Next Stop, Earth

For this post, I wanted to learn more about what we, as a society, would do if or when we do encounter intelligent alien life. In a 2004 Popular Mechanics article, Jim Wilson, the articles author, wrote that although no government official has come out and publicly announced that aliens exist, they still have begun preparations in the event that we are contacted or even visited. In my previous post, I referenced an Associated Press article (Are We Alone? NASA Expects Answers Soon) that suggested that we are on the verge of discovering planets that are similar to earth and that may contain life. But what do we do if they contact us first? The consensus belief is that aliens will not just appear from another dimension, but rather by another means that we will be able to detect whether it is by interstellar radio or if their UFO flies past the moon, even though I think if aliens are able to build a spacecraft capable interstellar travel, they could probably beat our detection systems. If we do receive a radio signal from an intelligent race, there is an agreement called the Declaration of Principles Concerning Activities Following the Detection of Extraterrestrial Intelligence written by SETI on what astronomers should and shouldn’t do. This agreement is not a federal law but astronomers are encouraged to follow in order to avoid public panic or overreaction if the contact is found to be a false alarm. The possibility of receiving an alien signal leads me to ask: Should we respond? What would the possible risks be if we did? I came across another article from The Guardian about how the earth’s governments need to be prepared in case we are contacted by an alien race. They also argue that a section of the U.N. should be responsible for what they call, “supra-Earth affairs”. This arm of the U.N. would be who would formulate a plan if extraterrestrials should appear. In the event of a personal visit to the U.S.A., by Presidential Executive Orders, the alien visitor would be arrested and quarantined. Any intelligent being, in my opinion, would already have done their research on us and would be prepared for this scenario. What if a UFO appeared in the sky for everyone to see and did nothing? What would we do then? I believe we would attempt to make contact but, what if we received no response? Would we attack or wait it out? First contact, by any means, will greatly change the world as we know it.

The video below provides some thoughtful opinions on this subject from some of the leading scientists in the world: