civilization; up to this point, all other worlds where humans were found had some distant connection to the Colonial heritage. Apollo thinks these humans should be left alone. Starbuck wonders if the Colonists shouldn't learn what they can from these people. But Apollo is vehement. A non-military policeman, Reese (Ron Kelly), walks over from the bar and injects his two cubits' worth: he feels they should force open the tubes and interrogate these newcomers for everything they know. In the landing bay near the alien ship, Jolly (Tony Swartz), has his hands full holding off a mob of civilians led by Geller (Murray Matheson) of the Council of the Twelve. Concerned Colonists from every ship in the Fleet are boarding the Galactica to see the aliens. On board the spacecraft, Wilker's tampering results in a small explosion and power loss. Salik thinks this experimentation with the alien technology could put the lives of the aliens in danger. Apollo boards the ship and discovers what is happening. He orders Wilker off the ship. Both Apollo and Wilker go to Adama's office for debriefing. Adama is disturbed to learn about the power loss. Apollo feels that to tamper further would be too risky and of questionable legality; he feels the ship should be released in space again. Geller enters and confronts Adama. The representatives of the various ships are "furious at your inaction" in reviving the aliens. Geller feels the Council should take responsibility in this matter and move forward with the revival effort.

On the alien spacecraft, Salik is concerned about the continued power losses. He leaves the ship and tells the warriors not to let anyone on board. In the Council deliberations, Adama is adamant that the lives of these aliens are at risk. Geller feels this is reason enough to break into the tubes. But Salik refuses to cooperate, claiming this violates his medical ethics. The Council finds another doctor from the Rising Star who is willing to do the work.

Inside the ship, the adult male alien, Michael (Randolph Mantooth), awakens and realizes the ship is not where it is supposed to be. He revives his adult counterpart, Sarah (Kelly Harmon) and tells her to look after the children. Michael then leaves the spacecraft through the decontamination unit. When he appears on the deck of the Galactica, he is confrontational, demanding to know who these strangers are and where the ship has landed. When Reese attempts to apprehend Michael, Michael draws a weapon and fires, disabling Reese. Michael then collapses. Cassiopea's diagnosis reveals respiratory distress: the atmosphere is too dense for the aliens. When Adama and Salik board the ship, they discover Sarah is also in respiratory distress. Both are put in decompression chambers in the Galactica's Life Station.

Salik tells Apollo that the two adult aliens are confined to the decompression chambers indefinitely. When Apollo takes word of this to Adama, the commander supposes the only way to free these people would be for the situation to revert to military control. Since Michael gunned down Reese in the landing bay, the aliens are to be considered dangerous and left to military discretion. Apollo, Starbuck and Boomer pull a switcheroo with the decompression chambers, sneaking Michael and Sarah back onto the spacecraft. Michael agrees to help re-launch the ship. Cassiopea will monitor the life signs of the sleepers while in flight. Apollo and Starbuck sneak off and launch after the escaping ship, under the false notion of re-capturing it to return to the Galactica. Their true intention is to parallel Michael's course and go into sleep mode so they can learn more about the alien destination.

In deep space outside a nearby star system, a somewhat larger alien ship spots the escaped spaceship containing the family from Lunar 7. Krebbs (Curt Lowens) reports to his Commandant (Lloyd Bochner) the escaped family's ship has been found, twenty-thousand kilometers away. But Krebbs also reports something else, there are two other ships nearby. The Commandant inspects an image of the two Colonial vipers in flight. Krebbs reports the computer cannot identify the power source of these UFO's. "Do not loose track of those two ships," the Commandant orders.

A Second Look

Unlike "Lost Planet of the Gods", but like "The Living Legend", the first part of this anthology does stand on its own, with its own story. This is the first genuine "first contact" story on BATTLESTAR. Yet the show's makers treat it like all the other previous stories. The characters say this situation is new and different, but the way the story is presented is essentially the same. While the controversy around Apollo's views makes for some mildly interesting dialogue, this story is simply another military encounter except without Cylons to worry about.

It's obvious by now that the Cylons and Colonial offshoot planets in the Krellian Galaxy (assuming the Galactica is still in that same galaxy) wore out their welcome. Been there, done that, too many times. So the Galactica encountered Count Iblis and the mysterious beings of light in "War of the Gods". Unfortunately for BATTLESTAR, as Richard Hatch's Apollo pointed out, dealing with godlike aliens means "we'd be powerless to control our own destiny." That quickly diminishes the ongoing potential of stories like "War". So now the Galactica's fighter probes discover a ship from a civilization that apparently has never heard of Kobol or Colonists or Cylons. While this is a novel idea that probably should've been explored much earlier in the series, it turns out to be as half-baked as too many other stories that cross BATTLESTAR's wake. The introduction of a "first contact" with a completely unknown civilization isn't something to be handled like foraging for fuel on Gamoray or sabotaging a mega-gun on the ice world of Arcta. The whole premise of the story demands an approach this is new and different from Cylon war stories. Don't be fooled by the absence of the Cylons. This story is still too much like previous outings.

The notion of Apollo championing the rights of unknown (and unknowing) aliens is actually a great idea. Richard Hatch did what he could with it, but the cause is never done the justice the story's potential deserves. As with the award-winning 1988 episode of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION entitled "The Measure of a Man", this hour-long segment should've been argued in the Colonial justice system before it reached the mob mentality. Such an approach would've given the Colonists a little more class, and Apollo's beliefs more intelligence and dignity. Apollo and Wilker could've squared off in a debate over what to do with these mysterious human-like aliens, and both sides could've been given a serious hearing. As "The Measure of a Man" demonstrated, characters in a space drama can take a stand in a courtroom without a large special effects budget and still make the story compelling. Instead, in "Greetings from Earth", the characters' emotions govern their actions, a mob mentality threatens, and Adama raises the concern of whether or not "we are a race worth saving". In the end, the lives of Michael and company ride on insubordination in the Colonial military.

The anticipation and awe of the Colonists dealing with unaffiliated humans is also shattered when Michael and Sarah, who are supposedly from a culture completely different from the Colonists', wind up speaking the same language as that of Apollo and company. The whole "first contact" notion of establishing a dialogue with aliens could've been a story unto itself. Would exposure to the Colonists introduce some disease to these newcomers? Maybe some bacteria which is common to the bodies of Colonial humans could be deadly to the aliens. And what if this were true in reverse? Maybe Athlete's Foot on Terra would be The Black Plague to the humans in the Fleet. Once again, there should've been some "first contact" procedure worked out by the show's makers to govern how the Galactica would handle the discovery of new civilizations. There was a real tension between the Colonists and the sleeper ship pilot. The language barrier would've prevented those tensions from being resolved so quickly. An excellent example of how this was handled would be THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (Paramount, 1990) in which Sean Connery plays a Soviet submarine skipper seeking to defect to the U.S.

Still, even that isn't enough. Maybe it would've been best if Starbuck had been piloting Recon Viper One and C.O.R.A. spotted Michael's ship on final approach to its destination. Then Starbuck would've been the alien and this could've set up an adventure where a viper would be the U.F.O. This would open the door to a much more fulfilling story, such as CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (Columbia Pictures, 1977).

Michael's behavior seems driven by one bizarre notion: the Terrans have spaceflight capability and have apparently settled on several nearby worlds. Yet he cannot accept that Apollo and company are from another world. Why?

The Colonists disembark on a voyage to restore Michael's ship to its original course and reach its destination. If said destination is only a matter of sectons (Colonial days?) away at sublight speed, shouldn't this place be visible to the Galactica? Why didn't they just compute the alien ship's original trajectory and send a squadron of vipers to check it out? And what's Cassiopea doing inside that ship, without wearing so much as a spacesuit? What life support is she living on? Where's her food and water? What if she has to use the "turbo flush" (toilet)? More importantly, what if there were a problem aboard the spacecraft that Cassie couldn't handle on her own? Are Apollo and Starbuck going to jettison from their vipers to spacewalk over to her?

Despite all these problems with the story, it is very refreshing indeed for the Galactica to encounter a new world where there are no Cylons on it or nearby. This should be the destiny of BATTLESTAR, to explore the Universe in search of both its ancestral brothers as well as its own truths.

Spectacle Value

Michael's ship seems rather plain, relying mostly on glittering lights of the interior to make it look alien. Given the obvious interior design similarities to the NASA timeship seen in PLANET OF THE APES (20th Century Fox, 1968), maybe BATTLESTAR'S makers should've paid less attention to blinking lights and more to overall lighting and design. This would've made it more effective.

The real show-stopper is the cameo appearance of the other Terran spacecraft, which would later be identified as an Eastern Alliance destroyer in the second part of this anthology. Why do the bad guys always get the coolest looking ships in this show? This vessel would make a nice addition to the Galactica's arsenal, provided it were given all the Colonial technologies. As a Colonial bomber, it would complement the vipers on dangerous missions better than a shuttle. The interior set of the destroyer is somewhat submarine-like, although nose section doesn't seem to match the hammer-headed exterior of the ship. Too bad the set design borrows pieces from previous episodes of BATTLESTAR. Once again, the interior relies on blinking lights and other electronic gadgets to make up lack of innovation or detail in design.

We get to see a uniformed human military other than the Colonial warriors for the first time. The uniforms are mildly imaginative. The silvery jumpsuits of the sleeper ship aliens were more inspired.

At least Michael's stunning weapon appeared to be more alien than anything in the possession of people other than Colonial warriors in BATTLESTAR. Too bad we didn't see more of this approach. And what about Krebbs' sidearm? It reverts to an all-too-familiar pistol form.

IF BATTLESTAR GALACTICA WERE NEW TODAY...

This episode would not be viable. A whole new approach would be in order. See comments in the "A Second Look" section, above.

That having been said, if BATTLESTAR were to be revived, there would have to be stories that dealt with encounters with completely unknown civilizations. If some were human-like, fine. The human-like aliens encountered had better be unique in their culture. That includes a language barrier. Apollo can't just walk up to an alien and start communicating in the same language with colloquial ease.

The Colonists would have to come off as more reasonable and less conniving. If there is a disagreement on how to deal with an issue, let's see Apollo and others argue in a formal hearing where cooler heads prevail.

A challenge would be to show military ships in the Colonial Fleet smaller than the Galactica that could leave the formation and explore nearby star systems without dragging the entire Colonial population into a situation. A small starship, under the command of someone like Tigh or Apollo (funny how we never see someone whose role and status is situated between these two) could lead a small force of warriors to check out a situation and then report back to the Galactica without having to worry about the range limitations of a viper or shuttle.

How about seeing some non-human aliens? We really haven't seen any of this in BATTLESTAR since the ill-fated Ovions of Carillon in "Saga of a Star World, Part 3".

Tidbits & Nit-Picks

The opening narration "There are those who believe..." by Patrick Macnee is back for this episode. Why did it ever leave?

Boomer insists that any humans the Fleet has encountered up to this point were offshoots of their own Colonies, sharing "terms, dress, technology... all familiar to us." This must include the farming settlers of Equellis ("The Lost Warrior"), as well as those on other worlds the Galactica's warriors discovered.

During the first confrontation in the Galactica's landing bay, Geller of the Council of Twelve refers to Jolly (Tony Swartz) as a "lieutenant". This contradicts other records of the BATTLESTAR series which refer to the character as a "flight sergeant".

You have to love BATTLESTAR's inventive 1970's slanguage funkobabble. Boomer gets to call Officer Reese a "gall-mogging snikrad". Nannu-nannu.

Adama indicates that "Terra", in Geminise, means "Earth".

If there was ever any doubt before about the tensions between the Colonial military and civilian authorities (last seen clearly in "Saga of a Star World, Part 3"), this episode underscores a serious problem in the Fleet.

Starbuck gets the best line in this outing when Apollo tells him "this voyage could be endless." The lieutenant replies sarcastically: "Remind me to invite you to my next party. You're alot of fun."

And in the strange and unexplained category...

In the opening scenes of this episode, Apollo indicates that he and Starbuck had been in sleep period for six centares (Colonial hours?) while in flight. Presumably, their patrol had been flying away from the Galactica for much longer than that. Assuming their engines were powering their ships in flight all that time (how else would they get out ahead of the fleet far enough to make any worthwhile probe?) and were probably exceeding the speed of light, there are some questions to consider... 1: Where did all the fuel come from to sustain such a flight? 2: If they were coasting, what good would that do for an advanced scouting mission? 3: If they were heading in one direction (presumably away from the Galactica) for that long, and the Galactica remained in motion, wouldn't it be problematical for them to get back anyway?

Before entering the alien spacecraft, Wilker and Salik report that the ship's interior contains practically no atmosphere. Yet they enter the ship only centons (minutes) later in the regular uniforms wearing no pressure suits or breathing equipment. Did they pressurize the interior of the ship?

We see Athena teaching a class of Colonial youths aboard the Galactica, including the little lad Boxey: her adopted nephew. Why? She doesn't have enough to do on the bridge? Did someone forget she trained to become a fighter pilot? Why are these scenes even necessary?

A couple of scenes after we first see Athena teaching in an elementary-school like classroom, we see her again shooting the breeze and having a brew in the officer's club with her fellow warriors. Then she's back in the classroom a few scenes later. Maybe she drank her lunch before going back to teaching???

Apollo has to attach "tow lines" to bring the alien spacecraft back to the Galactica. Why use such a cumbersome, low-tech mechanism? Why not use tractor beams? Doesn't the Colonial Fleet employ this kind of projected magnetic/gravity beam technology? If they have technology which can allow their ships to exceed the speed of light, communicate and scan even faster, then why can't they use tractor beams?

While it is accepted that Starbuck and Apollo are in sleep period again while they escort the Lunar 7 spacecraft to its destination, it still boggles the mind why their vipers' tracking systems don't set off an alarm when the Commandant's ship flies 20,000 kilometers away.

Work steadly continues on the Colonial News Corps newsletter. Just added information about how you can order a Colonial Alliance T-shirt and added a very easy word search to the newsletter. So if ther is anyone out there that is good at making up puzzles sedn them my way.