We don’t know when it’s going to happen, but it might happen! You could wake up one morning, pull open your blinds and see your neighbours packing up and leaving town. Look a little further into the horizon and you might see why; the giant hovering space ships beaming up hundreds of thousands of folks. Don’t panic.

You don’t want to end up like them and we’d all like to think that when they do arrive, we’re going to be a lot smarter than the people we see in the movies. Here’s a quick recap with 5 of the most important things we should or shouldn’t do if we want to survive an alien invasion.

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INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996)

1. Keep away from the aliens

When spaceships start to appear in key cities around the world, hovering over landmark buildings, don’t go making banners to stand on the top of the Empire State Building waving it up and down. As the ships open and start powering up their lasers, the last place you’ll want to be is standing right under them. Famous last words? “It’s so pretty…”

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (2008)

2. Don’t fire at them

If there’s a giant robot bodyguard standing beside the alien when he gets out of the spaceship, you might be feeling a bit nervous under the circumstances, but don’t get too excited and fire at him. In the Day The Earth Stood Still, this didn’t work out too well for the military when they fire at Gort. So rather than inadvertently setting off an intergalactic war, keep the safety on.

DREAMCATCHER (2003)

3. Trust no one

They may try and evacuate you to a safe area. They may tell you need to be in quarantine. They may insist the situation is under control and you should trust them, but you should never under any circumstances trust the government or the military. It doesn’t work out so well for civilians in Dreamcatcher where Col. Abraham Curtis is as much a threat to the human population as the aliens are.

WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005)

4. Don’t stop running

If you’re running from an invasion of tripod-like aliens who incinerate everything in sight while blaring out a ghastly foghorn-like noise, you really should keep running or you’ll end up a pile of dust. Don’t stop. Don’t accept the crazy man’s offer to come and hide out in his creepy place, stay away from the mass crowds and travelling by ferry might not be the best idea either.

INVASION (2005)

5. Try not to stand out

If the population’s DNA is being noticeably modified and you seem to be immune to the wacky new virus, the last thing you want to do is draw attention to yourself. Don’t go running through the streets waving your arms in the air and screaming in panic “Why is this happening?!” Walk calmly and do your best to fit in while trying to get as far away as possible.

So there we have it. 5 things to help you stay alive in the event of an alien invasion. We hope this information will be useful, if you can think of any other points, do let us know; you can never be too prepared!