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Idle Monday morning musings, If the news announced that aliens from another world had made contact what do you think would happen? I suppose it would matter where in the world they made contact. We’d all hope it wouldn’t be the states otherwise the chances of ET getting shot by a redneck with AR14 would be higher if not?
What if they landed in Italy or India, Austrailia? But what if they landed in blighty, what would happen and what might they do?
Would they fix the roads? Or the dreadful state of NHS dentistry?
Would everyone panic or shrug and go back to work.
Serious and not so serious responses welcomed.
Where is the announcement made? Good chance lots of people wouldn't believe it. What are the trusted news sources these days?
Tin foil hat wearing loons would become *utterly* unbearable. "See, told you so!!!1!!111"
Conspiracy theorists would become mainstream. "See, they lied about the aliens, what else did they lie about, huh, huh, HUH!!!" BBC Question time would get even worse in the name of "balance".
Did someone not do a FOI request to the government a few years back to find out what preparations had been made for an alien landing and it turned out that some thought had been given but it didn't really amount to much?
At a guess, there would be a massive military and police operation to corden off the whole area, attempts at tests would be done and we'd ether annoy them enough to get them to destroy us all or they'd be destroyed and we'd then assume we were the Alphas of the entire universe - and then carry on burning the only planet that we live on!
Benign aliens probably wouldn't land initially, they'd communicate (somehow) with various governments or the UN - cue various governments then pursuing their own agendas and trying to influence continued interactions, at which point the aliens would probably realise the Earth is beyond saving and carry on looking for somewhere better.
Non-benign aliens would probably just start blasting (or more like dumping bio weapons on us targeted at the human species)
They've already made contact and it hasn't been announced, so there's your answer.
If they landed in blighty I imagine we’d probably deport them to Rwanda before they stole our jobs and started claiming benefits..
People would generally just tutt, huff and roll their eyes as the alien walked past them in the queue. Someone might mutter something under their breath...
I suspect that the government would use the time to do all sorts of unpleasant shit whilst the media were looking the other way.
They would land in New York or Los Angeles BTW. They always do.
Did someone not do a FOI request to the government a few years back to find out what preparations had been made for an alien landing and it turned out that some thought had been given but it didn’t really amount to much?
There's a discussion in The Big Bang Theory about that sort of thing:
Raj: Did you know, at the United Nations, there's a Department for Outer Space Affairs?
Howard: Really? Why?
Raj: They exist in case we ever make contact with an alien civilization.
Howard: Mmm, boy, that's one of those jobs that's boring, boring, boring. Then, "Oh, God! Where's the memo with what we do now?!"
Personally I don't think anyone would believe it. It'd be put down to some sort of massive viral joke on social media, any images would be dismissed as being AI/photoshop but there'd also be a massive spike in conspiracy theory nonsense.
If it appeared genuine and not immediately hostile the very first thing that would happen would be traffic chaos as people went to go and have a look.
If they were clearly just here to grandstand and introduce Earth to the galaxy I suspect the authorities would try and organise some kind of tour so that everyone could say hi.
They are already here, but are too small for us to see. That’s a fact, I read it on a poster in the London Science Museum
They would land in New York or Los Angeles BTW. They always do.
Superman didn't. Although it was still the US.
They still wouldn't be able to afford a house.
Not long ago I watched a documentary called "Asteroid City". What we would actually do is sit and stare at them. 😀
Any aliens with the technology to reach Earth will already be well aware that there's no intelligent life here.
Brexiteers and anti-vax nutters and climate change deniers wouid probably leap into Twitter to claim it didn’t happen. Tories would try to sell slaves to aliens.
I'd thank the maker that it wasn't a couple of years ago; imagine the "take me to your leader" moment and Trump being that person.
They'd warp out pretty sharpish, hopefully before he groped.
They would not be able to find a parking space, so landing is out of the question. They will orbit couple of times cursing then go somewhere else.
Considering when humans encounter technologically inferior societies we tend to exploit the crap out of them, our chances are not good- think conquistadors vs aztecs, native americans, australian aborigines........ genocide, asset stripping, subjugation, re-education camps, slavery
Hopefully our visitors will be a bit more enlightened
Be interesting to see what the worlds various religions do, kind of blows a hole in their arguments- Apart from scientologists- theyll suddenly get a big surge in numbers, - Tom Cruise as Earth's ambassador!
There would be furious jockeying amongst the world powers to deal with the aliens, all of the crappiest people on the planet would be dying to get an in with them; Trump, Musk, Murdoch... at which point the aliens would realise we are completely beyond saving and decide to wipe us out& re-engineer the whole planet as a holiday destination
Would they introduce a universal basic income so I can quit this shit? If not it wouldn't make much difference to my routine.
I'm pretty sure they wouldn't spend much time talking to humans. They'd get far more sense out of dolphins, monkeys or amoeba.
I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t spend much time talking to humans.
What makes you think they'd be able to talk to us (or vice versa)? Bridging the cross-species communication barrier is extremely difficult. If they've figured out how to travel interstellar distances then their communication will almost certainly be on another level to ours and there's no way they could make us understand them. It'd be like us trying to have an intelligent conversation with a dog.
I think the question wouldn't really be what would we do, (because I think most of us would be running around with our metaphorical hair on fire) rather what would the aliens do
If they have the tech to just suddenly appear in the skies above us, then I'd imagine we're probs ****ed. Isn't this one of the reasons behind the speculation "why isn't there any transmission of any kind detectable in the galaxy?" - It could be that everyone else knows to keep their big mouths shut. Plus there's always the question of whether they would regard us as in any way a civilisation, rather like; why didn't the conquistadors stop to try to have a conversation with the first termite colony they encountered.
I’d go to the pub
hope that helps
They're already here and running the country - into the ground; it's preparation for bringing their entire species here.
My thoughts are that any species capable of interstellar travel is probably not in need of the resources of our planet. Unless there is something particularly rare thats useful for their warp cores/eternal life which will probably be a very small amount of something.
Traversing the galaxy in desparate need of stealing a planet's worth of water seems improbable.
If they do exist they probably are already here. Regarding us with the sort of amused curousity that we get when we see a chimpanzee save their favourite most useful rock for later.
If they’ve figured out how to travel interstellar distances then their communication will almost certainly be on another level to ours and there’s no way they could make us understand them.
If they have figured out how to travel interstellar distances, they could equally have mastered how to communicate with any species they encounter.
Panic. It wouldn't take long before people realised that we'd be enslaved and eaten.
"It’d be like us trying to have an intelligent conversation with a dog."
I find I often get more intelligent dialogue with my Labrador than the majority of the inhabitants of Britain can offer (just look at what the majority watch on TV for proof).
I think we'd probably end up being wiped out or at least have the population severely decimated.
You've got to think about how they'd perceive us as the "dominant species" on the planet, and given the fact that they would be a long way ahead technologically would they see us more like barely evolved chimps than intelligent life forms?
would they be "explorers" as we would probably like to see ourselves finding new and unfamiliar places out of pure scientific curiosity or "Surveyors" looking for places and resources that could be exploited.
Would they even have similar moral concepts to us?
Would there be any Qualms for them in squashing an indigenous population or "contaminating" a younger culture with knowledge/technology they're possibly not ready for?
Look at how European "explorers" treated the indigenous populations they encountered when sailing further afield. Lovely islands with resources and wildlife and a few pre-existing tribes that look a bit different and speak an unfamiliar language, at the time nobody really knew/cared if they wiped them out did they.
"Benevolence" is often a matter of perspective, and is quite a Human concept.
If they have figured out how to travel interstellar distances, they could equally have mastered how to communicate with any species they encounter.
Maybe, but not necessarily. Ants communicate after all. I doubt discovery of FTL travel would make us understand them more beyond the knowledge that they use chemicals. Beyond a certain distance our radio signals turn into background mush, to aliens so far advanced as to be able to travel across the galaxy we may not even appear to be sufficiently advanced for them to be able to recognise that they should even try to communicate with us.
Plus if I was an alien, and according to all the literature, I'd only come to this planet for water because I'd have ruined my own planet, I would totally pretend that I couldn't understand what people were saying to me...
I’d take them to the Lego shop.
I’d have my Slim Whitman song handy on my stereo
“ I’d go to the pub”
don’t forget your towel
They are already here, but are too small for us to see. That’s a fact, I read it on a poster in the London Science Museum
Were they not eaten by a small dog?
I’d have my Slim Whitman song handy on my stereo
😂 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
“Benevolence” is often a matter of perspective, and is quite a Human concept.
Is it? Or is it a requirement of a developed civilisation?
robertajobbFull Member
“It’d be like us trying to have an intelligent conversation with a dog.”I find I often get more intelligent dialogue with my Labrador than the majority of the inhabitants of Britain can offer (just look at what the majority watch on TV for proof).
Hmmm, that’s a sample of one though. My Labrador likes to watch Love Island, Police Interceptors and Cash in the Attic. She’s a good listener but doesn’t really have very much that’s at all perceptive to say when it’s her turn to contribute.
She has however mastered paw and lie down, thereby catapulting her into the top 2% worldwide. So on balance your point stands
Not if the aliens present themselves as benefactors- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serve_Man_(The_Twilight_Zone)
If it was reported via the mainstream media I wouldn't believe it unless I see them with my own eyes.
Bridging the cross-species communication barrier is extremely difficult.
It is when talking to chimps or dolphins, and even then we've made great strides. That said, even communicating with dogs is quite easy, on the level that they work.
Aliens who landed here for peaceful scientific reasons would bring people who were able to think about how to communicate with sophisticated beings who didn't speak the same language. We do this all the time on Earth after all.
You're making some big sweeping science fiction assumptions about aliens here. Why assume they're all-knowing benevolent mystical creatures? If NASA invented hyperdrives that run on rolled up newspapers tomorrow, we could go wherever we want - but the rest of us wouldn't suddenly all become peace loving benevolent mystical creatures. Daily Mail readers and rednecks would still exist - so why do we assume aliens would be any different? Why do aliens always come from a planet, and not a city in a country on a planet?
I'll tell you why - it's because we use aliens in fiction as ciphers for other groups of people, and in the case of advanced races it's just another instance of the Atlantis myth - see also Wakanda. This kind of discussion is really about the history of literature and film/TV, not actual aliens. We need more literature graduates on this forum 🙂
I don't assume anything about aliens but agree most seem to. Even scientists who insist that water must exist for life to exist which is clearly just a complete lack of imagination but then scientists are not really into imagination I suppose and tend to be limited to the bounds of planet earth and the life on it?
Bu Yao Hui Da
The assumption would be that they are much smarter than us if they've made it here.
What happens when more advanced folk turn up with fancy words and better weapons? Enslavement and destruction generally...
The moment it's announced they are here it's a heady mix of panic, eating drinking and making merry, violence, looting and madness.
That's why 'they' aren't telling us the aliens are already here innit.
There's 3 episodes (about half an hour each) of the cancelled season one of We Are Not Alone, on the UKTV app.
As the reviews said, it's "smileworthy, no laugh out loud".
But it's funny as it's got the British angle.
The Tories would blame Labour, then attempt to house them in a barge before sending them home via Rawanda
Daily Mail readers and rednecks would still exist – so why do we assume aliens would be any different?
jesus, if we're alone in a universe of daily mail readers the sooner the sun goes nova the better.
Then again, like you say just because they're aliens it doesn't mean they're all quantum physicists. It could be more like "we come in peace. But whilst we're in the area I noticed your gutters need clearing and you've a couple of slates missing from round the chimney. We could get it sorted this week for a couple of hundred space quid"...
Trump will blame them for election interference stating that Biden knew and invited them to land when he knew it was inconvenient for Trump, like during golf.
The assumption would be that they are much smarter than us if they’ve made it here
Maybe, but not necessarily, Interstellar travel may be as normal for them as getting in the car to go to Tesco is for us. But even if it's not, they may have AI that's designed the craft, the passengers maybe no more smart than us.
Even scientists who insist that water must exist for life to exist which is clearly just a complete lack of imagination
No, they really don't - there are very good reasons for saying that. Did you really think that the possibility of alternative life systems just hadn't occurred to them?
scientists are not really into imagination
Lol do you actually know any scientists?
I'm fairly sure all the dolphins would leave.
If it was reported via the mainstream media I wouldn’t believe it unless I see them with my own eyes.
Who or what would you believe as a substitute to being able seeing something with your own eyes?
Not believing something until you've seen it would require quite a lot of legwork.
Does the Alien in question look like General Hera?
Asking for a friend.
Unless there is something particularly rare thats useful for their warp cores/eternal life which will probably be a very small amount of something.
Human blood, probably....
If it was reported via the mainstream media I wouldn’t believe it unless I see them with my own eyes.
I will volunteer to fund the mission to send daveylad to verify the existence of the first eye eating aliens that land.
Wouldn't we just play them a catchy tune on a synthesiser and flash some disco lights?
Then they'd **** off back to the planet Suron
Wouldn’t we just play them a catchy tune on a synthesiser and flash some disco lights?
Then they’d **** off back to the planet Suron
Or at least put some bloody clothes on.
Any aliens that have mastered interstellar travel are going to be so technologically more advanced that humanity I think we would be doing whatever they wanted even if they were completely benign
I'm guessing Government's would be jostling to be alien best friends looking for tech and trade preferential treatment.
I'm afraid to say landing a 10 dimensional object in a 4 dimensional space time is never going to happen. It's more akin to tearing a slice in our reality through which portions of their 10 dimensional being protrude. It's a potentially lethal lesioned liason for sure.
We realise we're royally ****ed
https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html
"if we were to find fossilized complex life ... “it would be by far the worst news ever printed on a newspaper cover, because it would mean The Great Filter is almost definitely ahead of us—ultimately dooming [humanity] "
"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.”
If it was reported via the mainstream media I wouldn’t believe it unless I see them with my own eyes.
But the non-mainstream media have been reporting on aliens for decades. Surely it just means the MSM have caught up.
TBH aliens would be kinda alien, they would have alien motives that we probably wouldn’t really be able to grasp.
Would be a bit of a bummer if they actually look like us and think like us and have come here to make a version of ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’ thou.
Points for naming the show and character that I sneaked a reference in to 🙂
Us lot will panic buy all the toilet paper and when the aliens find that there's none left for them they'd bugger off to a more civilised planet.
TBH aliens would be kinda alien, they would have alien motives that we probably wouldn’t really be able to grasp.
Not sure. I think we're the logical extrapolation of the basic needs for life - that is, if an alien race evolves to a form that can come here and look for us it has probably gone through all the same things we have.
If it was reported via the mainstream media I wouldn’t believe it unless I see them with my own eyes.
The MSM are too subtle to simply fake something that big. And besides, it wouldn't just be on MSM. If they landed in any kind of populated are it'd be all over the world in minutes via TikTok.
Stock markets, pure tankin🫢🫢🫢
It would make the lockdown run on bog roll look like a lazy Sunday shop.
😁 Beaten to it
The MSM are too subtle to simply fake something that big.
I think Orson Wells would beg to differ 🙂
Kinda been done... sort of
Edit beaten by seconds!
Cant park there mate
I think Orson Wells would beg to differ
That wasn't the actual news trying to convince people of a massive lie - quite the opposite in fact.
Would depend on what sort of alien I reckon. You’re little friendly ET interplanetary botanist types, we’d probably perform experiments on them and do autopsies because we’re generally pricks.
You’re common or garden xenemorph invasions and we’d be up shit creek unless it’s the crap ones from Prometheus and Covenant. If we’re going to be invaded I’d opt for the ones from Mars Attacks.
The general populous of Blighty seem so weary and downtrodden they’d probably just shrug and carry on going to work.
if an alien race evolves to a form that can come here and look for us it has probably gone through all the same things we have.
That is exactly the lack of imagination that when I pointed out earlier you seemed to have a problem with.
Can you see how limited you are by basing everything on just what you know in your life/this world?
We'd have a few hours of 24-7 media coverage and then the Daily Star would post a news story on Facebook that Tesco's in Barnstaple has run out of grapes, and within 6 hours we'd have panic bought everything in sight and we'd either be queueing outside empty petrol stations or sitting at home back in front of the news keeping an eye on car outside with its brimmed tank