Some Terran students have suggested that the Laputians must have been, in fact, visiting Martians, citing not only their very unworldly obsession with the contemplative life but also two concrete matters: the Laputians were alleged to have known about Mars' two moons at least a century and half before they were observed by Terran astronomers, and, secondly, Laputa itself was described in size and shape and propulsion such that the only English term that fits is "flying saucer." But that theory will not wash, as the flapper system, basic to Laputian society, was unknown on Mars.  The Martian Old Ones, not hampered by bodies subject to space-time, would have had as little use for flappers as a snake has for shoes.  Martians still corporate conceivably could use flappers but did not; the very concept ran contrary to their way of living.