Thanks again. Actually, I have no excuse..must be old age catching up with me.  I have this great book, which I would highly recommend for all aficionados of Jimi Hendrix, titled, "Jimi Hendrix, Electric Gypsy", by Harry Shapiro, and Caesar Glebbeek (St.Martin's Press, 1990); ISBN 0-312-05861-6; which has the lyrics.  It also contains tons of information, not only on Jimi's life and career, but equipment, recording sessions (dates, times, details), and just about every piece of information about JH.

I quote from the book, re: Third Stone p.177:

" It is possible that the inspiration for this song (Third Stone from the Sun) came from an old Louis Jordan song ' Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens' in the sax-dominated blues-band style popular in Seattle when Jimi was starting out. The story tells of a party held by the chickens that keeps the farmer awake, 'a metaphor for a black house party that the farmer - perhaps the landlord, maybe the police - wants to quiet. ....

Speeded up to 66 2/3, the slowed-down vocals on 'Third Stone from the Sun' are revealed as an interstellar communication:

'Star fleet to scout ship, please give your position. Over' etc...

The images of science fiction - battles on distant planets, visitations from UFO's and near-future Armageddon on Earth - were regularly employed by Jimi to highlight what he saw as the essential hopelessness of the human condition bereft of any spiritual values.  'Third Stone from the Sun' was the first of these; lesser-known examples include two unreleased songs, and instrumental, 'South Saturn Delta', and 'Valley of Neptune', and 'Somewhere' from the album Crash Landing released after Jimi's death. "

Gene