Reminds me of the novel 'Footfall' by Larry Niven. It's about an alien invasion; when the Earth's defenses fail, the U.S. government employs the country's best science fiction authors as "technical advisers" to come up with a way to repel the invaders.

Swine flu?

The author was essentially imagining himself and his author buddies saving the world, so the solution he invented had to be much more badass:
[SPOILER]
They built a gigantic battleship-spacecraft propelled by atomic bombs.
That has apparently been seriously [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion)]considered[/url] in real life as well. You basically shoot nukes out of the back of your spacecraft, detonate them, and ride the shockwave. Oh, and you probably need some shock absorbers at the rear end of the vehicle.