A mysterious object, moving through space. Astronomers at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii
spy it entering our solar system, and they soon realize something is very odd. It’s not a comet or meteor, because those
travel through space in a direct line. This strange object is tumbling through space,
and moving so fast that it couldn’t have originated from our solar system. What is it? What brought it to our neck of space? And most importantly, why is it here? Astronomers were puzzled, but before they
could get their answers, it was gone. The mysterious “Oumuamua” left our solar
system as quickly as it came, sailing past the sun into quarters unknown. Scientists now believe Oumuamoua was a cigar-shaped
interstellar rock, but its presence in our solar system caused no small stir among scientists. But what would happen if life from another
galaxy entered our solar system? This has been the subject of fiction for over
a century, from intelligent aliens who come in peace, evil green men who come with laser
guns, and even hungry aliens looking for the best way to “serve man”. We’ve been thinking about first contact
for a long time. But the government has been making plans for
this possibility just as long, and they want to make sure we make a good first impression. In 1977, the two Voyager spacecraft launched
by NASA each contained a golden phonograph record holding the sounds and images of life
on Earth. These unmanned spacecraft are heading into
unknown space, including within two year’s lightspeed distance from the star Gliese 445,
where many planets exist. If an advanced civilization - with the capacity
to play the record - finds it, they’ll find a mix of natural sounds including animal calls
and the sound of wind and waves. They’ll see music and greetings in fifty-nine
languages, and messages from the US President and UN Secretary General at the time. NASA hopes this will let the aliens know what
humanity has to offer, and either lead them to contact us - or to preserve a record of
our civilization. After all, the Voyager 1 probe is expected
to reach Gliese 445 in about forty thousand years. But what if the aliens find our planet first? Does the government have a plan for if they
confirm aliens exist? As always with our government, the answer
is...maybe? Private astronomy firms staff a small group
of scientists working in the controversial field known as SETI - search for extraterrestrial
life. Their goal is to monitor radio telescopes
for unusual broadcasts that could be a sign of alien contact. But the problem is, no one knows what form
an alien broadcast would take. It could be an alien species that’s intelligent
enough to have studied our planet and is communicating in a language we’ll understand, but it’s
far more likely that an alien species would know little about our planet and would be
communicating in a language we’d have no way to translate - if they even have something
comparable to language. In the 1990s, scientists developed new protocols
for SETI scientists that indicated that they should share any findings with scientists
from other countries. This was the tail-end of the Cold War, when
it was unlikely the United States and Soviet Union would share anything with each other. Relations have warmed - slightly - but no
national government has shown much interest in funding SETI research and the scientists
work independently. In 1997, scientists picked up a false alarm
signal that looked like a possible contact from aliens. The government didn’t contact them, and
no one came to drag the scientists off to Area 51. Who did call? Journalists from the New York Times! The government may not be that interested
in contact with other aliens, but the press sure is. So what would the government do if they actually
did confirm aliens exist? They briefly did fund a program called Project
Cyclops in 1971 to coordinate thousands of radio telescopes to scan the cosmos for messages,
but it was shelved due to costs and government efforts have been modest since. But it’s likely that any discovery of actual
contact with another civilization would suddenly become VERY classified. Our research into extrasolar planets in systems
and galaxies beyond our own has discovered many planets that could be habitable, but
no conclusive proof has been found. However, SETI scientists - and related METI
specialists focusing on messaging - are concentrating their efforts on those planets. How the government would react to contact
with alien lifeforms depends heavily on the type of lifeform. The majority of human space research right
now is concentrated on Mars, where we’ve sent multiple unmanned rovers like the long-lived
NASA Curiosity to take samples of the soil. There is ample evidence that there was once
water and an atmosphere on Mars, making it possible that there was life there before
the cosmic upheaval that stripped away the cocktail for life from the planet. Finding evidence of that, like fossils, would
give us our first glimpse of extraterrestrial life, but let’s go further. What if there was something still there, something
small that had survived the cataclysm? Many species on Earth, like the horseshoe
crab, have survived for hundreds of millions of years and multiple extinction waves. Let’s say we found a unique arthropod on
Mars - the Martian Crab, a burrowing creature living under the surface. How would the government respond to this discovery? Because it’s a non-sapient form of life,
the main priority would be safe study. Our unmanned explorers would take a sample
and transmit as much information as possible back to Earth. A program is under development to send an
unmanned drone to Mars and pick up samples of Martian soil that would return by 2032. But getting a live sample of a Martian creature
back to Earth would be trickier - and would probably involve a manned mission to Mars,
something that hasn’t been attempted by any nation yet. Even if possible, it would involve major risks. We don’t know what organisms would be using
a Martian creature as a host, meaning the arrival of a sample on Earth would carry the
risk of bringing a deadly pathogen back with it. If the US government discovered alien life
on a nearby planet, we’re likely to leave it there for safety reasons. But what if alien life comes looking for us? Does the government have a plan? If they do, it’s so highly classified that
none of us know about it. If an intelligent alien species found our
planet and wanted to make contact with us, they’re likely to be so advanced that they
would be setting the terms of the introduction - and we’d be waiting to find out if they
were friendly or hostile. So how would humanity react to first contact
with aliens? If history is any indication, probably with
panic. One of the most famous “close encounters”
happened in Flatwoods, West Virginia in 1952. Two brothers saw an unknown object fall from
the sky and land on a local farmer’s property. They gathered a friend of theirs, two random
children, and a local national guardsman, and went to investigate. They claim to have seen a very tall, man-like
figure with a round, red face and an odd hood-shaped head. They ran for the authorities, said they had
seen a monster, and tried to get the police to chase the “alien” down. Was it an alien? Or was it an owl sitting on top of a tree? The “Flatwoods Monster” was never seen
again, but let’s hope if we have a first contact, there’s a more organized response. The SETI Permanent Committee of the International
Academy of Astronautics developed a protocol plan for first contact, but will the government
put it into effect? There are eight steps. First, make sure that it’s of intelligent
origin before announcing it. Second, communicate this finding with all
other nations who have agreed to this protocol. Third, inform the rest of the astronomical
community. Fourth, the discovering party makes the public
announcement. Fifth, the data is released to the scientific
community. Sixth, any electromagnetic signals are shared
with the relevant authority. Seventh, no one makes direct contact individually. Finally, the SETI Permanent Committee reviews
these plans regularly to ensure their policies are up to date. This would be a logical and orderly approach
to first contact - but would it work out that way? A friendly civilization might be here on a
mission of exploration, scientific curiosity, or friendship, but a hostile civilization
would probably not announce themselves with dialogue or signals. Could humanity win a war with an unknown alien
power? Earth’s superpowers have a lot of powerful
weapons, but they’re designed for combat on Earth. If an alien civilization from outside this
galaxy had the ability to travel this far to make contact and attack us, it’s likely
they have weapons far stronger than ours and ships made of far more durable material. We could fight, but the odds are that any
war would be over very quickly - and not in our favor. But how would humanity react to a friendly
civilization? The biggest problem any alien civilization
would have when making contact is getting through our security. Most superpowers have air-defense systems
that will detect any vessel entering their airspace, and shoot it down if it doesn’t
identify itself and stop when commanded. If the air defense system can shoot down an
alien vessel, that could put a very fast stop to first contact and send the aliens back
home with word not to mess with this planet. The aliens’ best bet to have a peaceful
landing might be to land in Antarctica and make first contact with the penguins. But if aliens successfully made peaceful first
contact with humanity, or the government confirmed they had made contact, it would cause a total
upheaval in almost every area of society. Have you ever gone shopping the day before
a snowstorm? Imagine that times ten, as everyone would
be convinced that an alien invasion would be coming and they’d better stock up. The uncertainty of an alien civilization making
contact with Earth would make many people assume the worst was coming, and the question
is whether the government would know enough to assure them otherwise - and if they would
be willing to declassify the information. Religions would be instantly thrown into turmoil. How many faiths believe that God created humanity
in His image? The presence of another, highly intelligent
species making contact with us would throw that concept into doubt and lead many to question
their faith. Some would leave their faith, seeking answers
elsewhere. Others would believe more fiercely than ever,
insisting that the presence of aliens was a test for the faithful. And it’s likely that new faiths would spring
up around the alien visitors - after all, powerful and strange beings descending from
the sky to make contact with us calls some powerful visuals to mind for the faithful. Or maybe religion would go on, business as
usual. The Vatican for instance is itself a believer
in extraterrestrial life, and has even toyed with the question of if aliens would need
evangelizing should contact finally be made. In the Koran, Muhammad spoke of other ‘brothers’
that God had made in other worlds, so maybe, possibly, religion wouldn’t be much bothered
by alien life. Politically, the confirmation of aliens would
create major changes in governments around the world. We would likely see closer cooperation between
ally nations and even rivals, as they would want to present a united front to any alien
civilization. After all, the fate of humanity’s future
interaction with the stars could depend on making a good first impression. But what about enemy nations, especially those
in the middle of a war? Would it create a temporary truce, or would
various parties try to play the aliens against their enemy? If the aliens were carrying advanced technology
or weapons, it would be tempting for an ambitious nation to try to get their hands on it before
anyone else. One field that would be booming in the aftermath
of alien contact is legal scholars. Every law on Earth is meant to apply to humans
and Earth-based animals. What rights would aliens have on Earth? Would they be considered visitors, or invaders? If aliens made first contact by sending radio
waves, who owns the dispatches? And then there’s the question of what the
government chooses to share with us. Open-government advocates would be fighting
to release all details of what the feds knew about aliens before first contact. Will we finally find out what’s in Area
51? If alien technology arrived on Earth and the
aliens were willing to share it with us - or we successfully shot down an unmanned alien
probe - scientists everywhere would be pressed into service. Both the government and corporations would
try to reverse-engineer the technology - and if it was a technology that had use on Earth,
the company that cracked the code here would be rolling in money. Alien technology could be a market game-changer
like never seen before - which is why it’s just as likely that the government immediately
seizes it, nationalizes it, and classifies it. But no sector would be busier in the aftermath
of first contact than the media. This would be the biggest story in human history. If the aliens are still a mystery, because
humanity is working out the details of first contact, every TV and movie studio would be
scrambling to come up with their fictionalized version of the aliens. And if the aliens have made first contact
with the public, the race to get the first interview with them would be one of the biggest
prizes imaginable for journalists. Once the aliens are known by humanity, they
would become massive celebrities. Any first contact with aliens would be a massive
culture shock for us - but it might be just as big a culture shock for the aliens. If you’re wondering if aliens have already
made contact with us, check out “Evidence that Aliens have made contact”. For more on what happens if the aliens aren’t
friendly, watch “How to defend Earth against an alien invasion”. Thanks for watching, and see you next time!
