While I was hiking the 230 mile section of the Colorado Trail from Durango to U.S. 50 this June, I saw many trail emblems for the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. I also saw a fair number of “No Extraterrestrials” decals posted along the trail. These stickers showed an image of a Whitley Streiber/Communion (circa 1987) style “grey” bug-eyed, long-faced alien, with a circle and a line through it, indicating that such beings are banned from the trail.
Is this an officially sanctioned policy of discrimination against extra-terrestrials? Does this discrimination policy apply to the Colorado Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, or both? Who is responsible for this policy? The U.S. Forest Service, one of the trail foundations, or some other authority? Why was this policy instituted and how long has it been in effect? Does it only apply to certain sections of the trail, like mountain bikes being banned from wilderness areas, or are extraterrestrials banned from the trails entirely?
Personally, banning extraterrestrials from human hiking trails seems like a very regressive, segregationist policy to me. It makes us look like a very unenlightened, poorly evolved species. I, for one, wouldn’t mind sharing our hiking trails with visitors from other planets, provided, of course, that they don’t engage in anti-social behaviors like sucking my brain out through a straw, abducting me and forcing me to listen to country music, or performing non-consensual invasive probes.
Thought Criminal