10 Secrets Behind Alien's Nostromo Ship You Didn't Know
7. The Self-Destruct Panel Is Full Of Religious & Philosophical References
When Ripley initiates the ship's self-destruct sequence late in the movie, we get a briefest of glimpses at the Nostromo's unique control panel, which contains a number of esoteric references to religious and philosophical concepts.
According to Simon Deering, a member of the Alien production team, Ridley Scott told him to make the control panel's buttons "complicated and interesting, because they won't be on screen for more than a second or two."
And so Deering decided to incorporate some phrases from Russian philosopher and occultist Helena Blavatsky's 1888 book "The Secret Doctrine," with words such as "Trip, Agaric Fly, Abhort, Leb, Drift, Pranic Lift 777, Bel, Lingha, Yoni, Shakti Excess, Hum, and Padme" being visible on the panel.
The book itself is concerned with trying to reconcile ancient eastern philosophy with the more grounded logic of modern science, which given the Alien series' own penchant for spiritual symbolism certainly feels like a fitting touchstone.