How Contact (1997) Got the 'Twin Paradox' Wrong
The alien-designed machinery which enabled Ellie to travel through space The movie Contact, based off of Carl Sagan's novel, is about aliens who send instructions for a ship that will enable a human to travel incredibly far in space to meet them. The aliens's plan went accordingly as Dr. Ellie Arroway comes face to face with them. From Ellie's point of view the journey lasted 18 hours. However, those not inside the alien-designed ship only saw the ship fall through the spinning rings of the device. From their point of view, the ship Ellie was in only fell for a second before landing in the water. The movie is most definitely thought-provoking, but it portrayed the Twin Paradox backwards. Elli traveled extremely fast, it could be guessed that she traveled close to the speed of light. Her journey lasted 18 hours, whereas the time on Earth that passed was merely a second or two. The resolution to the Twin Paradox is that the twin who traveled at the speed of light a
