IN BRIEF
As fascinated as we are with the possibility of alien life, humanity does not have a plan for how to respond to aliens if they contact us. But however we respond, first contact is sure to change our world forever.

A CELESTIAL SEARCH

From the pointy ears of Vulcans to the sharp fangs of the Xenomorph, humans have long envisioned what alien species must be like. Will they be humanoid, or completely unfamiliar? Friendly, or violent?

We have no evidence of what extraterrestrials are like — or if they exist to begin with — but that hasn’t stopped us from looking for them. For years, organizations like SETI and NASA have been scouring the galaxy and our solar system for signs of alien life — and have actually found a few. Some scientists say fast radio bursts could be explained by otherworldly intelligence, and NASA just announced that they have detected molecules that could suggest life on one of Saturn’s moons.

The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence
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Despite our many creative tests, we have yet to discover conclusive proof of life originating from another world. And perhaps this is for the best, as, for the moment, Earth has not come to a consensus on how to react to alien lifeforms — or if we should even interact with them at all.

While humanity has not developed a protocol for alien encounters, we do have a a scale, called the “Rio Scale,” for determining how important your evidence of aliens is. It was developed by researchers at SETI and evaluates your discovery based on four criteria. It calculates your score (available here for the next time you spot a UFO), which can range from zero (you think you see stars forming your initials in a NASA picture of a distant galaxy, but no one else gets how important that is) to 10 (you have an alien in the trunk of your car, and are now Googling labs to take it to).

But the question remains, what do we do when we finally reach that 10 — or even a 5? Do we send flowers? Try to initiate trade? Put on a tough front and warn off the potentially dangerous aliens?

The Green Bank Telescope is the world’s largest, fully-steerable telescope. The GBT’s dish is 100-meters by 110-meters in size, covering 2.3 acres of space. The telescope is currently being used in a new SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) attempt to look for possible alien radio signals from Tabby's Star. Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF

The Green Bank Telescope is the world’s largest, fully-steerable telescope. The GBT’s dish is 100-meters by 110-meters in size, covering 2.3 acres of space. The telescope is currently being used in a new SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) attempt to look for possible alien radio signals from Tabby’s Star.

Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF

FIRST CONTACT

While we haven’t officially arrived at an answer to these questions, enthusiasts haven’t let that stop them. Several groups have already sent messages to the stars, hoping to get an extraterrestrial response. NASA included a map to Earth in the Pioneer spacecraft. Carl Sagan helped broadcast a message in “alienese” from the Arecibo Observatory. We have also sent mathematical principles to potentially-habitable star systems so aliens will know that we’re smart.

But many experts think that these attempts, and others like them, have more potential to harm the human race than to help it. Stephen Hawking voiced his concerns about responding to potential alien signals in the video “Stephen Hawking’s Favorite Places.” He pointed out that other civilizations could be “vastly more powerful and may not see us as any more valuable than we see bacteria.” After all, he argues, being friendly did not protect the Native Americans from European settlers.

Other experts, like Douglas Vakoch, argue that any alien advanced enough to be a threat to our world would have surely picked up on all the signals we’ve already vented into the universe. We haven’t been at all concerned about hiding our tracks to this point, so what good would ghosting extraterrestrials do us now?

How or whether we respond to alien life when we find it, one thing is certain — it will change our world forever. Sagan believed that the discovery could lead to a more humble and unified humanity. He reflected in Pale Blue Dot, “To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.

The famous "Golden Record" carried aboard both Voyager 1 and 2 contains images, sounds and greetings from Earth. (NASA)

The famous “Golden Record” carried aboard both Voyager 1 and 2 contains images, sounds and greetings from Earth. (NASA)