'An acoustical beacon that repeats at intervals of 12 seconds'

ZetaReticuli

I wonder who/what sets this 'warning' (as decoded by Ripley) in motion on LV426 and will it tie in with A:C ?

Shasta cyclone

in the directors cut the warning was actually lingual so it was the space jockey in the ship.

alex9

Don't forget David speaks the Engineer language, so there could be some more recent tampering with the crash site.   It's not really what I always thought happened, but it does seem that theyre going the route that David may have had a hand in the creature that Ripley and company encounter on Lv426.

Deep Space

Yeah this is one part of the whole franchise that bugs me; especially how it will tie in with AC and other prequels . . .

I said on another thread a while ago that I think there is scope for the SJ to be tied into AC and David/Shaw, but feel that doing so will go against the idea (that I had always had and Ridley has stated) that the derelict in ALIEN was 1000s of years old.

re. the language:  if the message was in Engineer speak then it's no surprise that it was decoded as this could be done prior to the derelict being found - as backed up by David's decoding and presumably getting it pretty darn close.

If they do go the route of David playing a part in the SJ/message I will have to suspend disbelief as it were.  That said, it would make sense in a way and I think it could bring about some very interesting plot elements and be the thing that ties the whole franchise together.

One thing is for certain with me - they have to cover this at some point.  It relates to so much in the movies and if there are connections to David it could also explain how WY knew about it . . .

Shasta cyclone

who knows maybe the picture is a lot bigger than we think and the engineers were going to spread this stuff ( Black goo/eggs) all over the place.(galaxy/galaxies)

Batchpool

My own perspective on the origin of the acoustical beacon, is that this is at the heart of the whole Alien story. This is the really big question that needs an answer imo. There are lots of avenues the whole storyline can pursue in Alien Covenant, but my own trial of thought hopes that it goes along the lines of the following.

Prometheus set up an outpost situation that happen a couple of thousand of years ago, which means the Engineers had been playing around with the black goo a long time ago. This I think nicely ties into Ridleys’ statement that the Derelict on LV 426 is thousands of years old.

Along comes David and what looks like the possibility that he has been indulging in the same line of experimentation that the Engineers were engaged in. The big question I find here, is wondering if David has come across information that has guided his experiments. Could such information be the knowledge of the Derelict on LV426 and how it got there? This information could be what has guided the direction of David’s experiments. Maybe he has thought that he can take control of what the Engineers were trying to achieve and ends up with similar results.

I am hoping hat David has been trying to replicate results obtained by the Engineers as this could allow for the Derelict on LV426 to be from a separate incident with its own back story

ZetaReticuli

In Alan Dean Foster's novel of Alien, he describes the beacon as a mechanical device of some sort consisting of a metallic shaft moving in a repetitive back and forth motion and if I remember reading right, the machine was kept from dust contamination by some static electricity field. It's eerie little details like this that leaves one's imagination going to some very strange places of speculation.

S.M

That was taken from the script, and listed under slates 459, 460 and 461.  However it doesn't appear as if close ups of the mechanism were ever shot; just coverage of Dallas and the Jockey.

BigDave

Its one of those things they can change as they go along.

I dont think the SJ is a event after Prometheus, unless we go some kind of Space Anomaly Paradox that allows for Time Travel....

While clues suggested and Ridley comments on the event being Ancient,  Prometheus started as being a movie that teased the Event was after Humans Followed Holloway and Watts (Shaw) Archeological Clues.  There are some holes to Spaights draft that mean it could be a Red Herring.

Prometheus changed things a bit but still offered clues that pointed to LV-223 and LV-426 being linked thousands of years ago and Ridleys comments after Prometheus hinted at such too.

But who knows where they could take it now..

BigDave

As far as the Signal, in the deleted scene, it sounded different to the Engineers Dialect Language.

Thats not to say it cant be.. the same.. or same Race.

The Signal was a repeated warning to warn the SJ fellow Race that the cargo he was carrying had been compromised and he cant be saved and to keep away from the Derelict.

Basically going to be like how the Japanese Government had said safe guards to keep people away from ****ishima.

S.M

There were two versions - neither of which sounded like the Engineer language. The original one by Ben Burtt was fantastic; the one in the Directors Cut, less so.

As an aside, Marlow of the Anesidora turned off the transmission in Alien: Isolation (in 2137).

Apacheizm

I guess I will be waiting a very long, long, time till they tell us the complete story of what, how, where, and who were the Space Jockey/Engineers. Too me they represent everything of what is ALIEN! 

Aorta

 As a kid, I read the Heavy Metal graphic version of Alien before I saw the movie. In it, when they listen to the Beacon, the bridge fills with letters that don't form any words,  just incomprehensible sounds. 

I could very easily imagine for myself what it might sound like, and yes I have to agree when I finally heard the sound design for the Beacon, it was a disappointment.  I didn't know there was a second version, I'd love to hear it.  

S.M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_VnoLyrfdY

BigDave

@Apacheizm

Eventually yes i think Ridley will explain that signal

As far as the signal itself... as if we go by SM video link its hard to really tell i have covered it here a few times.

We have a series of 3 Words or Phrases... repeated... if we number them 1-3 here is what we get

1....2...2...3..3....1

Its a case of what are 1,2, 3 though.

We can only assume the message covers a Warning (Danger), do not come/arrive, Cargo Compromised,

So i think roughly it meant...

Warning, do not investigate, do not investigate, Cargo Compromised, Cargo Compromised, Warning...

Then repeats...

Myrddin365

After the Engineer was shot down by an opposing ship, he sent the message after he got facehugged when the ship's cargo got compromised. There was viral marketing that said Weyland had already intercepted and decoded the message before the prometheus left, and it was an alternate destination for David to investigate if Shaw was wrong about LV-223.

It also may be the fail safe that automatically triggers when the xenocargoes get compromised. The crew doesn't send it and can't stop it.

elmer-fudd

Well, my biggest wonder is how an acoustic beacon works in space vacuum.