We're unprepared for when E.T. reaches out to us. A team of experts is determined to change that with the first new alien "contact" protocol in 35 years.
If extraterrestrial life sent us a message tomorrow, how would humanity respond? According to researchers, we don't know yet — and that's a problem.
That's why, for the first time in 35 years, a team of policy experts and scientists have united to establish a set of alien-contact protocols for the entire world to follow in the event of a sudden encounter with E.T.
Currently, the only alien contact protocol that humans have was established by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) community in 1989. The protocol, which was last revised more than a decade ago, is vague when it comes to the international response to extraterrestrial communication; it mainly focuses on the importance of sharing discoveries with the public and broader scientific community. In the event of confirmed alien contact, the protocol's main practical tip for scientists is to seek instruction from the United Nations or another governing body. (What the United Nations should do is another open question.)