beware the ufo thieves…
We can laugh all we want at the idea of a UFO stealing our stuff. Until they actually start doing it...
When you're enjoying the vastness of space and the low gravity of a gas giant's moon, keep in mind that you might not be alone. Oh and when you get out to collect a couple of samples for the scientists back on Earth, make sure your space vehicle has a good security system and its doors and windows are locked. You know, just in case…
Apparently UFOs are interested in human technology. Particularly heavy duty tires. I guess the standard issue alien anti-gravity drives aren't all they're cracked up to be. Somebody call Area 51 and tell them to stop the reverse engineering experiments. Bob Lazar, you've got one more shot at fame. Just remember, you worked with Bridgestone tires, not antimatter reactors.
But in all seriousness, when we start exploring deep space and places where we might not be alone, a curious alien spacecraft passing by, could decide to take a closer look at the technology we're using, even if they think it's downright primitive. An alien culture might have no notion of what we call personal rights or personal property and consider anything laying around on any world to be up for grabs.
On Earth, we've had very similar conflicts between the first farmers and the last of the hunters and gatherers who's territories overlapped some 12,000 years ago. The hunters would find an agricultural village and take whatever they could get their hands on because that's what they'd ordinarily do when looking for prey.
The farmers, who by now developed the concept of what's theirs vs. what was someone else's, would be up at arms and violently chased the hunters out of their settlements with torches, pitchforks and dogs. Likewise, on a distant planet, what these astronauts would consider theft and a major breach of good manners, aliens might consider a harmless look-see at our technology. They might even bring it back when they're done…
