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It is conceivable that humans could someday discover aliens . We abrade the cosmos looking for their radio signals , and though we ’re not up to of interstellar blank space travel , it is remotely potential that we could find what we ’re looking for right here in oursolar system of rules .
Life could theoretically subsist on Mars , or onEuropa , a synodic month of Jupiter , which appears to have an underground ocean . It ’s even potential ( though extremely improbable ) that these nearby life forms could be sentient . " It is consistent with current human geographic expedition of the solar organisation that intelligent beings could have germinate in the bass oceans of Europa , " said Jacob Haqq - Misra , an astronomer at Pennsylvania State University .
Aliens.
Another possibility , Haqq - Misra sound out , is that " healthy extraterrestrial beings have move around from a remote star system and taken up residency in the solar organisation . They might be know in an cloak-and-dagger base on Mars or the synodic month , or they could be residing in the asteroid bang ( or any number of other plausible , albeit unlikely , option ) . "
regard these scenarios , what would we do if we encountered an alien race ? As it turns out , the question has garner considerable academic opinion since the first reportedflying dish aerial sighting in 1947 , not just as an enquiry in human psychological science , but also as a manner of contemplating what aliens might do iftheyever foundus . From astronomers to ufologists to anthropologist , assimilator who have think over the various " contact scenarios " consider our course of activeness would strongly depend on the relative intelligence level of the newfound beings . Here , we outline what would happen if we chance primitive , humanlike , and godlike alien .
Voyage of discovery
According to Seth Shostak , senior astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View , Calif. , the most probable touch scenario is that the alien race we find will be highly archaic . This assumption is based on reality , given that the inhabitable earthly concern we ’re able of exploring — such as Mars and Europa — show no signs of harboring advance beings . But it also defecate sense philosophically : label by how long inhabitant of Earth spend in the insectlike trilobite degree compared with how retentive human race have been around , there ’s a better chance that life witness anywhere in the universe will be archaic .
moreover , in light of the immense difficultness of space exploration , it is thought that explorers will typically be far more advanced than the creatures they discover . This take it promiscuous to countersink the protocol for a first showdown : If we landed on Mars or Europa and light upon the exotic combining weight of trilobites , " you would do what Darwin did — collect sample and take them back home , " Shostak toldLife ’s Little Mysteries .
Seven step
Despite the disposition of Hollywood films and sci - fi novel to depict malevolent encounters between evenly matched space antagonist , Shostak say the size of the universe and the oddity of life makes it super unlikely that two races of close to adequate tidings will encounter one another in the cosmos . That said , reports of UFO sightings led some assimilator to explicate theories about this scenario . They asked : what would we do if we were extraterrestrial let on us ? [ Science Fact or Fiction : ET Will Look Like Us ]
According to Robert Freitas , author of several Scripture outlining potential exotic contact lens scenarios , in 1950 the U.S. military developed a process call " Seven Steps to Contact , " repose out the coherent step we would take upon discovering fauna with about human - level awareness . According to the steps , we would begin with remote surveillance and data assemblage , and would eventually move on to covert trial with the finish of gauging the performance characteristics of the aliens ' vehicles and weaponry .
If we pronounce our technical capabilities to be ranking to those of the other race , we would assay near advance to the planet to define whether the alien beings were hostile , and if so , by what mean . If all went well , we would then make brief touchdowns in isolated arena , ensure specimen of plant life , beast , and of the levelheaded beings themselves . In other words , this form would involve non - harmful abductions similar to those reported by some Americans . ( Interestingly , the " Seven step to Contact " plan predated the first reported alien abduction incident in 1957 , suggest the theory could have influenced such reports . ) [ Alien Abductions May Be Vivid Dreams , Study Finds ]
Next , we would make our front acknowledge , making low - level approaches where our craft and its operators could be seen , but not reached . We would endeavor to be witnessed by the heavy possible identification number of inhabitants , and would demonstrate our existence and our nonhostile nature . Lastly , if all went well and there was no reason to recall that contact would be disastrous for the two race involve , we would put down and endeavor to communicate face - to - extraterrestrial being - face .
Half a C since that military composition was penned , we ’d still follow much the same process . " have ’s say that a near - future mission to Europa reveals indisputable evidence of intelligent beings / civilization , Haqq - Misra said . " Continued remote exploration would belike be the most probable progression , with attack at remote communication with the subterraneous intelligent beings included as part of the missions . Eventually humans would want to set ashore and make contact ( wearing astro - scuba cause ? ) , but a ' precautionary rule ' might delay human exploration until robotic exploration has confirmed that Europa ’s indweller are good . "
Alien overlords
What if , as in the 2d scenario proposed by Haqq - Misra , we happened upon a race of aliens who were monastic order of order of magnitude smarter than us — organism capable of interstellar spacefaring who had established a nucleotide somewhere in our solar organisation ? Just as ants ca n’t make sense ofhuman behavior , it ’s difficult or out of the question for us to realize how this advanced slipstream would react to us . " [ The renowned astronomer ] Carl Sagan figured any extraterrestrial being that might be able to travel between the stars would be so advanced that they would be beyond all this concern of hostility and war and so forth , " Shostak said . " But that may just be a expulsion of what he hopes humans would do eventually . "
Shostak tend to think other than . Aggression , he says , germinate as a trait among Earthlings because it aid us prevail and protect resource . Though stranger would probably have evolved under whole different status , insistence to secure finite resource would believably have mold their behavior , too . " I suspect resources would be finite anywhere in the universe . "
If Sagan is proper , then the wise race we encountered would treat us with huge consideration and respect , while having the applied science to ensure that we treat them likewise . If Shostak is right , and the incredibly advanced alien we bumble upon were also as fast-growing as we are , we ’d probably be toast .
Well , nottoastexactly . In Haqq - Misra ’s vox populi , " A society up to of interstellar locomotion should have solved their development issues such that they do not need humans for intellectual nourishment . "
