RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALIEN CONTACT
U.S. Congressional Staffers Sharon Kim, Alex Brandt, Alex Dinos, and Corinne Bass
Presentation Outline Alien Encounter on Earth
“History” of U.S. Alien Contact Friend or Foe First Contact Proposed Plan Military Response
Alien Discovery in Space Spectrum of Scenarios Initial Assessment
Friendly Hostile
Proposed Plan Effects of an Alien Encounter
Mass Panic Economic Religious Political
Alien Encounter on Earth
Alien Contact in U.S. Roswell Incident, July 1947
Strange metal debris discovered in the New Mexico desert, humanoid alien “bodies” recovered from a second site
After investigation, the Army said the debris was from a downed balloon
1970s: New witness testimony suggested government cover-up
1994 & 1997: Air Force releases 2 reports explaining the incident
Government cover-up is “superficially plausible” (Davies) But what do we do if aliens really come to Earth?
http://www.cufos.org/airforce.htm
Friend or Foe? “If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as
when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans…Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach.”
-Stephen Hawking Aliens might:
Look and behave like us Have evolved in a Darwinian fashion, competing for resources Be artificially intelligent or synthetic
Is there reason to be optimistic? Aliens might have advanced past the point of violence Opportunities for exchange of knowledge/technology
Friendly Encounters in Pop Culture
Hostile Encounters in Pop Culture
We’ll know of an E.T. presence before it even enters Earth’s atmosphere
SETI Institute uses radio telescopes to sweep space for any alien signals
Post-Detection Taskgroup Stipulate the procedure
immediately following first contact
Notify authorities (U.S. government, UN, etc.)
First Contact
Depending on the scale, we’d like to estimate the aliens’ landing site(s) A single landing site for
one small craft might be easily contained or investigated
Projected landings at every major city on Earth would automatically be deemed a threat
Do not immediately attack, but presume they’re dangerous
First Contact
Proposed plan—COPUOS
1. Conduct consultations open to all interested States on what to say
2. UN General Assembly should ultimately decide3. Messages should be on behalf of all Humankind4. Should have a long-term institutional framework for
communications 5. No communication to ETI should be sent by any State until
appropriate international consultations have taken place. 6. States should draw on the expertise of scientists, scholars,
and others with relevant knowledge
http://www.setileague.org/iaaseti/reply.htm
Proposed Plan Does the alien life form pose an
immediate threat to humanity? Have our peoples’ initial actions posed a
threat to alien life that could trigger conflict?
Self-preserving measures should be taken first if either of these questions ring true: Evacuate civilians near the alien threat If attack is in the US, prepare emergency
military response team If attack is outside the US, retreat military
occupancy to major cities and prepare to aide allies if need be
Important to note that a global military plan of action will most likely be necessary to overcome a large scale invasion
Military Response U.S. Air Force is the
most equipped to handle an alien threat
Most powerful gun in the world might be our best land option: http://natgeotv.com/uk/al
ien-invasion/videos/most-powerful-gun-in-the
Nuclear weapons should only be used as an absolutely last resort due to collateral damage
Spectrum of Possible Scenarios for Encountering Alien Life in Space
Evidence of past life found on another planet
Full-blown Earth-like
civilization on another planet
Radio signal
Satellite or probe
Fleet of ships
Hostile Alien Encounters in Space:While our search for life on other planets continues, we must address the possibilities of what we might encounter.
As Ridley Scott's Alien franchise considers, an unprepared encounter with hostile alien life could be fatal.
Proposed Plan of Interaction:Step 1: Attempt ContactEven if the first interaction is hostile, an attempt at contact should be made. If communication is possible, then there is a chance of peaceful negotiation.
The nation's top computer programmers, linguists, translators, and psychologists should be employed in the attempt at communication. Keep in mind that an alien species may have different sensory organs than humans, so communication might not be auditory/visual.
Step 2: Positive Negotiation
If communication is possible, the aliens' reason for attack/desired outcome should be discussed.
- If information is desired, we should proceed with caution and agree to trade scientific knowledge.
- If resources are desired, we should proceed with caution and discuss the possibilities of trade. If an advantageous trade can be made, we could improve the safety of our planet/quality of life
What Do They Want?
- If colonization is desired, we should decline and proceed to step 3.
- If slavery is desired, we should decline and proceed to step 3.
Step 2a: Negative Negotiation
Step 3: Counter-Attack
If communication is possible but peaceful negotiation is not, we should inform the opposing force that we intend to defend our planet and its occupants by whatever means necessary. If a surrender is not offered, we should attack.
- If the offending party is a fleet far from its home planet, we should eliminate the immediate threat and research the possibility of a future second fleet.
- If the offending party is near its home planet, we should attempt to research the planet/species as a whole.
Step 4: If Communication is Not PossibleIf the alien species is unable/unwilling
to communicate and continues to attack, we should launch a counter-attack
Counter-Attack: A committee should be formed - not just military leaders but also biologists, behaviorists, psychologists, astrophysicists - anyone that could help us understand.
Considerations:Even if direct communication is not possible, we may be able to gather information that could gain us an advantage. We should aim to detect:
- Where they came from
- How they communicate
- Physical weaknesses
- Social
organization/leadership- Weaponry-
Transportation/energy sources used
Initial Assessment of Friendly Aliens
Initial assessment must be that they are hostile—we proceed with caution.
Deliver some sort of generic, pre-recorded message/sound waves/morse code and wait for a response
Regardless of the response, we must decide if it’s worth it to take a chance and see how the first man-alien interaction pans out.
Initial Assessment of Friendly Aliens
Space explorers should be required to sign some type of document stating whether or not they would agree to approach intelligent life forms if the chance came up during a mission.
There will definitely be many enthusiastic volunteers for first contact after sighting.
Assuming aliens are friendly after initial contact, we proceed to negotiate with their kind.
If they are interested in working with us, we follow through with one of the following plans...
Proposed Plan Plan 1: Integration
Take a few aliens back to our planet and integrate them into Earth life without the public knowing.
Negotiate an agreement with the aliens to further integrate if mission is successful
Otherwise, return them to homeworld
If we come to an agreement with the aliens, we then take several careful measures to inform the public.
Proposed Plan Plan 2: Prior Public
Knowledge Return after the alien
sighting without any of the new life forms
Inform the public that there exists intelligent life in other parts of the universe
We would take further action depending on the decision/agreement we created with national security and the government.
Plan 3: Post Public Knowledge Same as plan 2 except our
government takes action long before the public is informed
Proposed Plan
Plan 4: Test and Return Friendly life forms are
benevolent and agree to some tests and interviews (if possible)
Perform on Earth or in space depending on technology
Important to maintain peaceful relationship despite findings
We analyze the results and findings and determine if there are any other measures we may need to take or what we can do in the future regarding this newly found alien life.
Things to Note We can never be absolutely
positive of whether any alien encounters will be friendly
Do benefits (potentially beneficial relationship with the aliens) outweigh the costs (deceit that may potentially result in harmful interaction)?
Difficult to prove aliens are friendly to public because of portrayal in the media Better off keeping the public
uninformed for some time In this case only the U.S. would
know of Extra Terrestrial life, should other countries’ government agencies be informed?
Friendly interaction can prove to be very productive for the country and even the world.
If aliens are able to mold themselves into our society, they can be a part of the work force and be beneficial to the economy.
They can also help us advance in space exploration and many other aspects of society.
Not to mention they can give us hints about what else is out there in the universe.
Effects of an Alien Encounter
Mass Panic
Initial shock will likely be replaced by a united front
Examples: Pearl Harbor 9/11
Humanity possesses survival instinct
Mass Panic In situations like a nuclear emergency, the
FBI is put in charge of public health, safety, and information; how they will manage an alien threat is anybody’s guess
An official response should be made as soon as possible to prepare citizens and avoid mass panic/media frenzy Give the public enough information to ensure
their safety, but not cause rioting and hysteria What you don’t want the public to see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czy4RjcrpFM
Economic Effects Paul Krugman, an
economics professor at Princeton, thinks another world war or alien invasion might actually be good for the economy: Initially, huge negative shock GDP will then grow by an
unprecedented quantity as the entire world gears for war
World War II and the Great Depression on a worldwide scale
Unemployment falls and inflation take a backseat to economic growth
What about religion? Christianity most challenged by the concept of ET beings But a survey of 1,135 people of several faiths showed that
alien life wouldn’t disrupt their core beliefs “…Contact with extraterrestrial intelligence will expand
the existing religious vision…”-Ted Peters, Lutheran theologian
Pope’s astronomer: "Any entity—no matter how many tentacles it has—has a soul." Would he baptize an alien? "Only if they asked.“
Davies (2010) believes any theology with an insistence on human uniqueness is doomed, but religion is adaptable
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jan/10/earth-close-encounter-aliens-extraterrestrials
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/17/pope-astronomer-baptise-aliens
Political Decisions for the World Problem: Delayed information release would result in distrust
between nations and independent action. Solution: Policies before contact requiring public sharing of
information about detection and establishing one point of contact for the aliens.
Problem: Managing extreme political and religious reactions against alien cultural influences.
Solution: Policies and law enforcement to limit the effects of extreme behavior
Problem: Who speaks for the Earth, and what should we say? Solution: Use a preferred channel to help establish greater
mutual confidence and prevent sending mixed signals. The U.N., as the most universal intergovernmental organization, would determine what to say
http://www.setileague.org/iaaseti/decision.pdf
Other Unconsidered Possibilities
Aliens already present or were once present on our planet Underground monolith Alien ship buried under
ice Aliens threaten to
destroy Earth without even landing Need for missile
defenses in space?
Questions?
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