WHAT IF WE CONTACT ALIENS?
I read an article by Seth Shostak at the website of SPACE, and learned the following information. On July 18, 2006 the Alien Telescope Array was put to work. It is a group of telescopes searching for a signal from alien societies. Over the next twenty years the telescopes will pan 1,000 light years away from us in all directions. If there is life out there, we are now more likely to find it. But what if we do get a signal? Will the general public ever know it? Or would the government keep it a secret? There are many assumptions of what would happen if we got a signal. Among them are that the government would keep it a secret, or that scientists would keep it a secret. But there is actually a protocol for action in case a signal is found. The protocol is that scientists must first determine with certainty that the signal is extraterrestrial. Then they must tell all other astronomers and national officials, and then tell the world.It is not quite as simple as it sounds. Scientists actually get signals all the time, and they spend much of their time sorting through these signals to be sure that they aren’t caused by aliens. And if there is a possibility of alien signals, the media will be reporting about it weeks before the scientists can be certain that it is a signal from aliens.