Hello There! P.S. Nothing here to see.

In my previous blog post I wrote about what would happen if we were contacted by an intelligent alien race. For this post I wanted to explore more about the questions of: Should we respond? and What are the potential risks if we did? In an article from Popular Science written by Rebecca Boyle , world renowned physicist/cosmologist Stephen Hawking, we should avoid contact at all costs. Dr. Hawking believes that, like the movies Independence Day and Battle: Los Angeles, these aliens would only come in search of our natural resources thus hastening our extinction. He goes on to say that, "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.” I believe that is a fair point. I think we should be afraid to respond to contact if this is the case. In my previous post ("Next Stop, Earth"), I wrote about a 2004 Popular Mechanics article that said the worlds governments have begun preparations on what to do if we are contacted. Do these governments take opinions such as Dr. Hawking's into account? How are we to know if the alien race is looking for a new planet to inhabit if their own is being destroyed? Another article I came across from International Business Times, the author suggested that the current Global Warming trend could prompt an attack on earth by an alien race in order to prevent us from exploring the universe and potentially destroying another planet. Basically saying if we were to make contact and these aliens see what we are doing to the planet, we could face an alien cleanup that would involve getting rid of us. These theories then make me think of the alternative. What if this alien civilization is only trying to make contact to see if they are alone or are just responding to our message? More along the lines of the movie Contact. Not to colonize us and take our resources, but just to say: “Hey, we are here. Have a nice day.”

Alien Invasion?

Friendly Hello?

Of course I would prefer the latter, but the possibility remains that these aliens could be looking for more than just an intergalactic pen pal. So what do we do? Would we just be content knowing that intelligent life is out there and not respond? Or do we take the risk by responding and then preparing for a potential invasion? The way I see it, the only way to really know what any new intelligent species motives are, is to communicate. Unless these aliens give us a rundown on their history that we would believe in their initial contact, I don’t see any other way.