Telescope
Telescopes exist in The Sims, The Sims 2, and The Sims 3. They can be bought in buy mode. Using the telescope is Fun and increases a Sim's Logic.
The Sims
The Horrorwitz 'Star-Track' Outdoor Telescope is a good way of increasing your Sim's Logic skill. However, if your Sim spends a long time looking through it (two or three points without taking a break), he or she will be abducted by aliens. A blue sphere will appear and your Sim will vanish for a few hours. When they return, their personalities will have turned upside down and they will think about aliens for quite a while afterward.
The Sims 2
In The Sims 2, there are two telescopes, one cheap and one expensive. The Astrowonder (§550) and the Farstar e3 (§2100). But the price isn't the biggest difference - Sims using the Astrowonder won't ever be abducted, but with the Farstar it's possible. A male Sim who gets abducted will come back pregnant.
In The Sims 2: FreeTime, all of the telescope actions have a chance of alien abduction, but the Aspiration Benefit for Knowledge, Summon Aliens, allows your Sim to create a spotlight with a flashlight and the telescope, giving them a huge chance of abduction. In FreeTime, your Sims can also earn money discovering new celestial and astral bodies.
Using either telescope during daylight and accidentally (or "accidentally", with mods) looking at a Sim through the telescope will make those neighbors mad at you.
Being abducted is easier with boolprop testingcheatsenabled true - with this cheat active, shift click on the telescope of your choice, and add the command "Get Abducted" to the queue, the Sim will be taken by aliens. However, this method isn't perfect as nearby Sims will not get the memory of the abduction without using hacks.
According to theory, the first Sim created in a neighborhood is always going to shove anyone spying on them. But whenever anyone in the family/household of the first created Sim, the first of the secondary family will shove the Sim instead. The following table will show all neighborhoods, and the Sims that will shove any spying neighbor:
| NEIGHBORHOODS | SHOVING SIM | SECONDARY SHOVING SIM |
| Pleasantview | Mortimer Goth | Daniel Pleasant |
| Strangetown | Vidcund Curious | Olive Specter |
| Veronaville | Consort Capp | Patrizio Monty |
| Bluewater Village | Stephen Tinker | ? |
| Riverblossom Hills | Leod McGreggor | Jason Greenman |
| Desederata Valley | Luis Aspir | Issac Bell? |
| Belladonna Cove | Armand DeBateau | ? |
The Sims 3
The Sims 3 returns to only a single type of telescope, found under the Study->Hobbies section. In addition to increasing fun and logic, the telescope also allows a Sim to Search The Galaxy in which case they may find and name a new celestial body, such as Stars, Moons, Planets, Comets, and Satellites.
The Sim may also see a meteorite fall to the ground, placing a map marker where he can go to retrieve it. This map marker eventually disappears, so the player will have to be quick.
However, Sims do not seem to use it to spy on their neighbors, nor do aliens abduct the Sim.
It is rumored that on the 13th day of play (Sims time), the player can see an alien space ship near the stonehenge in Sunset Valley.