What could be the worst-case scenario upon announcing the discovery of extraterrestrial technological intelligence? This list is not inclusive.
Scenarios after Human-ETI Contact. This list is not inclusive of all possibilities.
Potential Consequences:
1. Mass Panic:
The crisis of order. Exploitation could surge, with doomsday cults gaining followers and charlatans claiming to be “ambassadors” for the aliens, preying on the fearful.
Economic collapse might occur, as markets could crash due to radical uncertainty following an extraterrestrial discovery. Misinformation would fill the information vacuum, leading to conspiracy theories and fear-mongering, potentially inciting violence and civil unrest.
However, studies of disasters (including the COVID-19 pandemic) suggest that true, sustained mass panic is less common than often assumed.
2. A Retraction: The Crisis of Credibility
What if subsequent investigations prove the discovery to be false, requiring a retraction? This could discredit the entire SETI field.
Such a scenario would be a catastrophic embarrassment. The field already struggles with what some call the “giggle factor,” and being discredited for a generation could severely damage public trust in scientists and science as a whole. Securing funding for future searches might become nearly impossible after a failed extraterrestrial discovery.
3. Humanity Dethroned: The Crisis of Meaning
What if the extraterrestrial discovery implies that humankind no longer occupies the pinnacle of evolution in the cosmos?
Religions centered on human exceptionalism could face a fundamental crisis. However, studies on this subject have shown that the impact may be negligible.
Will Discovering Extraterrestrial Life Challenge Religion?
Examining the reaction of religion to the existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence. Will beliefs be challenged or transformed? Discover more.
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Our entire worldview, which places humanity at the center of meaning, could be invalidated. This could lead to profound, species-wide depression, a loss of purpose, and what philosophers term “cosmic despair.” Why strive, create, or even continue if we are but ants on an unremarkable anthill?
(I disagree.)
4. The Optimistic View (The Cosmic Perspective):
Would this discovery temper humankind’s worst instincts, such as warfare, and diminish the power of despotic rulers?
Carl Sagan and others have hoped that knowing we are not alone would foster a “cosmic perspective.” Realizing we are all citizens of a fragile, shared planet in a vast cosmos could make nationalism, racism, and warfare seem petty and childish. Such an extraterrestrial discovery could unite humanity and pose a threat to despotic rulers whose power relies on manufacturing “us vs. them” conflicts.
(I agree.)
5. The Pessimistic View:
A despotic ruler thrives on controlling information and manipulating fear. An alien intelligence could become the ultimate propaganda tool.
A dictator might claim that the aliens pose a demonic threat, justifying crackdowns and military expansion to “protect” the populace.
They could also claim that the aliens have endorsed their rule, creating a new “divine right” to govern after such an extraterrestrial discovery.
The discovery could trigger an unimaginably high-stakes Cold War, where nations fight not for territory or resources but for control of communication channels and any technological secrets the aliens might reveal.
(Well, that’s why we have HAM radio operators and satellite dishes.)
Pulsars have puzzled scientists for over 50 years, and many mysteries remain. Some wonder if these cosmic signals could actually be alien beacons rather than natural objects.
You’ve heard of neutron stars and their eerily precise lighthouse flashes of radio waves. But did you know the world’s leading experts openly admit they still don’t know how—or even why—pulsars pulse? Despite more than five decades of dedicated research since their discovery, fundamental aspects of the mechanisms that govern pulsars remain incompletely understood.
WHAT THEY WON’T TELL YOU
• 50 Years of “Mystery Science” – Pulsars were discovered in 1967 by Jocelyn Bell Burnell. – The first pulsars were named “LGM” for “Little Green Men”, because they resembled deliberate intelligent signals from aliens. – The discovery was kept a secret for two years, until a “natural” explanation could be found. – Yet top reviews concede: “No consensus on how pulsars make coherent radio beams.” – Even their heavyweight magnetosphere models are “pure speculation,” say the academics.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered Pulsars in 1967
• Energy “Conversion” Conundrum – How does a spinning neutron star turn its spin into light and X-rays? – Experts shrug: “We don’t know where particles get accelerated… or how.”
• Interior Secrets Locked Tight – The neutron-star Equation of State? A “well-kept secret,” even on Wikipedia. – We can’t recreate these ultra-dense conditions on Earth—so we’re flying blind.
THE BIG QUESTION SETI WON’T ASK
If we’re this stumped by “natural” objects, could some pulsars actually be artificial beacons—designed by a super-advanced Kardashev Type III civilization? Imagine harnessing a stars energy to craft perfect, long-range lighthouses! Isn’t this a concept that the Kardashev Scale proposes?
Yet SETI protocols dismiss the idea outright: • They focus on faint, homely radio signals—never megastructures beaming across the Milky Way. • They’ve never seriously tested whether pulsar “noise” could be cosmic Morse code.
WHAT IF SOME PULSARS ARE ETI LIGHTHOUSES?
– Perfect timing, colossal power output, pinpoint beams… sounds like engineered tech! – A K-III society could be “pinging” planets for millennia, and we’ve assumed it’s just physics playing tricks.
CALLING ALL STAR HUNTERS
It’s time to break the dogma. We need to: 1. Re-examine pulsar data for hidden patterns or intentional modulation. 2. Expand SETI’s search to include high-power, pulsed signals. 3. Admit our ignorance—and embrace wild ideas to solve these cosmic riddles.
Until we dare to ask whether pulsars are aliens’ calling cards, we’ll remain stuck in the dark—waiting for E.T. to ring a bell we refused to check. Isn’t it time someone blew the whistle on astrophysics’ biggest oversight?
Scientists on the Limits of Pulsar Knowledge
Beyond the specific unsolved problems within subfields of pulsar research, there are numerous instances where scientists make overarching statements explicitly acknowledging the incomplete state of current knowledge regarding these enigmatic objects.
Several key publications and resources directly state the limitations in our understanding of pulsars:
Beskin, Chernov, Gwinn, & Tchekhovskoy (2015):
In their review “Radio Pulsars,” these authors plainly state, “Almost 50 years after radio pulsars were discovered in 1967, our understanding of these objects remains incomplete.” This is a clear and high-level admission of the persistent gaps in knowledge from experts summarizing the field.
Hankins, Rankin, & Eilek (2009):
The white paper “What is the Physics of Pulsar Radio Emission?” opens with the frank assessment: “Despite much careful theoretical and observational effort, the details of how these rapidly rotating neutron stars radiate are still a mystery.” While focused on radiation, this statement implies broader difficulties in understanding the core processes.
Contopoulos, Kalapotharakos, & Kazanas (2014):
In “A new standard pulsar magnetosphere,” the authors remark, “Though pulsars were discovered almost fifty years ago, they still remain mysterious stellar objects.” This general statement encapsulates the enduring enigmatic nature of pulsars.
NASA on PSR B0943+10:
When discussing the “puzzling pulsar” PSR B0943+10, a NASA resource notes that “astronomers… aren’t sure how the particles get stripped from the surface of the star and accelerated to high energies”. The observation of its inverse radio/X-ray pulsing “reignited debate,” indicating that any prior consensus on such emission behavior was either absent or fragile and that existing models were insufficient.
“Pulsar Electrodynamics: an unsolved problem”:
The very title of a research area or a specific paper can be telling. While there is a paper on this topic, the broader identification of “Pulsar Electrodynamics” as “an unsolved problem” is a direct admission of ongoing challenges. The source itself discusses unresolved issues like “charge starvation” and “current starvation” in electrodynamic models, implying these are areas not fully settled.
The Unknown Equation of State (EoS):
A “Well-Kept Secret” A critical unknown is the Equation of State (EoS) of matter at these supranuclear densities. The EoS describes the relationship between pressure, density, and temperature, and it dictates the macroscopic properties of the neutron star, such as its radius for a given mass and its maximum possible mass.
Neutron star equation of state, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1387647310000564
Multiple sources unequivocally state the current lack of knowledge. Wikipedia’s entry on Neutron Stars, often reflecting expert consensus, asserts: “The equation of state of neutron stars is not currently known.” The entry elaborates that this uncertainty arises because the extreme densities are impossible to replicate in terrestrial laboratories, and theoretical modeling must incorporate General Relativity as well as complex aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), potential superconductivity, and superfluidity of nuclear matter. Understanding the EoS is described as a “major unsolved problem in fundamental physics.”
This sentiment is strongly echoed in the scientific literature. A 2017 review by Chamel et al., “The physics of the neutron star crust,” notes that while the physics of the outer crust is relatively better understood, “the structure of the matter in neutron star cores and in particular its equation of state remain the well-kept secret of neutron stars”. The inability to definitively determine the EoS means that fundamental parameters, such as the precise upper mass limit for neutron stars before they collapse into black holes (the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit), remain uncertain, with theoretical estimates varying.
SIX-SIGMA:
Scientific Theories: When a theory encounters contradictory evidence or fails to explain a new observation, it is not a “defect” in the scientific process. Instead, it signals that the theory may be incomplete, incorrect under certain conditions, or in need of refinement. Such discrepancies are essential for scientific progress, often leading to new hypotheses or even paradigm shifts. This mindset may be exactly what’s needed to advance our understanding of pulsars.
Beskin, V. S. (2018). Radio pulsars. Physics-Uspekhi, 61(7), 655–686.
Hankins, T. H., Rankin, J. M., & Eilek, J. A. (2009). What is the Physics of Pulsar Radio Emission? Astro2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey, Science White Papers, no. 120.
Contopoulos, I., Kalapotharakos, C., & Kazanas, D. (2014). A new standard pulsar magnetosphere. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 443(1), L45–L49.
NASA. (2013, October 23). NASA’s Chandra and XMM-Newton Find Puzzling Pulsar. NASA Missions.
Petri, J. (2019). Pulsar electrodynamics: an unsolved problem. Journal of Plasma Physics, 85(5), 15850501.
Chamel, N., Fantina, A. F., & Zdunik, J. L. (2017). The physics of the neutron star crust. In The Physics and Astrophysics of Neutron Stars (pp. 57-95). Springer, Cham.
The author examining 35 mm negative with a digital microscope, MUFON case #111680, 1995.
It isn’t clear if UAPs are the product of human or non-human technology. It is only by their shape and fantastic alien flight characteristics that a non-human origin can be inferred. Human planes can not make 90° hairpin turns or accelerate from zero to hypersonic speeds in the fraction of a second.
The majority of the public believes that other intelligent life in the cosmos exists and that we are not the only species inhabiting the Universe. This concept was popularized in the TV show “Cosmos” by exobiologist Carl Sagan and it is held to be true in the general consensus.
People who believe that humanity plays a more special role in the cosmos (anthropocentrists) do think that UFOs come from our own future, instead from alien worlds. They cite the large distances between solar systems as an obstacle for interplanetary spacecraft to make contact.
Some people think that it would be easier to build a time machine than a faster than light spacecraft. Otoh, with a time machine, superluminal flight would be easy. Just slow down the clock dial whilst maintaining forward momentum and viola!, speed is increased.
Superluminal flight implies time travel, according to Einstein’s theory of relativity. Time slows down progressively the more one approaches the speed of light. And should one travel in excess of light speed, then time begins running backwards. That follows from the theory and mathematics of relativity, which does not consider time paradoxes. It’s just numbers.
Book cover of “Identified Flying Objects”, 2019, by anthropologist Michael Paul Masters
Professor of anthropology Dr. Michael Paul Masters is one of the proponents of the UFO as time travelers. He explained it in more detail in his book “Identified Flying Objects” calling the time travelling occupants of these craft “extratempestrials”.
I believe that it’s a definitive possibility that some UFOs do come from our own future. Yet the infinity of possible futures in time means that SOME UFOs will also come from other worlds, even if it’s just our mutated time-traveling offspring from thousands of years into the future visiting their ancestral home planet.
If they exist they may be just visiting their ancestral home planet, or their great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Is there a paradox?
The Contact Initiative (https://reddit.com/r/contactproject) wants to discover if it’s possible to make radio contact with UFOs, to ask them what they are. It’s as simple as that.
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