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If you follow the complex and baffling world of unidentified flying objects, now associated with the term unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, you are aware that we may be moving towards “full disclosure.”
What that means is uncorking the bottle filled to the brim with an elixir of truth, disclosure activists say, that Earth is on the receiving end of exotic crafts of extraterrestrial origin. In fact, there are allegations of a secret US government reverse engineering program essentially set up to write an operating manual on how these so-called anomalous vehicles function.
The drumbeat that the US government is ready to spread the beans about potential alien guests on Earth is louder than ever. But whether it’s next week, next year, or next decade, what are the social consequences of first contact? Or at least an excerpt from historical records documenting evidence from visitors from afar? Are we ready for such a revelation? There seems to be some debate about what the ripple effects might be.
Related: UFOs worth investigating despite lack of “real evidence,” says former astronaut Scott Kelly
Full body contact
According to a recent public opinion polla majority of those polled believe the government is covering up the truth about UFOs.
Other polls have shown that most Americans believe in intelligent life beyond Earth. Polls show that over the years there has been an increase in thinking that there is an alien population of aliens scurrying around the alien ether.
But given the specter of full disclosure, are we ready for full body contact?
Better data is needed
“A considerable amount of work has been done on the societal impact of discovering alien radio signals transmitting a message from a planet orbiting a distant star,” says Steve Dick an American astronomer and author known for his work in the field of astrobiology.
“But that’s very different from the consequences if they’re actually here in the form of UFOs or UAPs. Science fiction tends to be dramatic,” Dick told Space.com.
“I find it unlikely that the US government could keep a secret of this magnitude for so long. I’m all for studying the anomalous phenomena of UFOs/UAPs. But I’m not convinced by the blurry naval videos that these are spacecraft piloted by ET. , or even ET-related artificial intelligence. We need better data,” Dick advised.
Worldviews would change
Disastrous first-contact events involving uncontacted cultures aren’t necessarily the best analogies, according to Dick. There have been plenty of useful cross-cultural contacts throughout history, he said, such as trade links dating back to ancient times, even beyond the Bronze Age.
“Whether the contact is direct or distant, and assuming we survive direct contact, I would say what is certain is that our philosophical and theological worldviews would change,” Dick said. “We shouldn’t expect aliens to solve all our problems, but the exchange of information would be very interesting!”
As for the question: are we ready?
‘Probably not,’ said Dick, ‘but new fields like ‘astrotheology’ and ‘astroethics’ offer the options. There is some consensus that religions will survive, but in a much modified form to account for the fact that we will not. the moral center of the universe or the most intelligent beings. Some religions will be more adaptable than others,” he said.
Copernican moment
John Elliott is coordinator of the SETI Post Detection Hub within the School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Elliott sees the societal impact of discovering extraterrestrial life as a profoundly “Copernican-type” moment for humanity. “The impact will likely be proportional to its proximity to us and whether it is intelligent or not. It will be confirmation that we are not the only life in the universe, and our perceived central ‘importance’ will undergo a significant shift in perspective,” he said.
What’s more, such a discovery will indicate that life likely exists throughout the universe, Elliott said. “To what extent extraterrestrial life is intelligent, has preceded us or is now extinct are other questions. Preparing for such an event therefore means not planning just one possible scenario, but many,” he said.
SETI post-detection is “probably one of the most multidisciplinary efforts humanity has ever undertaken,” Elliott added, “not only assessing the evidence discovered, but also considering human social response, impact strategies and protocols.”
Elliott said the hub’s primary role at the university is to serve as a dedicated international “home” for facilitating and coordinating research into a cohesive post-detection framework, to work on topics ranging from deciphering messages and data analysis to the development of regulatory protocols. space law and societal impact strategies, “a project that will continue to evolve,” he noted.
Imminent disclosure
“The chorus that full disclosure is imminent has been uttered since the very beginning of the flying saucer era in 1947,” said Greg Eghigian, a professor of history and bioethics at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of a forthcoming book on the history of UFOs in the United States.
Eghigian told Space.com that, despite the fact that several states — including the US and UK — have released a large number of classified documents over the years, “it has never satisfied some who will only be satisfied if governments demonstrate that they withhold information about the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs.”
Based on the past, Eghigian said there is little reason to suspect things will be any different now.
Different consequences
On the subject of “are we ready for revelation,” the scenario of actual contact/confirmation of alien intelligence is not actually one scenario, but rather multiple scenarios.
“Such an event can play out in a variety of ways — from astronomical observations of what appear to be signs of a once-existing technologically advanced civilization to the discovery of extraterrestrial artifacts in space to visitors appearing here on Earth,” Eghigian said.
“Each scenario would probably have significantly different consequences, most of which I suspect won’t have much effect on most people’s lives,” Eghigian concluded.
