May 30th 2024.
The government is finally starting to take the possibility of discovering alien life seriously. This move has been deemed as "long overdue" by the UK's leading UFO expert. According to a recent Freedom of Information request, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is currently conducting research on how to respond to the potential discovery of extraterrestrial life.
The research is specifically focused on how to handle a "black swan" event, which is an unpredictable event that has significant and far-reaching consequences. The report aims to determine if there is already a plan in place for such a discovery, as no public plan has ever been revealed. It also seeks to identify what a plan would entail and how the UK can be prepared to handle such a groundbreaking scientific discovery. The study is set to be completed in July, but it may be presented to a new government by then.
The report will be presented to the Permanent Secretary of the DSIT and will include recommendations for an action plan, taking into consideration opportunities, challenges, and areas of expertise. While the main focus of the report is the impact on the scientific landscape, it will also consider the wider implications of discovering alien life.
The idea of other lifeforms has fascinated humans for centuries, with recorded evidence dating back to medieval times. In recent decades, there has been a surge in reports of UFO sightings, with the most famous being the Roswell incident in 1947, where a supposed alien craft crashed in the New Mexico desert.
Scientists around the world are actively searching for signs of extraterrestrial life, whether it be microscopic organisms or advanced civilizations. The potential discovery of alien life would have significant implications for science, governments, and society as a whole. This is why many experts in the field have been calling for better planning and preparation.
One such expert is Nick Pope, who used to investigate UFOs for the Ministry of Defence. He believes that a plan for responding to the discovery of alien life has been long overdue. He explains, "Rumours are circulating in the scientific community that strong evidence of a biosignature has already been detected by the James Webb Space Telescope, and whatever might have been found, it's very possible that an announcement about a biosignature – or perhaps even a techosignature – is imminent. As always, it's better to have a plan and not need it, than need it and not have it."
A biosignature is any characteristic that provides evidence of past or present alien life, while technosignatures refer to any indication of past or present technology. According to Pope, the discovery of extraterrestrial life would be considered a "black swan" scientific event, possibly the ultimate one. He also believes that the societal impact of such a discovery cannot be overstated, especially if we were to find intelligent life or even interact with it in some way. In the worst-case scenario, it could pose an existential threat.
Despite numerous countries conducting their own searches, there is currently little official guidance on what would happen in the event of discovering alien life or making contact. The International Academy of Astronautics has developed a set of general guidelines, but beyond verifying the signal and allowing the country that made the discovery to share it with the world, there is not much in place.
As the person who submitted the FOI request, Pope points out, "The societal reaction to Covid – ripping each other apart over masks and vaccines – doesn't bode well, particularly when one remembers that governments had contingency plans for a global pandemic, so it was hardly an unanticipated event. How would people react to finding evidence of an advanced civilization on a planet orbiting a nearby star? Especially, as some believe, if they're already sending probes here."
The summary of the case study focuses on the possibility of finding life beyond Earth, citing numerous missions to other planets in search of habitable environments. For instance, Jupiter's icy moon Europa is considered one of the best hopes for finding life in our solar system. The study also mentions the use of advanced technology, such as AI, to search for biosignatures and how this, along with other factors, brings us closer than ever to discovering extraterrestrial life and understanding the universe.
Both NASA and the European Space Agency currently have missions heading towards Jupiter's icy moons, while the US agency is also planning a mission to Saturn's moon Titan. Additionally, numerous land and space-based satellites and radio antennae are continuously scanning the skies for signs of life, while rovers on Mars are still searching for evidence of past or present life on the Red Planet.
There have been rumors that the James Webb Space Telescope may have already found evidence of life. In September, NASA announced that the satellite had detected traces of a compound called dimethyl sulphide, which is only produced by life on Earth, specifically phytoplankton. Many experts believe that the first discovery of alien life may be microscopic, such as evidence of bacteria on Mars or microbes on an icy moon.
Nevertheless, it would still be a groundbreaking and momentous discovery. And if scientists do make contact with intelligent life, the implications would be even greater. Pope adds, "Some theoretical physicists speculate about wormholes and warp drive, and it's interesting that as part of the contract associated with the Pentagon's AATIP – Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program – work, scientific papers were written on subjects that included anti-gravity, warp drive, and wormholes. I hope the DSIT study will include input from the Ministry of Defence, because while it may be highly classified, the MoD may have information that would be useful to DSIT. The defense and national security implications of this issue shouldn't be overlooked."
The Agency reached out to the DSIT for further comment, but due to election restrictions and the fact that the report is still in progress, no additional information could be provided.
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