The Alien Contact Protocol for Your Next Space Trip

On your next trip into the cold embrace of interstellar space, a mysterious signal suddenly arrives at your main console. What should you do? Is there a protocol for this situation?

Unfortunately, no protocol has been decided upon to suffice an immediate response to extraterrestrial contact. The expenditure to create a protocol in advance of detection might not be worth the effort now, as it could be decades or centuries before we detect a signal. Instead, the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) committee has decided to focus on the process by which the human species as a whole can decide on how to send a message.

The consensus by the name of the Draft Declaration of Principles has established a process to enable all humans to partake in the making of a decision to send a response to an extraterrestrial civilization.

What is the protocol concerning contact from extraterrestrial intelligence?

The proposed protocols/declarations have been drafted based on three basic principles⁽¹⁾:

The decision to send a message to extraterrestrial intelligence should be made by an appropriate international body that is broadly representative of humanity.
If a message were to be sent to extraterrestrial intelligence, it should be on behalf of all mankind, instead of individual States or groups.
The contents of the message should be decided upon through an appropriate international process and have reached a broad consensus.

Two Declaration of Principles were proposed based on the above principles⁽¹⁾:

Declaration of Principles Concerning Activities Following the Detection of Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Draft Declaration of Principles Concerning Sending Communications with Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Declaration of Principles Concerning Activities Following the Detection of Extraterrestrial Intelligence

The individual, institutions, or government agencies that believe they have detected a signal or have evidence from extraterrestrial intelligence must seek to verify that the most plausible explanation for such a discovery is the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence rather than other phenomena before making a public announcement.
Prior to making a public announcement, the discoverer must inform all others that are parties to this declaration, so that they may seek to confirm the discovery by making independent observations. No public announcements should be made by any parties until the evidence is verified to be of an extraterrestrial source.
After concluding that the discovery is of credible evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence, the discoverer should inform observers throughout the world through the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams of the International Astronomical Union, as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The discoverer should also simultaneously inform the following international institutions and provide all pertinent data and recorded information concerning the evidence: The International Telecommunication Union, the Committee on Space Research, the International Council of Scientific Unions, the International Astronautical Federation, the International Academy of Astronautics, the International Institute of Space Law, Commission 51 of the International Astronomical Union, and Commission J of the International Radio Science Union.
The confirmed detection should be released promptly, openly, and widely through scientific channels and public media. The discoverer should have the privilege to make the first public announcement.
All data necessary for the confirmation of detection should be made available internationally through publications, meetings, conferences, and other appropriate means.
The discovery should be confirmed and monitored, and any data should be recorded and stored permanently to the greatest extent feasible and practicable to make it available for further analysis and interpretation.
If the evidence of detection is in the form of electromagnetic signals, the parties to the discovery should seek international agreement to protect the appropriate frequencies through the International Telecommunication Union.
No response to the extraterrestrial intelligence should be sent until appropriate international consultations have taken place.
The SETI Committee of the International Academy of Astronautics and Commission 51 of the International Astronomical Union will conduct the continuing review of procedures for the detection of extraterrestrial intelligence and the subsequent handling of data. An international committee of scientists and other expert representatives of each of the international institutions listed above should be established to serve as the focal point for analyzing all subsequent data and provide advice to the public.

Draft Declaration of Principles Concerning the Sending of Communications to Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Ten Principles⁽¹⁾ were proposed to establish an orderly process in answering the question of whether and how humankind should send a communication to extraterrestrial intelligence:

The international discussion should be initiated to consider the question of sending a message to extraterrestrial intelligence.
These consultations should take place within the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space of the United Nations and other organizations, which should also accommodate the participation of other qualified and interested groups who can contribute constructively.
Consultations should be open to all interested States and are intended to lead to a consensus.
The United Nations General Assembly should consider making the decision to send the message and its contents based on recommendations from the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and Organizations.
If a decision was made, the message should be sent on behalf of all Humankind, rather than from individual states.
The content of the message should reflect a concern for the interest and well-being of Humanity and be made available to the public in advance.
Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence could lead to exchanges separated by many years. Considerations should be given to creating a long-term framework for such communications.
No communications to extraterrestrial intelligence should be sent by any State until appropriate international consultations have taken place. States should not cooperate with attempts to communicate that do not conform to the principles in this declaration.
In the consideration of this question, States and United Nation bodies should draw on the expertise of scientists, scholars, and other persons with relevant knowledge.
Should a decision be made, the encoding and transmission of the message should be assigned to scientists and engineers specializing in the technologies required.

The Implications of Extraterrestrial Contact

Understandably, the principles listed above are vague, and you might not have the chance to make contact with Earth to seek international consultation in the middle of space. Fortunately, the declarations are non-binding, this means you won’t get in trouble (on paper that is) no matter what you decide to do! But before making a decision, it is probably a good idea to understand the implications of making extraterrestrial contact on behalf of humanity as a whole.

In the end, you might be the cause for the advancement of our civilization or the extermination of our species!

Two basic theoretical scenarios can be observed from contact based on the level of aggressiveness of the extraterrestrial civilization. They are either friendly or hostile. It’s as simple as that.

Depending on where the signal was received (within our solar system for example), we have to take the view that a civilization with sufficient means to make contact with humans within the bounds of our star is far more technologically advanced than us.

Based on this assumption, let’s see how this might play out.

Friendly Civilization

The paper “What Role Will Extraterrestrials Play in Humanity’s Future?”⁽²⁾ by the futurist Allen Tough laid out three potential types of help a friendly extraterrestrial civilization might provide for humanity.

Instant Protection

This type of protection is often a form of early intervention to some impending ultimate catastrophe. Tough compared this situation to one that would befall a human toddler if they were about to run onto a busy street. The instant response would obviously be to grab the child first and educate later.

Similarly, humanity as a species would be seen as a fledgling that requires protection. If a giant asteroid was to collide with earth, or if humans were about to trigger a nuclear holocaust, such extraterrestrials would act.

Helping Us Reduce Dangers Over Time

Under the same child analogy, the extraterrestrial civilization would provide the sort of help we as humans would to educate a child to stay off a busy street. They might do this in three ways:

Perform some invisible actions behind the scenes to eliminate certain risks.
Obtain informed consent from humans before intervening to let us weigh the pros and cons.
Forceful intervention to correct the worst of our mistakes before a catastrophic event could occur.

Help in Non-dangerous Spheres

Notably, this type of help would not be provided until the worst of our dangers have been taken care of. The type of knowledge such advanced civilization could offer would most likely be to push humanity along its development when stagnant or have reached a known dead end.

But in order to preserve diversity, as a fledgling civilization might provide new developments that are useful and are different from other known civilizations, intervention by a more advanced civilization may be held back.

Hostile Civilizations

We have to assume that a civilization who is technologically advanced enough to communicate with humankind would also have the means to destroy us.

Different points of views have developed within the scientific community regarding the possible actions of a hostile civilization.

Due to the finite quantity of resources in the galaxy, it might be assumed that would also cultivate some levels of aggression in another civilization to conquer resources. And if the laws of evolution, the survival of the fittest is the same on other planets like Earth, an extremely advanced civilization might have the same motivation to colonize humanity as well. Like Stephen Hawking once said, a visit from the extraterrestrials might akin to Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas.

There are many ways an advanced extraterrestrial civilization could destroy humanity, and some have probably not even entered the realm of our imagination. They could seek to build a Dyson Sphere around our sun to capture its energy, or they might just enslave us all. The possibilities are endless!

Obviously, the above is all based on the assumption that the incoming communication is from an extraterrestrial civilization that is more advanced than ours. But the fact is without making physical contact, it is hard to confirm their intentions or stage of development. They could be no more technologically advanced than us, or that they have already been here / is already here! But that is a topic for another day.