Quote from: Engineer on Oct 28, 2022, 02:33:28 AMThere's a lot of conversation that took place in that inquest meeting we didn't hear. We came into it at the end. We have no idea what ripley told them. She could have given them the exact location in the solar system for where they went, even if it wasn't documented on the flight recorder. Any assumptions about what information was presented, or not presented, in that meeting before we were brought in is purely speculation. What matters is Ripley didn't have enough information/evidence to support her claims so nobody believes her, but Burke looked into it anyway. Burke knew enough to give the colonists a "grid reference." The movie plays out from there... it's pretty straight forward.
And the movie adaptation by Alan Dean foster can and does offer some good details that have been around since the movie released. Many of those details coming from the script even if they didn't make it into the film. So I can understand ignoring EU materials (a lot of it gets pretty convoluted anyway), but if there's any one source outside the movie you'd want to look at, that'd be the one. That being said, I understand the the book doesn't count in this conversation; SiL already brought me up to speed on that...
Even if the grid reference came from her, which itself is already odd, then that would have made the hearing illogical, especially van Leuwen's claim that that the flight recorder only refers to the fact that the ship landed and then resumed course. Ripley would have pushed them to investigate the location during the hearing, and not after the file is closed. On top of that, she only discovers then that there was a colony, something that the board would have raised if they had discussed the location.
In addition, van Leuwen's reason doesn't hold water, i.e., colonists had been there for decades but they have not reported seeing an alien craft. Ripley could have used common sense and told him that it's probably because they didn't go to the specific location.
Quote from: Local Trouble on Oct 28, 2022, 02:36:22 AMQuote from: ralfy on Oct 28, 2022, 01:35:54 AMThat's my guess, but the problem is that the location of the derelict ship isn't discussed in the investigation, and van Leuwen was looking for information on the hostile organism in the same flight recorder log. Given the function of a flight recorder, it won't be able to provide that.
The location of the derelict was irrelevant. The flight recorder was referenced because it was the only piece of evidence that actually corroborated any part of Ripley's story; that being the Nostromo's inexplicable landing on LV-426.
It's relevant for painfully obvious reasons, as it's the only thing that can prove Ripley's claims and allow the company to make a lot of moolah. From the location, one can discover the alien ship, see the eggs inside, and find out what would happen if one comes close to them.
Also, flight recorders don't simply report that the ship landed and resumed course. They also state where the ship landed and what course it took after taking off.
Next, why was the lifeboat flight recorder operating even when the lifeboat was docked and non-operational? Or is it possible that what's referred to is the lifeboat computer, i.e., the one that allows crew to enter hibernational and can operate the ship automatically, and in this case probably received the Nostromo ship's logs, including flight path?
That question should be raised because van Leuwen was looking for encounters with the hostile organism in the lifeboat flight recorder. The latter does not do that; it only records flight path, which as pointed out earlier, should include the location of the landing. Was the flight recorder referred to in the hearing actually the ship's logs?
Quote from: SiL on Oct 28, 2022, 04:56:49 AMFor what it's worth the flight recorder wouldn't have the specific coordinates of the derelict anyway. Burke probably sent the colonists out to the general area where the Nostromo landed, knowing the derelict was in walking distance.
Yes, but it would have the location where the crew landed. From there, Burke would have given the grid reference where the landing took place and then ask the colony to investigate the grid. But according to van Leuwen, the flight recorder only states that the ship landed and then resumed course; no other details are given. That meant that they had no landing location, and with that no grid reference.
But Burke gave the grid reference from the colony. Where did he get it?
If it came from the flight recorder, then what van Leuwen said during the hearing doesn't make sense.
If it came from Ripley's memory, then what van Leuwen said is pointless and what Ripley did right after the hearing doesn't make sense.
Quote from: Local Trouble on Oct 28, 2022, 05:29:27 AMYeah, I imagine the flight recorder contained information like this:
Spoiler
Which, by itself, was proof of nothing except that the Nostromo landed and where.
I think the numbers refer to coordinates, time, etc.
Quote from: Engineer on Oct 28, 2022, 06:57:25 AMQuoteBurke and Ripley refer to Burke's cut, which implies that Burke isn't acting alone.
Ok gonna respond to this specifically real quick. This does NOT imply that Burke wasn't working alone. I used to work in a lab for a large company. It was made very clear to me that if I came up with something of value on company-time, then the *thing* or intellectual property would belong to both me and my company. It didn't matter if I had help or not. The logic being that they gave me my paychecks. since it was on company-time, I was being paid, and therefore it becomes shared ownership. Burke is just assuming that if he succeeds in bringing back the organism, that WY would take their piece since he was acting while on company-time.
QuoteIn addition, there's an interesting reference made earlier from the EU that Burke scrubbed the ship's logs. Wouldn't that be seen by anyone analyzing the logs, e.g., the ship lands, but no place is given?
Since it was me who brought this up, I'll go ahead and say that, if my memory serves me well, the book raises this same question but ripley doesn't get the chance to look into it further since she figured it out after they went to lv-426.
Right, which is why the claim that Burke was working alone doesn't make sense.
About referring to things from an EU, I think that only shows that there are problems with the original story.