They arrived in a sea of indiscernible shapes, a massive looming body in the sky. We weren’t prepared. We never could have been. 

 

Our quest to uncover the unknown, our innate thirst for knowledge – this is humanity’s fatal flaw. We sent the invitation and they accepted it. In the serenity of Earth, with its blue skies and tranquillity, it was easy to convince ourselves we were invincible. If only we had known.

 

***

Life beyond Earth is considered terrifying to some and exciting to others. It is a fascinating question that has plagued humanity for centuries - Do aliens exist?

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The idea of other – or extraterrestrial – life dates back to ancient times, with the 200AD fantasy novel Vera Historia describing alien lifeforms on the moon.1 Throughout the centuries, we see human imagination construct fantastical tales from humanoids being sent to Earth in the 10th century narrative The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (1) to the first movie featuring aliens in 1902, A Trip to the Moon. (2)

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As we began pondering more about the possibility of aliens, we started connecting their existence with alien technology. During World War II, soldiers would see unknown airborne objects (3); these sightings kicked our curiosity into motion, laying the conceptual foundation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). 

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Belief in alien existence underwent rapid acceleration in 1947, marking a monumental turning point in the possibility of extraterrestrials. Kenneth Arnold, an American businessman and pilot, is largely credited with the first UFO sighting which newspapers described as “flying saucers”. (3) This catalysed a chain reaction of UFO appearances and the iconic images of UFOs as hovering disks. 

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Later that same year, the first apparent tangible remnant of alien technology was discovered. Witnesses reported a large wreckage site at a New Mexico ranch, an event known as the ‘Roswell UFO Crash’. In the face of mass excitement and speculation, the army was quick to offer the explanation of a crashed weather balloon. However, in an interview years later, one of the officers who had attended the scene revealed they had been ordered to keep quiet. The US Air Force then released a statement saying the wreckage was actually from a classified project. (4) With all these mixed messages, it does lead us to wonder what really happened...

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Jumping forward to current times, the US government has officially recognised the existence of ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena’ (UAPs) (5) supplemented by recent puzzling aircraft footage of “pyramid-shaped objects” recorded by the Pentagon. (6) The government has approved the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, a team whose mission is to “detect, analyse and catalog [unidentified aerial phenomena] that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security”. (3) With the government unable to provide an explanation and simultaneously confirming the veracity of UAPs, this reopens and supports the ever-intriguing notion that we are not alone.

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Our evolving comprehension of the solar system and universe corresponds with a growing fervour that we will indeed stumble upon extraterrestrial life. NASA believes Earth is only a small planet out of trillions in the Milky Way galaxy. (7) With so many unexplored and uncharted territories out there, many believe the odds of other living organisms existing are high. 

It is rather confounding to picture the centre of our lives as a mere tiny cog in the overarching mechanism that is the universe. But it is this grandeur and this vastness which should caution us against encroaching too far into space. 

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Stephen Hawking, a renowned and respected physicist, publicly condemned this mission objective. He was very clear in his belief that aliens of some form do exist but that we should do absolutely everything we can to avoid contact with aliens. Hawking, articulate in his disapproval, paralleled that “if aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans”. (8) Yet in 1974, we began attempting to contact aliens by broadcasting the Arecibo message from Puerto Rico using radio waves. The project was decommissioned in 2020 following a partial collapse. There was no success in its goal of establishing communication. (9)

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Researchers are in the process of constructing a new updated message to make first contact. They are trying to send out Earth’s location to alien technology capable of receiving it in an attempt to establish a mutualistic relationship. Compared to the Arecibo attempt, not only has the message itself become more advanced but our understanding of the Milky Way Galaxy is more detailed enabling area-specific targeting. (9) The potential for success here demands our urgent attention. 

 

In recent years we have seen an influx of science fiction novels and films, many of which feature calamitous situations of hostile invading alien forces against mankind. We see The Avengers, The Matrix, Star Wars and countless others and we empathise with the characters. But the crucial point is that what is happening in those films could become our reality. 

If our signal is received, we are heading for a drastically different future – a time during which science fiction becomes science nonfiction. Considering this, should we be trying to communicate with aliens? 

We cannot begin to truly fathom what such a connection would lead to… be it beneficial or disastrous. 

 

References

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1. Scharf C. The First Alien [Internet]. Scientific American Blog Network. 2019. Available from: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/the-first-alien/

 

2. Monteil A. 50 best alien movies [Internet]. Stacker. 2020. Available from: https://stacker.com/stories/4458/50-best-alien-movies#:~:text=Aliens%20first%20appeared%20on%20screen,%E2%80%9Cufology%E2%80%9D%20emerged%2C%20leaving%20a

 

3. Wall M. UFOs and UAP: History, sightings and mysteries [Internet]. Space.com. 2021. Available from: https://www.space.com/ufos-uap-history-sightings-mysteries

 

4. Crookes D. Roswell UFO crash: What is the truth behind the 'flying saucer' incident? [Internet]. livescience.com. 2021. Available from: https://www.livescience.com/roswell-ufo-crash-what-really-happened.html

 

5. Bram C. UFOs exist, and might come from beyond Earth, the U.S. said. Will that encourage conspiracy theorists? [Internet]. The Washington Post. 2021. Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/30/ufos-exist-might-come-beyond-earth-us-said-will-that-encourage-conspiracy-theorists/

 

6. Dockrill P. Pentagon Confirms 'Pyramid-Shaped' UFO Video Footage Is Authentic [Internet]. ScienceAlert. 2021. Available from: https://www.sciencealert.com/pentagon-confirms-pyramid-shaped-ufo-video-footage-is-authentic

 

7. Program P. Among Trillions of Planets, Are We 'Home Alone?' [Internet]. Exoplanet Exploration: Planets Beyond our Solar System. 2020. Available from: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/1658/among-trillions-of-planets-are-we-home-alone/

 

8. Jha A. Is Stephen Hawking right about aliens? [Internet]. The Guardian. 2010. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/apr/30/stephen-hawking-right-aliens

 

9. Pappas S. Is it time to send another message to intelligent aliens? Some scientists think so. [Internet]. livescience.com. 2022. Available from: https://www.livescience.com/new-seti-message