: Humans already experience things that are part of existence, but that we do not understand. Draw from those for a start: Perhaps : Identify (and/or researching online) legitimate human experiences

@LarsenBagley300

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Humans already experience things that are part of existence, but that we do not understand.

Draw from those for a start:

Perhaps : Identify (and/or researching online) legitimate human experiences that are on the very fringe of how we experience ourselves in the universe. This may derive from certain hallucinatory states, transcendentalism, near death, and other altered states of consciousness. Or, it may derive from physical extremes - What it feels like to be hit by a lightning bolt, for example.

Then, build something (your aliens) that is reminiscent of commonalities in those experiences, but unique in some fashion. Perhaps it is something expansive and terrifying, or electrifying and trippy. I recommend building something that the audience says 'Yeah, that sounds like it could be legit,' and then taking it in a new direction, bigger, stranger, unusual. I suspect the result will be that the audience will understand that this is a very alien being that they are now learning about.

Add on to this with the senses, (play with it), if this species has unusual odor, unusual frequencies through which they communicate, unusual ... textures? This can add to the bizarre otherness of them.

I suspect the more research (online or at the library) that you do on what the bizarre fringes of human experience contain, the more of an idea you will begin to flesh out that will inform your species. It can potentially feel recognizable, but also alien, to the reader.

The above is to provide ideas about what might make an alien species weird, and difficult to understand.

But you asked more directly about your characters failing to understand the aliens:

Your characters can fail to understand it for any number of reasons. Perhaps they only experience one part of the aliens' manifestation - They only hear it, or smell it, or perceive it in a ... strange way, they get the heeby-jeebies when it is nearby or some such. It communicates with them through technology but they cannot find it in the physical universe. It is dark matter. Etc. I suspect it is best if the reader has a handle on what the aliens are, even if the characters do not comprehend it, but that is up to you. (Characters failing to understand things in stories... is common.)

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