Who Reads This Blog?

You, my reading friends, are a very small group. This blog is a bit odd and I think it tends to alienate (pun fully intended) the two largest groups of potential readers. The UFO community doesn’t seem to like it much, primarily because I don’t believe that there is any evidence that aliens have visited, or are visiting Earth. I think that what is being currently presented as evidence is not real evidence. The scientific community, for whom I have immense respect for their efforts and incredible achievements, tends to shy away from this blog because of my focus on Direct First Contact, which is arguably the least likely form of First Contact, should it ever occur.

That’s fine. I don’t mind chatting with a small group. I am fascinated by a few things about you, the readers. First, you are an international group. From the time I installed Google analytics on the blog, a few years ago; it has received hits from 112 different nations. Most readers are in the United States and Europe. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Poland, Germany, Finland, India, Brazil and Ireland make up the top ten nations. And this part is perhaps the most interesting to me: China, the most populous nation on the Earth, has exactly one page view, out of Shanghai, in all of those years. Are the Chinese just not interested in this subject? Or perhaps they are blocked from being able to search about this subject? I’m not sure why the Chinese government would care enough to block viewing. Who knows? Interesting, though.

A few locations stand out as regular readers: Hello Rohnert Park, California, Lambeth, England and lately Stuttgart, Germany. And also a shout out to long-time readers in Georgia and Utah. I thank all of you for taking the time to read and I encourage you to chime in on the comments. They are open to everyone. 

Welcome.

Good Guys or Bad Guys?

A recent opinion column in the New York Times by Gary Gutting, a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, points to a serious concern that people have about contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. The primary questions are simple: would extraterrestrials be good guys or bad guys and do we really want to risk the bad guy scenario?

The debate is not new, however it has become re-energized with statements by Stephen Hawking and a recent study published in Acta Astronautica by a group of researchers postulating possible First Contact scenarios.

The possibility that aliens might be harmful to the human race must be considered. However, I would urge a more thoughtful approach to the debate. Perhaps we should take a look at the only civilization we currently know: humans. Let’s say that we develop space faring technology some day and travel to another planet. What type of extraterrestrial visitors would we be? Of course, John Cameron took his stab at the idea with Avatar. Science fiction writers have been exploring the topic for decades. The answer those authors usually come up with is based on the reality of humanity: we are neither good guys nor bad guys; we’re a mixed up, confusing, stew of good and bad intentions, and good and bad actions. Sometimes we think we’re doing something good and it goes terribly wrong. Humanity is complicated and often difficult to understand. I think we are naïve to expect aliens to be any different. They are likely to have motives that we might consider to be good and others that we might not like at all. Perhaps the most dangerous situation would occur if they have motives with good intentions that lead to bad consequences for us. It might be hard for us to recognize the danger because of the good intentions. 

No matter how long a visiting extraterrestrial civilization might have been studying us, they would be relative novices at dealing with the human race, assuming that the First Contact in question is their first attempt. That means that they would not fully understand our society or how we might react to First Contact. Even worse, because of our lack of serious consideration of the issue, we would not be able to predict how we might react to First Contact. There would be a high degree of uncertainty for all parties involved. There is always risk inherent in uncertainty.

So, if aliens present themselves do we collectively turn off the lights and hide behind the couch? Of course not. We do what humans have done from the beginning. We move forward cautiously. We use reasoning and critical thinking to set a course. We learn from our mistakes. We analyze, make decisions and adjust our path. We keep moving forward. It is what humans do and it is what we will need to do in the wake of First Contact.

Higher, Higher Education

High-information First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization presents many challenges. One would expect that aliens with advanced technology would easily be able to communicate in our languages. In a Direct First Contact scenario, you would assume that they would have done research to figure out who we are and how our cultural, governmental and scientific institutions work. If their motives are altruistic, the primary reason for offering us information would be, presumably, to help us along. However, we can’t assume altruism, even that’s what they profess. A healthy dose of critical thinking would be essential in our decision making.

The first challenge would be the nature of the information itself. If our new alien friends are thousands, if not millions, of years in advance of us in terms of technology, understanding their social and scientific systems could be complicated, if not impossible. The only solution would be for the extraterrestrials to act as teachers. They would have to integrate their knowledge with our way of thinking and our current development. In more blunt terms: they would have to dumb it down for us.

High-information contact provides plenty of opportunity, but it also presents clear dangers. It could cause hostilities here on Earth as countries fight to take advantage. It could leave third world nations even further behind in development, as they lack the scientific structure to take advantage of such information. Without control, alien information could lead to dangerous new weapons and encourage us to create technology that is damaging in ways we might not be able to foresee.

The biggest challenge comes in devising a system that might work for such a teaching experience, that can also be controlled to protect us. Gatekeeping is probably the best method for high-information dissemination. The first gatekeeping would have to be done by the extraterrestrials themselves. They would need a plan to educate us without endangering us. Once they have determined what information they are willing to share and how they might teach us that information, it would be up to us to decide who leads the human part of the effort. One could imagine a system of higher, higher education. It would need to be conducted in specific academic areas, let’s say biology, for example. You could gather 40 of the top scientists in the field of biology and they could be taught the basics of alien biology and what aliens know about manipulating biological systems. Biology is a very wide field, with many specialties. However, being general at first would be important. We would want to start at a macro level, with experts representing the many specific specialties within biology, and then have more teaching sessions in those specific areas. Working from a macro to micro view would be important. We would have to understand the big picture of the alien knowledge system before we could hope to understand specifics.

Another challenge comes in deciding who gets to be in this prestigious group of scientists. Needless to say, membership in the exclusive club would be highly prized. More so, nations would consider it a necessity to have their scientific leaders involved in such efforts. That presents an even bigger problem: the pressure on scientists to share information with their country, exclusive to the rest of the world. There would be immense pressure on a Chinese or American scientist to make sure that what he or she learns would be brought back to their government to help in technological developments. This would be especially significant in physics and other scientific areas that could have a bearing on weaponry and space travel. So how do you prevent the teaching system from becoming an information grab by powerful nations? How do you ensure that the top scientific minds are in those valuable higher, higher education seats, without leaving the rest of the world behind and providing unfair advantage?

Selection could come based on a formula decided by some outside system. One possibility: each of the G20 nations could select one scientific representative. However, that could leave some top scientific minds out of the picture. Perhaps the other 20 members of the higher, higher education group could be chosen by a non-profit group representing that area of scientific study? In our biology example the group leading the selection could be the Society of Biology. With 80,000 members it represents many of the world experts in biology. Clearly the selection of the group would be controversial and there would be much debate. The Society of Biology was created in Great Britain and Russian scientists might see this as not representative of the larger world group. IEEE is another possibility for such an organization dealing with engineering information. It has 395,000 members in 160 countries in fields ranging from electrical engineering to robotics and computing.

The groups would need to be non-profit and not controlled by industry or government. They would have to be true scientific communities, with members from many different countries and well-respected within the academic field.

Once the 40 scientific representatives are chosen they would attend class of some sort, probably needing to last many months or years. This would be a critical juncture. There would have to be absolute secrecy as they are being taught. A member who fed juicy information back to their home country, or perhaps a corporation, could cause major global turmoil. The group of scientists would have to do more than just learn. They would have to decide how the particular information could be aligned with our current knowledge. They would also need to consider the implications of dissemination. Would the information provoke major disruptions in our global economic system? How would academia incorporate the new information? The scientists would need to work with human gatekeepers in deciding how the information should be released and make preparations for reactions to the news. This would have to be done behind closed doors at first. However, it would be important to document everything, including all of the classes and each step in the decision making process. When the proper precautions had been taken and a plan put together, then everything could be released to the public. All of the information that the extraterrestrial teachers provide would become common human knowledge. In this way, there is no unfair advantage. Gatekeepers might have to work with nations to set up treaties and controls for usage of new technology. Perhaps it is realized that specific information could be used to create weapons, or if not carefully pursued, present a physical risk of some sort. Some global group or world body would need to oversee such treaties to make sure they are being followed.

If this sounds like an unwieldy and complicated structure, I agree. But it would be necessary. Humans have often considered the positive aspects of high-information First Contact. We tend to be naïve in our thinking, dwelling on the exciting benefits that might be derived from gifts of knowledge. Such thinking belies the true nature of human civilization. We strive for advantage and support our own interests. It is part of human nature. Even the best of intentions are often wrapped up in self-interest.

There have been very few in-depth considerations of just how high-information dissemination might work. I know that it seems crazy to discuss the specific elements of something that might never occur. We may be very alone in the universe. However, if we do experience high-information First Contact, the plan of action for information dissemination may be the most important series of decisions in the history of humanity.

A Decision to Interfere

Let’s say that an extraterrestrial civilization was watching and studying humans as we scurry around on planet Earth (and I'm not saying they are). What might cause them to reconsider a hands-off policy and decide that intervention, through Direct First Contact, was necessary?

This, of course, depends on their reason for studying us in the first place. Are they just scientific minded (in an alien sort of way)? Or perhaps they want to help us along and have good intentions for human civilization? They could also have ill will towards us of some sort? The motivation for First Contact is essential in any scenario. It ultimately would direct how they might respond.

So perhaps they do have our best interests at heart. What might cause them to step out of the wings and say hello? If they really do care what happens to us, then perhaps it would come down to what they think might happen to human civilization in event of First Contact. From our extremely limited perspective it could certainly appear that western civilization is on the ropes and democracy is facing a huge challenge. Will our economic woes lead to the failure of the American dream? Do the aliens even give two damns about the American dream? Who’s to say the Chinese model doesn’t make more sense to them? But let’s say they do care about democracy and the freedom of the individual being. What would provoke them to say hello?

I can think of a number of reasons they may want to do contact us. The first would be to shock our economic system back to life. If the U.S. economy goes flatline, the mere appearance of extraterrestrials could jump start the global economy. Suddenly, there would be all sorts of economic opportunities. Investors might see a reason to re-enter the market to try and capitalize on what could be the next big things: space development and cutting edge technologies. Banks could be more likely to loan money as new ideas enter our system. A little alien information could be a big boost to the faltering world economy. The next reason could be that extraterrestrials do give a damn about individual liberty and freedom of information. As many problems as we have in the United States, we have about the best system on the planet for continuing these human freedoms. Extraterrestrials may not be American supporters per se, but they could support the ideals we stand for, no matter how much we might trample them ourselves. The third reason could be to interject themselves into a larger philosophical war, one that we can’t fully see, due to our limited perspective. The rise of religious fundamentalism is a global phenomenon. It’s happening all over the world, including in Muslim, Jewish and Christian sects. Perhaps there is a larger battle occurring between secular-scientific thought and regressive religious thought, and perhaps they are worried about how it might turn out for us?

Much of this line of thought is wishful thinking on our part. It would be swell to have extraterrestrials come and help us solve our problems. There have certainly been points in human history where civilization was much more endangered. World War Two and the Cuban Missile Crisis are two examples. Aliens didn’t show up then, so why should they now?

It could be that from the alien perspective it’s not so much a case of humanity on the ropes and needing help, as it is humanity in an important phase of development. Despite world economic woes our technology has drawn us together, the threat of all-out nuclear war has lessened considerably in recent years and we are showing signs of greater global cooperation. Maybe we’re ready and that is their only consideration? They may have just been waiting for us to grow up.

Economic Interests and Control After First Contact

In a high-information First Contact scenario there would be plenty of money-making opportunities. New information can lead to new technology. New technology means profit, and in the case of extraterrestrial information, potentially huge profit. Now an extraterrestrial civilization may not want to share much, if anything, with us about science and technology. But even if they offer only minimal information that we can use, it is bound to have a massive impact on the world economy. For the most part I have ruminated over the potential challenges that information would create here on Earth from a governmental and institutional perspective. Blog reader Geoffrey has inspired a new line of thinking lately. He recently posted in response to the declaration of human rights entry I made several months ago- my rather naïve set of statements that I think we need to consider expressing to any extraterrestrials we might meet. My concern, as far-fetched as it may sound, has been extraterrestrial meddling in the human civilization After First Contact. Geoffrey thought it was interesting that we would ask more of the aliens than we do of humans. He is worried, as are most Americans these days, about recent economic turmoil and the underlying reasons for that turmoil. In particular, he points out that many self-interested groups have been manipulating the American financial system for their own benefit and to the detriment of the country as a whole. I agree with him in that assessment. I think that no matter what your political inclinations, most Americans could agree that decisions have been made, in terms of banking, trading and financial regulation, that have benefited a powerful few, while leaving the rest of us with dwindling 401-K plans, if we’re lucky, and unemployment and financial collapse if we are not so lucky.

It does beg the question. What would the powerful cadre of investment bankers, speculators and corporate leaders do in the event of First Contact?

I think that there would be two corporate reactions. The first would be much the same as the general global response- a period of being stunned. I doubt there is one major company on the planet that has considered how to respond to extraterrestrial information. Why should they? Right now it appears that there are no extraterrestrials for us to contact and if there are they could be hundreds of light years away.

The surprise of an extraterrestrial contact event would soon wear off and companies would start considering how to respond. On the speculation side of things, the stock market may reflect this reaction quite quickly as investors try to decide which businesses are likely to capitalize on extraterrestrial relations and information. Of course, until we know what information they would be interested in sharing with us it would be tough to decide who is likely to profit from extraterrestrial information. Perhaps the wisest investment would be with the companies supporting robust research and development wings, particularly in physics. Aerospace might be another logical choice. Even if the extraterrestrials would not be thrilled about sharing their interstellar travel technology, humans would most likely want to invest in satellites and other space monitoring technology for defense and science. We would suddenly be aware that there is much more out there than meets the eye and we would be keen to know more, both for safety and knowledge. Space will suddenly become the hottest frontier for corporate interests and for speculators.

All of this is expected and welcome in a free market. China and Russia would be sure to respond as well, and once again that is beneficial to the global economy. One positive outcome of First Contact could be a stimulating of the world economy. Needless to say, we could certainly use stimulation. Such a rush of new opportunities could also cause investment banks to loosen up the purse strings and start loaning out the piles of cash they are sitting on.

The real issue comes in the long-term. The development of legitimate business would be fine. What happens along the way could be the problem. Regulating information flow so that everyone on Earth has an equal chance in responding to opportunities would be essential. Big business may attempt to tie such opportunities to defense related industries and thus keep some development top-secret. There would likely be all sorts of efforts to take advantage of the new situation. This is a plain fact of a free-market society: big business is tied closely to governmental leaders and corporations spend a great deal of money, time and effort lobbying to make sure they get an inside track in anything that involves the government. Any attempts to coral extraterrestrial information and keep it available to only a privileged few would be detrimental to the global economy and, needless to say, morally wrong. It may sound like a speculative conspiracy theory, but I think we have all been naïve about how the financial game is actually played. Whether or not extraterrestrial information could be kept for a select few would be dependent on the type of First Contact, who that contact is with (government, media, and scientists) and of course what the aliens decide they want to do. After all, it’s their information and ultimately they would be in control.

Then there’s the flipside- corporate interests arguing for a free flow of information. I have said for some time that gatekeepers of some sort will be critical for information flow After First Contact. I think regulating information flow will be important to help us decipher that extraterrestrial information and make sure it doesn’t erode the foundations of our social, civic and scientific institutions.

I think an interesting and unusual alliance could be forged between free speech/open sourceware/free Internet folks and big business. If we do assign gatekeepers to control information flow After First Contact, both of those interests would be upset. They would want as much information as possible to be released, although the two groups would have very different motives. Big business will want as much opportunity as possible and that would come through information about the sciences and technology. They would likely be opposed to gatekeeping on a purely economic basis. The freedom of information folks will be upset that anyone is controlling information flow. This unholy alliance of freedom of information and big business would probably never gel as a concerted, joined effort, but the primary argument would be the same.

No one nation, or bloc of nations, should be allowed to control information After First Contact. It should be a global effort, involving all nations and with protections to make sure the powerful countries don’t subvert the process for their own interests. Transparency in process would be essential.

Any information that comes to humans from extraterrestrials would have to be considered a gift to all humans. However, that information flow needs to be controlled to help protect our institutions from being harmed. It will probably take quite a bit of work to even understand alien thought and logic, let alone decipher scientific ideas. The key is to set up gatekeepers who will not be subject to national or business pressure. Those gatekeepers would need to have careful oversight. And the entire process would need to be transparent to the point of causing boredom. Every meeting must be streamed on the Internet. Every decision should be tracked and monitored. The gatekeeping process would likely need a bureaucracy of huge proportions. I personally hate bureaucracy, but sometimes it’s necessary. It doesn’t have to be inefficient and ineffective bureaucracy. That will be up to us.

Humans or the Birds and Bees?

It’s easy for us to view our planet as the home of humans, but what about small mouth bass, golden retrievers, honey bees, red-tailed hawks and iguanas? Humans are just one of about two million known species on Earth, according to the National Science Foundation “Assembling the Tree of Life” project. That’s just known species. The actual figure could be five to 100 million different species on Earth. So, what makes us think that extraterrestrials would only be interested in humans?

This thought comes thanks to a classic book, Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective. Sagan points out that we assume extraterrestrials would only be interested in intelligent life on Earth. Even that assumption leaves out dolphins and a whole lot of intelligent primates. One would imagine that visiting extraterrestrials would want to communicate with humans, but they could also be interested in a much wider range of life on Earth.

I find myself re-reading Sagan, every now and then, to reconnect with the wonder of extraterrestrial considerations. While parts of the science he explores in the book have moved on in the last 20 years, the over-arching themes are timeless. We bring a lot of assumptions to extraterrestrial First Contact speculation. Anthropocentricism is perhaps the biggest and it occurs in much of our logic. If extraterrestrials did view all beings on Earth as important they might hold us in contempt for the way we treat the natural world. Humans have spread across the globe in a relatively short time span, upending entire ecosystems and forcing some species into extinction along the way. We demand much of the planet. Could that fact become an issue in future extraterrestrial relations? My vegetarian wife would certainly snicker if the extraterrestrials looked down on our meat eating ways. Of course it’s hard to say realistically how extraterrestrials could form relationships with whales or spiders. Still, they might respect life forms in a way we don’t fully understand. And as in all speculation there is the flip-side: they could also not give a damn about anything with an IQ lower than a chimp.

It’s all certainly worth pondering and there’s no one better to ponder with than Carl Sagan.

What Technology Demands of Our Society

We like to think of technology as providing tools for us to use. While humans do control technology, the growth also creates technological demands and institutional challenges. The most striking example is information technology. The demands and challenges are becoming more apparent daily.

Information is becoming democratized. Transparency is becoming a technological imperative. The complexity of the networks involved and the vast numbers of people with access to those networks are only part of the story. Many of the people who worked to create those networks have an ethos that believes strongly in transparency and free access. It’s what has helped keep so much of the internet free. Open source software and wikis are examples of how this philosophy has helped to drive the nature of our modern information technology.

People are using communication technology to band together in new ways, outside of the usual institutions of governments, religion and media. In Egypt it helped to fuel a revolution. The transparency that technology creates is becoming harder and harder for traditional institutions to squelch. The Chinese government had another reminder of the power of social media recently. People posted more than 26 million messages to a Chinese Twitter-like microblog called Sina Weibo, full of information about a high-speed train accident that the authorities had tried to prevent from being released.

Twitter, Facebook, and You Tube are just the latest trends. Wikileaks is an example of where things might be headed. The release of millions of pages of top-secret government documents from many nations was aided by a sophisticated system of servers, protected networks and technically savvy activists. It showed that the technology we have come to rely on can be used in ways that many people might disagree with. 

Transparency, no matter how much it is given lip-service by politicians, flies directly in the face of bureaucracy as we have known it for hundreds of years. Usually bureaucracy is controlled by a few and access is tightly restricted. When it protects our social security numbers and medical records we seem to appreciate such restriction. Transparency creates a disruption in the fundamental protective and restrictive nature of institutions. We may applaud the use of technology when it creates revolution in a dictatorship. When it jeopardizes the lives of soldiers, or threatens our collective interest, transparency takes on a dangerous tone.

Technology is proving more powerful than censorship and governments will need to realize this to stay relevant, and in power, in the next 50 years. The human race tends to move in fits and starts culturally. Our technology, however, is skyrocketing with new developments and new possibilities. Governments and other organizations will have to work hard to keep up and stay in control.

The demands of technology will only grow. The transparency movement may continue in ways far beyond our current imagining. If a technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilization was watching this unfold they would probably view such developments with great interest. They may have already experienced where we are ultimately headed and have an understanding of the dangers along the way.

The Greatest Gift for Humanity

Let’s face it: the happy view of extraterrestrial First Contact is a bit like waiting for Santa Claus. The more optimistic among us hope that extraterrestrials would shower us with knowledge, not only answering the mysteries of the universe, but also solving our energy and environmental problems. What we could gain from communication with an extraterrestrial civilization, as well as what could be jeopardized by that relationship, are matters of pure speculation. There is one thing that we could count on, and quite frankly it might be the greatest possible gift of all: new perspective.

Many of the problems facing humanity today are global problems. We’re about to hit a population of seven billion people and that’s expected to jump to 9.3 billion humans in 2050, according to new projections by researchers using United Nations data.

Extraterrestrial First Contact would give us new awareness of the fact that we are really a single civilization made up of many nations and cultures. The only way for a planet with seven billion people to move forward, especially given the challenges that all those people create, is as a single entity with closely interconnected systems of government, finance and science. Those interconnected systems are developing now and in ways we never could have imagined 50 years ago. Technology is the catalyst for this change, lead by communications and information infrastructure. Where we take it though, is up to the cultural institutions in our civilization. The heads of nations and our other cultural institutions need to have the vision to see where we are headed and prepare now for that future.

The best part of the greatest gift is that we can find that new perspective right now. We don’t have to wait for extraterrestrials to show up on our doorstep, if they even exist at all. Awareness can come now. It comes down to this: we are one planet, one people- citizens of the universe.

Humanity in Adolescence

It would be interesting to see what people think of the pre-First Contact world if First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization ever does occur. I would think that we might view pre-contact times with a bit of nostalgia, yearning for the relatively carefree days when we were safe in our little bubble, with no reason to think that there was anything or anyone out there to bother us. This may sound a bit pessimistic, but you would imagine that After First Contact humanity will be facing many challenges and potentially global unrest in many forms.

In a sense, humanity is like a teenager getting ready to leave home for the first time. First Contact would force human civilization to grow up quickly. We would expand our perspective and perhaps face some unpleasant truths about the universe. It’s unlikely to be all good news coming from extraterrestrials. Judging from our own world, the wider universe is likely to be volatile and complicated. Entering into that wider universe will be exciting, challenging, and probably scary, all at the same time.

Will we cherish remembrances of our days of ignorance? Will we long for the times when our major concerns were terrorism and economic turmoil? It sounds crazy in our current perspective, but First Contact could bring challenges much, much greater than these and may exasperate the aforementioned problems greatly. I hate to say it, but First Contact could make things much worse in the short-term for humanity. If we can get through the initial unrest and emerge on a firm path, with a clear direction and steady hands, hopefully the situation will improve and allow us to enter into a new era in human history as jaded and experienced young adults and no longer naïve teenagers.

The Role of the United Nations in First Contact

The United Nations Charter states the purpose of the organization. That purpose includes maintaining international peace and security and achieving international cooperation in solving international problems. First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization would create a unique set of challenges. The primary issues would be those of peace and security. The long-term challenge would be solving the problems created by First Contact and establishing the path to a new era of extraterrestrial diplomacy and relations. The UN clearly should have a leadership role in First Contact and a continuing leadership role in future extraterrestrial relations.

I believe that the importance of the UN in First Contact applies to every possible scenario, from scientists discovering a mysterious and cryptic engineered signal, to high information First Contact and even further to Direct First Contact. The one end of the spectrum, discovery of a signal, would allow more time for deliberation and consideration. Direct First Contact, an extraterrestrial representative visiting Earth, would require a rapid response and a solid framework of diplomacy.

The UN has six primary parts. They include the General Assembly, Security Council and Secretariat. The first group that would need to consider First Contact issues would be the Security Council. This body is charged with determining threats to international peace and maintaining international peace and security. No matter what the form of First Contact security is the primary issue at hand. How immediate the threat depends on the type of First Contact and that’s directly tied to proximity. Discovery of a signal is low on the threat level because the alien civilization is most likely many light years away. Direct First Contact has a high degree of threat. Calling the Security Council the first stop for First Contact issues may seem paranoid or unfriendly. However, it’s really a completely logical decision. We would have no information to guide us in First Contact and no experience to help us decide what kind of a threat an extraterrestrial civilization might represent. The threat may not even come from the extraterrestrials themselves, but rather in our reaction. It’s necessary to take any possible threats quite seriously and respond appropriately. The Security Council would need to determine the possible threats, bring together nations as part of a coordinated response and set forth conditions of security that visiting extraterrestrial representatives would be asked to follow. A knee-jerk military response could be disastrous. Having an organized international response would help keep individual nations from acting on their own.

One could argue that setting guidelines for alien visitors would be a bit ridiculous, given that their level of technology would likely be much greater than ours. Still, nuclear weapons do provide some muscle and asking extraterrestrial visitors to follow conservative guidelines for contact does not seem like an unreasonable request. What should we say? Here are some ideas:

-No craft should visit Earth without the approval of the United Nations.

-No use of stealth or cloaking technology for any space or aircraft in Earth atmosphere or our solar system.

-No corruption or manipulation of our secure systems of communication, information and technology.

-No contact with other humans without approval of the United Nations or assigned governing body.

-A promise of non-interference in Earth governments and other social systems.

-Complete transparency in actions and motives.

These requests are reiterated in this Declaration of Human Rights

1. Humans have the right to self-determination.

2. Humans have a right to not be manipulated by other civilizations.

3. Humans have a right to keep the pillars of human society free of manipulation by other civilizations. Those pillars include government, economy, technology, and civic arrangements.

4. The planet Earth is the sacred home of human beings.

5. Life on Earth should not be interfered with or manipulated by outside beings.

6. Humans have a right to determine how First Contact proceeds.

7. Humans should determine what type of information they want to receive about the outside universe and the method of dissemination.

8. The resources of the planet Earth are the property of citizens of Earth.

9. The solar system of Earth is the property and home of citizens of Earth.

10. Humans can decide which beings can enter their solar system and under what conditions.

11. Humans can decide which beings can enter Earth atmosphere and under what conditions.

12. Humans will enter into the larger known universe as productive and responsible citizens.

13. Humans will decide exactly how that entry into the larger known universe proceeds.

14. Humans will expect honesty from all parties interacting with the citizens of planet Earth.

15. Humans will demand honesty and forthright disclosure of any past interactions between alien civilizations and people of the planet Earth.

The Security Council would also need to be responsible for taking the initial steps in coordinating the official welcome. This would ultimately fall to the Secretariat in planning and organization. The Secretariat carries out the day-to-day functions and actions of the United Nations. The welcome itself would reasonably be expected to be given to the General Assembly, the body that provides representation for nations on Earth. A welcome from an extraterrestrial contingent should be made to all nations and the General Assembly would provide the means to do so.

There are two sub-sets of the United Nations that should be involved in the initial diplomatic needs of First Contact. The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) is the only body charged with consideration of space related matters. While the focus has been on controlling armament issues in Earth orbit and outer space, the group also has a role in determining possible threats from Near Earth Objects. They are the only committee that has a role in extraterrestrial issues.

The specific group working under the COPUOS umbrella is the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). The office was initially created to provide expertise on space related matters. They are now charged with implementing the decisions of COPUOS and the General Assembly. First Contact response by the international community would be an incredibly complicated effort, involving many groups and spanning a broad swath of human society. However, it has to start somewhere and the only group set up to consider such issues is UNOOSA. The current director, Malaysian Astrophysicist Mazlan Othman, has considered First Contact issues and seems to understand the need for United Nations involvement.

There are those who would dispute the notion that the United Nations is the appropriate body to lead efforts in response to First Contact. This seems an arguable point now in pure speculation and yet when faced with the actual prospect I can’t imagine the argument would continue to hold weight. First Contact has inherent threat, both from the motives of the extraterrestrials and in the reactions here on Earth. To respond as a bunch of independent nations, each with a different voice and a different message seems foolish and dangerous. The United Nations is the only body that currently exists that can carry out the necessary coordinated response. I would imagine there will still be a great deal of debate among nations in regards to how diplomacy proceeds After First Contact. The UN would provide the ability to hear those differences and develop a plan of action. All of humanity has the right to participate in this process and the United Nations provides representation to do such.

A leadership role for the UN does not mean that other groups and organizations will be left on the sidelines. The scientific community is represented by a number of organizations that should work closely with the UN in guidance. The International Academy of Astronautics, NASA and the SETI Institute are just a few examples. The UN will need the help. The organization has done little to prepare for First Contact issues. The expertise lies with the scientific community and the small group of astrophysicists and other researchers who have taken the matter seriously.

In the long-term there would probably need to be changes in the nature of the United Nations, especially in terms of organization and scope. Those changes may need to be quite substantive. Still, the effort must start somewhere and the UN is the only group that can respond to the initial needs and challenges of First Contact.

Breaking News: Media Make Funny Alien Headlines!

It’s been a good week for extraterrestrials in the media. Two big stories made headlines. The first, discussed here last week, was news that the SETI Institute has raised enough funds to re-start work with the Allen Telescope Array. The interesting aspect of the media coverage is just how widespread it has been. Seth Shostak has been highlighting a few of the articles on his facebook page.

My Google search shows more than 500 media hits for the story. Much of that was aided by news that Hollywood star Jodie Foster helped to raise funds and awareness for the problem. She is a SETIStar (I’m one as well) which is just the SETI Institute branding for donors to the project. They even e-mail you a nice certificate. Here’s hoping all of this extra attention can bring in even more donations and keep the Allen Telescope Array up and running for years to come. The SETI Institute seems to be stepping up its development campaign to bring in new donors. It’s a wise move considering the federal budget woes. It seems unlikely that government money for the project will be returning any time soon. It’s up to all of us to make a difference. Visit the website to become a SETIStar.

The other big story came from a paper published in the journal Acta Astronautica by Seth Baum, Jacob Haqq-Misra and Shawn Domagal-Goldman entitled: “Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis." The Penn State and NASA Planetary Science Division paper explores scenarios for extraterrestrial First Contact, organized as a scale of sorts from positive to neutral to negative. On the positive end of things the aliens may want to help us solve our problems and share knowledge. On the negative pole they may want to destroy us because of what we have done to our Earth environment, and what that means for other star systems if we learn how to travel the galaxy. The authors also explore the idea that aliens could intentionally or unintentionally harm us with disease or by providing technology. The authors responded to media interviews saying that while extraterrestrial contact is unlikely, the scenario exploration helps to lay the groundwork for a First Contact response plan.

It’s fascinating to see how the media pick up on things. The article was actually published way back in April. A British paper did a story last week and then through story sharing and competition more than 100 outlets on my Google search list picked up the story. It’s heartening that the media actually paid attention to an academic paper related to First Contact. Of course, the primary focus was on the aggressive scenarios. I love the headlines for this particular story. You can tell a lot about a media outlet from their headlines:

Reuters: Research explores potential outcomes of contact with aliens. Come on Reuters, that isn’t very exciting. Can’t we amp this up a bit?

Fox News Boston: Experts release ET Invasion Scenarios. See, now that’s a bit more interesting.

Times of India: Aliens Could End Global Warming, or Kill Us. Straight to the point. I bet we could put an even better spin on it.

Fox News National: Aliens Could Attack Earth to End Global Warming, NASA Scientist Frets. Wow, much better and we get to slam the federal government and global warming concerns all in one headline. Jackpot!