How Would First Contact Really Go?

[Graham Kennedy]

Even worse...

"What is the meaning of life?"

"We look for things. Things to make us go."

[Sonic Glitch]

Even worse...

"What is the meaning of life?"

"We look for things. Things to make us go."

[Captain Seafort]

Even worse...

"What is the meaning of life?"

"We look for things. Things to make us go."

Which would really go to show how thick the Pakleds are if they don't known 42.

[Mark]

Even worse...

"What is the meaning of life?"

"We look for things. Things to make us go."

Which would really go to show how thick the Pakleds are if they don't known 42.

LMAO

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

"All hail Goc!" "All hail Goc!"

And of course the inevitable wars between the blond, brunette and redhead worshippers.

[Mark]

Will said war take place in a vat of mineral oil or mud??????

[Tsukiyumi]

Will said war take place in a vat of mineral oil or mud??????

Or vanilla pudding...

[Vic]

Will said war take place in a vat of mineral oil or mud??????

And a new Holy War is sparked.
Burn Heretic!

Eat hot lead Mineral lover!
There's one for the Mineral vat.
Ha, ha, Pudding forever!!

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Will said war take place in a vat of mineral oil or mud??????

No, but the primary weapons will be pillows. That way, no one dies in the Holy Crusade and we all are happy at the end.

Thus is the Will of Goc!

[MetalHead]

I imagine we as humans would be very, VERY trigger happy about this. Many countries would consider such landings "violations of their airspace" and respond with firm military measures, not to mention the risk of biocontamination, alien diseases our immune systems have no defence against. Whilst we as people would justify such a strong presence of armed soldiers during a first contact as "nessecary for our defense" it would very much make us look like an aggressive, territorial, and violent species. Warmongers.

If the Aliens initiate contact and inform us they mean no harm, how many military leaders are going to say "Ok, lets just let them fly all over the world with an unknown level of technology and an unknown capacity to harm us, and land outside the residences of major world leaders."

no chance.

[shran]

i think general disappointment will also ensue, when Earth notices there is no celestial music or a big lightshow awaiting, not to mention the expectations of all the reincarnated Na'Vi and all sci-fi fanboys.

[Capt. Jethro]

First of all I would hope that the world leaders wouldn't screw this up, but given the current world climate I have my concerns. As far as the religious aspects go, as a Christian I'm fine with the possibility of life on other worlds. It wouldn't affect my beliefs one bit and I relish the thought of being alive if this ever occurs. Only a fool would believe that we're the only ones here. I have never been a fan of extremism of those with or without faith.

If these visitors would like to trade with us I see that as a win/win. However, several things should be at the forefront such as technology for more efficient energy production, cure for diseases, medical technology and food production, preservation and distribution.

BTW how is their beer?

It would be my hope that after the human race has matured and proven themselves to be responsible then they should assist us in developing FTL technology. But this maturity would have to be a major overhaul on a planetary scale. Our scientist and explorers should be eventually integrated with their crews, first begin with stuff local (our system) in nature and eventually move up to having a presence on longer (out of system) exploration. We can't mature if we're not allowed to learn has always been my outlook.

Finally, one major concern is of the enemies they may have. Would our new friends provide support for us if their opponents decided to show up and stick their noses, if they have any, into our business? If that is the case then advance technology, including weaponry, would have to come into play.

[Monroe]

Great thread.

So how does humanity react to a fleet full of aliens pulling up in orbit? How does the UN react? What do the leaders of major countries do? How do religions world wide deal with this new revelation?

Humanity acts, as everyone else has said in a mix of emotions. Some will panic. Others will be excited. Personally I will see it as the greatest moment in human history but I will be very cautious and a little sad. It will more than likely mean the end of our culture. If the fleet is in orbit I will also leave the city.

UN will be basically useless for several weeks as the countries strive to see who deserves to speak with the aliens (That's assuming they follow the first contact plan Rochey describes). I think eventually they'll be able to have meetings but we don't have a world government. However I think this could eventually turn us into a world government.

I'm going to take the opposite view of most of you. I think religion will flourish again, at least in the short term. People will return to God to attain the answers they desire. New religions will form up yes. And if the visitors have a religion expect that to come HUGE.

1) They mention that there's about a half dozen other races of varying power and size in this part of the galaxy as well.

A world government would become an all but guarantee. I think humanity will only unite if there are outside pressures.

2) They're at war with one of these races.

Earth would want to stay neutral of course but as others said we would want to know more information. I think we would be a little guarded with access and wouldn't allow a colony on Mars at least in the short term.

3) They look like horrific monsters from the darkest depths of our imagination.

Hopefully they would realize this and visual contact would be held off. However that would make people paranoid. I think if its done slowly, as not to 'spook' anyone it might be okay. And remember looks can also help determine what kind of creature it is. A predator would have eyes on the front of its head for example. If the creature looks like some horrific monster we might -want- to be cautious.

4) They're a highly militaristic society under an authoritarian government.

This would be a cause to worry. At time of first contact we would not be able to do anything about it. However more technologically advanced cultures always erase less technologically advanced cultures. It might be VERY bad news for Democracies and Republics.

5) Something goes horribly wrong when they turn up, like one of their ships FTLing in and smashing the ISS, or a shuttle losing power and leveling the White House in the crash.

Huge anger. If it took out an entire city it might be best if the aliens just left at least for 10-20 years. However if it took out the White House.. say when Bush was president I personally would be upset with the loss of historical pieces but that would be a forgivable offense.

6) The aliens are an incredibly pacifistic race (so they've no warships in this case) and start preaching about how violent and barbaric we humans are. They say that they'll be happy to trade tech with us, including starship technology, but only if we disband our militaries and get rid of our nukes.

We wouldn't take it. Nor should we. We cannot trust them and if there are other races out there we shouldn't trust those either. While our weapons might be incredibly inferior eventually we will catch up. Having the right to defend ourselves is important if we want to maintain sovereignty and not be a protectorate.

A few months after first making contact with us (assuming they haven't been told to bugger off or haven't nuked us all yet) the alien fleet's leader comes back with a request. It seems that the Earth is about half-way between two of their planets, and they'd like to construct a large space station in orbit to use it as a refueling depot for their freighters. Does humanity go for it, or tell them where they can stick their station?

I agree, build it over Mars. Also Earth must receive technological advancements in return or perhaps a share of the precious minerals. Its a shame its Mars though. If it was Mercury that would be a lot better for humanity

And a final scenario. It's about a year since first contact and a few Earth nations start receiving a few odd requests. It seems that some of the aliens quite like Earth, and want to live here permanantly. Would countries actually let them live here? If so, how would the populace react to the chance of having an alien move in next door?

I think some countries would however they should go through all the other avenues Earth aliens go through to become citizens. I want my aliens to know the bill of rights damnit-- especially if they're part of a totalitarian government.


As far as the US screwing things up... I actually think the United States is probably one of the best prepared for an alien encounter. Rather or not aliens have been contacted with in the past its been taken as a serious enough threat for there to be military plans on how to deal with an alien invasion. Hell even Reagan, the original Neocon (well maybe Nixon was that), was in favor of a united world response to an alien encounter. Why? Corporations exist to make money. Aliens are a huge threat to our culture. Never in history has the less technological culture survived. That is a HUGE uncertainty to corporations. So even the most staunch neocon of a president, like Bush Jr would be more capable of handling visiting aliens than say France. And the more progressive presidents are cool headed enough for that not to be an issue. I can't imagine Obama doing anything but a cool and collected response.

[Sionnach Glic]

Since this thread's been bumped back to the top again, here's a couple more scenarios:

1) A few months from now a NASA probe lands on the moon to look around for stuff. Upon landing it crests a nearby hill to see what appears to be some sort of large mining operation being conducted on the moon. High-powered telescopes across Earth are turned to investigate, and the viewers see a fleet of ships (mostly civilian mining ships but a few military escorts) conducting operations on the moon, with a large complex on the surface. It quickly becomes clear that these aliens have FTL drives. They've made no attempts to contact us or even acknowledge our existance. How do we react? Do we hunker down and shut up and hope they don't notice us, or do we attempt to contact them?

2) One day radars across the planet light up as a bunch of massive unidentified craft suddenly appear in our atmosphere without any prior warning. They head straight to uninhabited parts of the planet (the Sahara Desert, the Salt Flats in Utah, parts of the Australian outback, Siberia, etc) and land. Any missiles fired at the craft are simply shot down by anti-missile systems, with no further action taken against those who fired it. The ships land in these uninhabited regions and the aliens begin setting up mining operations. They make no attempts to contact us, and any attempts to do so are ignored. Any approaching vehicles are warned in fluent English (or whatever the local language is) that they must turn around or they will be assumed to be hostile. Failure to turn around results in missiles taking down the offending vehicle. Given that these aliens clearly have technology far more advanced than ours, how do the nations of Earth respond to such a territorial violation?

[stitch626]

1) A large number of people panic and start quoting end-of-the-world prophecies. Some hunker down as if for a zombie invasion. Some try to contact them. And a few don't care and try to carry on life as normal.

2) Probably everyone starts to work together to blow the aliens out of the... ground. If that is ever achieved though, a military force would probably be sent and there goes the human race.