Contrary to what The Walking Dead would have you believe, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention know a thing or two about how to respond in the event of a natural disaster. In the interest of promoting emergency preparedness, the CDC recently put together a list of iconic disaster movies, and how its characters should have reacted if they'd actually wanted to survive.


The list — which includes movies as diverse as Tremors, Contagion, and Twister — is full of helpful tips, and links to a number of in-depth survival guides; but it also happens to be surprisingly amusing. Take their advice on how to survive an alien invasion, for example:

Independence Day (1996)

Disaster: Alien invasion After downing an alien fighter plane that has separated from the mother ship, Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) foolishly approaches the downed plane, unarmed, only to find that the alien pilot is still alive. Smith's character punches the alien in the face, quipping "welcome to Earth." In case of an alien invasion, do not attempt to save humankind all by yourself. If an alien asks you to take it to your leader, buy yourself some time by showing it a Lady Gaga music video and dial 9-1-1 while it watches. In the event an international strike force by our world's greatest celebrity action heroes cannot prevail against the alien fleet, then…well…might as well just sit back and relax with another good disaster movie as you wait for our new alien overlords to tell us what to do.


Check out the rest of the list over at the CDC.