What's Wrong with Contact
In Contact, the main character, Eleanor Arroway, uses an alien technology structure to transport herself towards an alien broadcast sent from the Vega star system. However, the film manages to reverse a popular paradox in space travel, known as the "Twin Paradox". In the movie, they show that Eleanor is the one moving light years away very quickly, and spends about 18 hours in a faraway place. However, the observers back on Earth notice her returning back in a split second. In reality, it would be the other way around, with the observers noticing Eleanor being gone for 18 hours, while her static footage would only record a split second of static. Instead of the movie going with the reversed Twin Paradox, I thought up an ending that follows the laws of physics more closely.
Eleanor is dropped into the center of the machine via her metal ball. Loud sparks shoot out once she passes through the center. From the bottom of the machine, the ball is no where to be seen. All of the scientists inside the control room stop breathing for a moment. The sparks fade, and the ball is gone. The scientists begin to look around at each other, speechless. Kent lightly taps one of the other scientists and asks what happened. This prompts him to say that Eleanor is gone, vanished from thin air.
Meanwhile, Eleanor experiences her travel through the wormhole. Time and space bends around her, and she soon finds herself in a remote paradise. In the brief moment, she recognizes the landscape. Almost like a drawing brought to life, the landscape is entirely similar to an old drawing she once made of what she thought Pensacola, Florida looked like. Out from the other side of the beach, a figure begins walking towards her. It's blurred, but as it comes closer, she recognizes the figure as her father, who died years ago when she was younger.
"Hey, Ellie. It's me, your old pa." Eleanor is at a loss of words. "I know there's a lot you're confused about, but we don't have a lot of time to explain. If we wait to long to send you back, all the scientists might give up on you. So, are you listening?" Eleanor, still shocked beyond belief, reaches out to touch her father. An odd field blocks her touch, and the image outside of it ripples across her father's face. "I'd love to explain that, but I only have so much time. Just know that I love you and wish I could be there with you to help you. Everything you are seeing is real, but many people won't believe you. There will be some, though. Those are the people that you should go with. Together, you will be able to come back here. Ellie, I know you can do it. You can show humanity just what we're capable of. Now, I'm going to send you back."
"Wait!" Eleanor finally yells out. Her father moves along the perimeter of the bubble, and with a swift movement of his hand, Eleanor is sent back through the wormhole. Mere moments pass, and she finds herself back inside the metal ball, still and cold. The door to the ball is open. She is no longer in her chair, but rather knelt down by the surface of the sphere. She gets up, then topples back down to the ground. She feels uneasy, but she forces herself back up, guiding herself across the wall of the sphere, and exits out of the door.
Eleanor was only gone for five minutes before the silence was broken. "Where is she?" The lead scientist yells out. "Sir, we don't know. The communications were cut by the time the sparks started. It's just all static." The lead scientist looks down, then back up. "Put up a monitor, we need 24/7 surveillance on the spot where she disappeared." The monitor goes on for the next five years. Eventually, the phenomena becomes known around the world. Funding goes in to build a lab around the warping point. Years pass, and nothing comes back. Kent continues to look after the lab, but eventually becomes old and passes. On his gravestone are written the words, "Travel into space is essential and dangerous; it is only with a foolish bravery that we may make it to the stars."
Eleanor passes through the door frame of the ball. From the other side of the room, a woman stands up from behind a desk. She seems first surprised, then overjoyed. She begins to walk over to Eleanor. Something seems odd about the woman to Eleanor, like she looks almost familiar. "W-who..." she whispers. "Who are you?" The woman giggles. "I thought you might say that. You've been out for almost 30 years. I've been waiting to finally see you, Mom."
Eleanor is dropped into the center of the machine via her metal ball. Loud sparks shoot out once she passes through the center. From the bottom of the machine, the ball is no where to be seen. All of the scientists inside the control room stop breathing for a moment. The sparks fade, and the ball is gone. The scientists begin to look around at each other, speechless. Kent lightly taps one of the other scientists and asks what happened. This prompts him to say that Eleanor is gone, vanished from thin air.
Meanwhile, Eleanor experiences her travel through the wormhole. Time and space bends around her, and she soon finds herself in a remote paradise. In the brief moment, she recognizes the landscape. Almost like a drawing brought to life, the landscape is entirely similar to an old drawing she once made of what she thought Pensacola, Florida looked like. Out from the other side of the beach, a figure begins walking towards her. It's blurred, but as it comes closer, she recognizes the figure as her father, who died years ago when she was younger.
"Hey, Ellie. It's me, your old pa." Eleanor is at a loss of words. "I know there's a lot you're confused about, but we don't have a lot of time to explain. If we wait to long to send you back, all the scientists might give up on you. So, are you listening?" Eleanor, still shocked beyond belief, reaches out to touch her father. An odd field blocks her touch, and the image outside of it ripples across her father's face. "I'd love to explain that, but I only have so much time. Just know that I love you and wish I could be there with you to help you. Everything you are seeing is real, but many people won't believe you. There will be some, though. Those are the people that you should go with. Together, you will be able to come back here. Ellie, I know you can do it. You can show humanity just what we're capable of. Now, I'm going to send you back."
"Wait!" Eleanor finally yells out. Her father moves along the perimeter of the bubble, and with a swift movement of his hand, Eleanor is sent back through the wormhole. Mere moments pass, and she finds herself back inside the metal ball, still and cold. The door to the ball is open. She is no longer in her chair, but rather knelt down by the surface of the sphere. She gets up, then topples back down to the ground. She feels uneasy, but she forces herself back up, guiding herself across the wall of the sphere, and exits out of the door.
Eleanor was only gone for five minutes before the silence was broken. "Where is she?" The lead scientist yells out. "Sir, we don't know. The communications were cut by the time the sparks started. It's just all static." The lead scientist looks down, then back up. "Put up a monitor, we need 24/7 surveillance on the spot where she disappeared." The monitor goes on for the next five years. Eventually, the phenomena becomes known around the world. Funding goes in to build a lab around the warping point. Years pass, and nothing comes back. Kent continues to look after the lab, but eventually becomes old and passes. On his gravestone are written the words, "Travel into space is essential and dangerous; it is only with a foolish bravery that we may make it to the stars."
Eleanor passes through the door frame of the ball. From the other side of the room, a woman stands up from behind a desk. She seems first surprised, then overjoyed. She begins to walk over to Eleanor. Something seems odd about the woman to Eleanor, like she looks almost familiar. "W-who..." she whispers. "Who are you?" The woman giggles. "I thought you might say that. You've been out for almost 30 years. I've been waiting to finally see you, Mom."
Love it! But when did she have the baby? And where is Palmer when she returns?
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