What was the Thing doing on the ship in the first place?
Well, there seem to be only four possibilities: (1) The Thing was a member of the ships crew, perhaps even the pilot. (2) The Thing was a passenger. (3) The Thing was a stowaway. (4) The Thing was part of the cargo. The first idea would imply that the ship belonged to the Things own race. Things were the ones who built and piloted the vehicle. For whatever reason, not many fans seem drawn to this notion. They tend to gravitate towards the more sinister possibilities. However, it is interesting to note that Susan Turner, the one who originally built the saucer model, makes an off-the-cuff remark on the DVDs Terror Takes Shape documentary. There, she refers to the saucers central dome as the place where presumably the creature is steering the ship. The second notion of the Thing being one of the ships passengers is even less popular. For whatever reason, no one has seriously defended this option. Perhaps its because people find it difficult to imagine the Thing as just a harmless passeng
