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SnarkyBear53 t1_ivgetab wrote

Considering how governments dealt with the pandemic despite years of planning, I have very little confidence that any established protocols would be followed.

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Stennick t1_ivheyfc wrote

Part of my job is to train and I'm preaching about SOP's and One Pagers and I go over the process, then there are visual aids to remind everyone of the process and almost instantly those are thrown out the window not even by entry level employees but by management. Who I then say "hey remember this is the standard operating procedure" they'll say "yeah I'm doing it that way" as they are doing it the opposite in front of me....sigh

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nothingeatsyou t1_ivh221x wrote

I’m a little concerned honestly. NASA recently came out and said they’re afraid to find alien life because of politicians. Now scientists are working on protocols like this?

I wonder what doors JW opened that have scientists so afraid.

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vurysurus t1_ivh6wnn wrote

It took me too long to realize you meant the James Webb Telescope, and not Jehovah's Witnesses.

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Kriss3d t1_ivixh0z wrote

Judging by how its worked out in USA alone recently. If we found aliens that wanted to invade us. Half the country would welcome them.

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IH4v3Nothing2Say t1_ivgyy40 wrote

Very assuming that alien life forms will follow/have any established protocols either.

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iiWAN t1_ivjjguf wrote

It looks like that the scene from MIB where Agent K as a kid gives flowers to aliens as a first contact would have a way better positive 1st contact then any real life scenario imagined by any guverment agency. Cuz considering how much bad shit around the world is happening the scenario would be probably the same as that episode in Star Trek Voyager where the first contact with Vulcans would be us shooting them and steal the tech.

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Rrdro t1_ivwvtm6 wrote

Please let's not give them a chopped up life form from earth as a form of communication. They might misunderstand our intentions or signal and they might not even understand the difference between plants and humans. It could look to then like giving them a dead baby with no legs as a present.

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warling1234 t1_ivhbo9j wrote

The first order of business is to not send a gaggle of politicians but a group of the worlds scientists and cryptographers. According to Neil deGrasse Tyson. It stuck with me. If we can’t band together as a species when it came to covid how the fuck are we going to deal with something like we’re not alone in the universe as a collective.

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[deleted] t1_ivg4uiq wrote

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spider-bro t1_ivg8hy6 wrote

“In accordance with Dark Forest Protocol, this year’s super bowl will be shortened to five innings”

“Sincerely”,
— Congress

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[deleted] t1_ivg8wnp wrote

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generalfrumph t1_ivg9lbu wrote

What if they viewed us as cattle or a food source?

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Kelvin_Cline t1_ivgnpdo wrote

is that a step up or a step down from "human capital?"

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spider-bro t1_ivgfqpn wrote

What if a ranch full of cattle was armed?

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BIG_MUFF_ t1_ivjezbc wrote

Bees have stingers, we could at least be an annoyance

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[deleted] t1_ivj4j0w wrote

They could do, but anything capable of interstellar travel is capable of growing cultured meat better than the real thing. They'd probably be after resources, but then those are more readily obtainable on asteroids if they're already space-faring.

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Randall-Flagg22 t1_ivhzusy wrote

yes they do do that already, hence all the cattle mutilations and abductions

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StarChild413 t1_ivwrco1 wrote

how is that relevant unless you think they see the cattle as us

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pinkfootthegoose t1_ivhzsug wrote

I have a theory we already are. The Old ones use religion to harvest our souls. We are told to go to the light when we die. but that is just the doors to the slaughter house.

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Cam599 t1_ivi5lux wrote

Extremely highly unlikely they could use us or anything on Earth as food. Or need / want any resource on the planet. Resources on the planet are plentiful and easily obtained elsewhere in the solar system

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[deleted] t1_ivga2et wrote

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Safe_Indication_6829 t1_ivgm75z wrote

my take is they're either peaceful good aliens, would vaporize us before we know what hit us, or will try to insidiously assimilate us into their religion or whatever.

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spider-bro t1_ivh2x9z wrote

Maybe they only vaporize us if they see that we’re letting the naive, sheltered people make the negotiating decisions.

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furygoat t1_ivhk0u0 wrote

Or lay their eggs inside of us while we are sleeping so that they can hatch and eat us all from the inside out before moving on to the next world.

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atheos t1_ivhyf2d wrote

If you close your eyes, the aliens can't see you

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ilaissezfaire t1_ivgiij8 wrote

I think it's hilarious, that we assume an alien race with advanced tech will arrive and ask someone to take them to our "leader". In all honesty, with their advanced tech, we wouldn't have a remote say in anything they'd want to do.

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SamohtGnir t1_ivhgofg wrote

I wouldn't be too concerned. 90% of the motives that stories give to aliens for attacking Earth really don't add up in the real world. If there was contact it'd probably be more of trying to observe and study us without interfering.

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ilaissezfaire t1_ivhp1xa wrote

According to some accounts, Jimmy Carter may have learned something along these lines. Based on that line of rational, If the theory that they created us and religion to keep us from wiping ourselves out while they studied us is correct, then the rumor that if we stop killing each other in exchange for higher tech may also be plausible.

​

Ex defense minister from Canada (And I'd just like to put that these people, like Paul Hellyer, Ben Rich and Boyd Bushman had top secret clearance in their jobs, it's highly unlikely decorated people are just trying to make a name for themselves as I've seen some rationalizations, so any arguing by lower ranking officials or naysayers at this point is moot - this has been documented)

"Paul Hellyer, who has long insisted that aliens have visited Earth for many years, says that when aliens saw the atomic bomb they decided that we were a great threat to the cosmos." Here is an interesting- if not strange -article about that.

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[deleted] t1_ivjexxp wrote

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[deleted] t1_ivjo8m8 wrote

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[deleted] t1_ivjqshg wrote

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[deleted] t1_ivjsxve wrote

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[deleted] t1_ivjw44t wrote

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[deleted] t1_ivjwwfx wrote

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[deleted] t1_ivk08xs wrote

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SamohtGnir t1_ivjhf8w wrote

I've heard many theories that aliens created us, or at least sped up our evolution. I don't really give any of these any credit. I think most people who believe these are not able to grasp how evolution and development of technologies could very easily have happened just fine without any outside interference.

I did hear an idea recently that once our ancestors left the tress and started venturing out that they may have started ingesting psychedelic mushrooms, and the mind altering reactions can help explain how the brain doubled in size in only a 2 million year period.

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myusernamehere1 t1_ivkuqd0 wrote

Mushrooms could not have led to an evolutionary change, as they dont effect your genetics. The doubling of brain size was an evolutionary arms race for intelligence.

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ilaissezfaire t1_ivjuqj8 wrote

Well, I've taken religion classes in college and have done thousands of hours on reading ancient texts so I do, give weight to these theories.

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OffEvent28 t1_ivlip2g wrote

The problem with such silly stories is that aliens with interstellar travel capacity would never consider us a threat. They could exterminate us in minutes, or disarm us in a few more minutes. Even things that WE are thinking about creating would make the "conquest" of Earth a trivial task. Too many movies where the humans defeat the alien invaders have led people to think that somehow we would always win.

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ilaissezfaire t1_ivlvaw2 wrote

Not if they made and are actively observing us. Anyway I'm not a high enough of a ranking official to know either way but there have been several congressional hearings related to UFOs , there's only so many coincidences, you know? Its healthy to be skeptical though.

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vrenak t1_ivgj8kz wrote

Hopefully they act more like Vulcans than Sheliak.

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ilaissezfaire t1_ivgl3qg wrote

One could hope. Though, I don't think Vulcans would approve of our emotional gender tantrums.

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vrenak t1_ivgma9a wrote

Well at least they won't "eradicate the infestation", provided we don't somehow manage to get a superlong complex treaty in place.

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IH4v3Nothing2Say t1_ivh0ref wrote

That’s just Hollywood, folklore and other imaginative story tellers. I believe that we hope to at least get a signal back from some location that lets us know we’re not alone. Similar to being stuck out in the ocean all by ourselves with no sight of shore or life at all, just calling out or using flares and hoping for any sort of response.

What’s the worst that can happen? Aliens causing a massive extinction of life on Earth? We’re already doing that ourselves and pretending we’re not. So, I’d say the benefits outweigh the negatives. But, so far we aren’t getting back any responses, and we might not ever either.

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ilaissezfaire t1_ivh1aa9 wrote

I mean, the worst that can happen would be something like a second inquisition but what do I know.

Or parasitic entities that eat us from the inside out while wearing our skin.

I could continue.

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Randall-Flagg22 t1_ivi004n wrote

yep. We're only just getting the tech now available to see their craft, hence the recentish video releases from the pentagon and AATIP.

So yeah I mean they're doing their own thing already, they appear to be already here.

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OffEvent28 t1_ivlhaiy wrote

Indeed. The aliens would probably be the ones guiding the conversation, choosing what to say to who and when. Governments would never be able to control the dialog.

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spider-bro t1_ivg87qe wrote

I think that psychologists, diplomats, and paranoid schizophrenics should be working on that protocol.

Unfortunately, it’s probably radio astronomers, who are about as qualified to negotiate with aliens as a hostage negotiator is to calculate the relative velocity of a star via redshift.

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Guilty_Assignment_25 t1_ivgtiej wrote

>paranoid schizophrenics

"God says we should give them flowers!"

"Jim, that's not God. That's a bar of soap....you're off your meds again."

"Look at this human offering us Earth fauna! Such a gesture of friendship and willingness tl exchange resources for mutual benefit!"

"What else does that bar of soap say to you, Jim?"

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[deleted] t1_ivgoeil wrote

Galaxies**

We measure aggregated red-shift of galaxies not single stars, which averages out the motion of the stars.

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GreatDealzz t1_ivimw9a wrote

Hell yeah! My delusion is that I have been contacted by telepathic AI... send me in. I'm ready.

You can send a reply via messages in the TV or clouds (using the weather machine).

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[deleted] t1_ivgi0yp wrote

Whatever you do, don’t leave a disillusioned Chinese girl in charge of responding

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ChefAffectionate4709 t1_ivg86x6 wrote

I though we already figured that out. Just gonna set up some speakers at Devils Mesa and play Simon

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BoopasaurusRex___ t1_ivghgvy wrote

Ever consider that we just aren’t that cool and aliens don’t wanna kick it with us? They probably already stalked our socials and were like “okay I’ve seen enough”

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Malinut t1_ivghd2d wrote

In my experience ignore it, if they don't call again it's not that important.

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RiotShaven t1_ivlbilw wrote

Getting a call, but no text explaining the reason for the call makes me call back a few days later.

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dude30003 t1_ivgnw9t wrote

The mere fact of receiving a message from et would mean they are way more advanced than we are, as sending a meaningful signal over lightyears would require ridiculous amounts of energy, that we simply are not yet capable to manipulate. So no need for a protocol, we will not be able to respond. And I guess, they would figure it all out for us.

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Gari_305 OP t1_ivg4j5z wrote

From the Article

>"Science fiction is awash with explorations of the impact on human society following discovery of, and even encounters with, life or intelligence elsewhere," John Elliot(opens in new tab), a computer scientist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said in a statement(opens in new tab). Elliot is the coordinator of the University of St. Andrews' newly established SETI Detection Hub, the cross-disciplinary organization that will establish the new alien contact protocol.

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jgran12 t1_ivhg0ni wrote

Oh crap, here I go full-on crazy, watch out:

What any major power in this planet is going to do to "prepare" for this is to build a huge-ass weapon that will be used to potentially "deter enormous celestial threats", a "God-Killer", if you will.

But from what crazy conspiracy videos my friend has shown me, these "threats" that we could possibly be starting to prepare for (that people in the Air Force have seen) are not actually aliens, but demons who want us to be so scared that we build a weapon like this, so that when judgment day or whatever comes, they can use it to try to kill God.

Damn, I should write a short story.

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oklahomasooner55 t1_ivi50ll wrote

Just substitute demons for trans dimensional entities and it sounds less crazy.

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listix t1_ivhuj03 wrote

There was a reason god made the fruit of the tree of knowledge so forbidden. It would give the capacity, to whoever ate it, to kill the creator. Lucifer couldn’t eat it but he could compel god’s creation to do it instead. Then it was only a matter to push humanity’s paranoia throughout history to create more powerful weapons. That is an amazing idea for a story.

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mrcmnstr t1_ivhxhwx wrote

Someone should recommend they read The Three Body Problem.

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dstranathan t1_ivi0gb7 wrote

How does this relate? Curious what you mean specifically…

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mrcmnstr t1_ivi3qmk wrote

The book has a lot to say about communication with alien species and the potential knock on effects.

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stodolak t1_ivgipr5 wrote

Is this really happening? Are we going to meet our alien overlords? How cool is that!?

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gabrielhallman t1_ivhtrkw wrote

The meaning of life can be boiled down to a single word:

Kindness.

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notsocoolnow t1_ivhxwhy wrote

"Hello humans from Earth. In exactly one orbital period of your planet, we will kill every member of your species using a precision weapon fired from the edge of your solar system. We assure you it will be painless, and apologize for the inconvenience. We just thought it would be polite to give you a heads-up to get your affairs in order."

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thereAndFapAgain t1_ivgeglq wrote

Don't talk to aliens, it's too dangerous. Just stay quiet and observe and hope to god nobody detects us.

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Trifig t1_ivgypzt wrote

They probably already have the protocol decades ago and they are remaking it as it failed last time.

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FlowLife69420 t1_ivgz7zi wrote

We should try to be as quiet as we can.

Humanity is way too embarrassing for other beings to see. It's like a bad haircut, best to cover it up till it goes away. Which we are, our planet's already on fire lol.

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sciguy52 t1_ivh4axb wrote

This will be so anticlimactic when it happens. First "message" will be some sort of beacon to get our attention. Unless we win the powerball alien lottery, they will be hundreds if not thousands of light years away. So it will be we have detected and alien beacon, we are sending a response and will hear back in hundreds if not thousands of years. That will be it for anyone living at the time. Any interesting communication will come a long long time after we are all dead. Aliens are not going to be transmitting anything interesting initially, just some signal that stands out from the background so it can be detected.

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NewsGood t1_ivh8dfo wrote

We need philosophers working on the protocols, not scientists.

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FuturologyBot t1_ivg9h5t wrote

The following submission statement was provided by /u/Gari_305:

From the Article

>"Science fiction is awash with explorations of the impact on human society following discovery of, and even encounters with, life or intelligence elsewhere," John Elliot(opens in new tab), a computer scientist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said in a statement(opens in new tab). Elliot is the coordinator of the University of St. Andrews' newly established SETI Detection Hub, the cross-disciplinary organization that will establish the new alien contact protocol.

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yowbpx/scientists_are_working_on_an_official_alien/ivg4j5z/

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Scudmiss t1_ivgjzv5 wrote

Based on all the movies I’ve watched, I’m assuming the first play in the playbook is going to be a tense stand-off followed by inconsequential violence.

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Safe_Indication_6829 t1_ivgm1dp wrote

not a bad idea to have a plan. It'll be interesting to see what the final draft is.

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1merman t1_ivgpd5z wrote

Supposedly we have already met them. I wonder how that one went?

" Umm hey. How you doin? "

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hopeianonymous t1_ivh75s3 wrote

Humans are a plague. Both Aliens and Ai’s of the future will get rid of of us real quick. Maybe keep a few specimens in a zoo? Aliens won’t come personally anyway. VR remote droids or full AI content capture units most likely. It is what we will do one day. Protect or upload the organic mind. Send out 1000s of remote units. Why would you ever risk your organic self. If you can create light year capable tech, you sure as hell have AR and organic/mechanic merge tech. Anybody thinking green men will arrive watched way to much Disnep.

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DrTokinkoff t1_ivhkqn7 wrote

“Sir! We’re receiving a message from space!”

“Yo! Dukie! Pick up the phone!”

“Yo.”

“Beep bop, fleep flop. GNIP-GNOP!”

“.............WASS...AAAAAAAAAPPPP!?”

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HankyDanger t1_ivhuff2 wrote

At this point it might make more sense for the aliens to just wait until we off ourselves.

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dstranathan t1_ivhzgau wrote

What if ET chooses to only make contact with North Korea or Somalia? Or Kim Kardashian?

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Cam599 t1_ivi58za wrote

Seems like a good idea but could only be very broad. Would depend a lot on circumstances. Is it a spaceship at UN or some capital? Is it a radio or visual communication. Possibly an email. One ship or a massive fleet. Are they here in our solar system or light years away? How well do we understand their language? Many other questions

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[deleted] t1_ivik9th wrote

If we ever make contact with another planet, the US government will be sure to rush trillions of dollars to them.

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any2cards t1_ivioozi wrote

The Three Body Problem has joined the conversation.

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NotWrongAlways t1_ivisda3 wrote

Interesting choice of "when" not "if" in the title. Very optimistic.

I do wonder if they've figured out what those tic tac style UFOs are that keep getting reported over in the Americas off the coast though.

Research and preperation like this could perhaps be based off of how we make contact with others in general that don't have our language - but i wonder if body language and motioning to things would really even help, if those things happen to also (pardon the pun) be alien to them.

Interesting topic to think about!

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nattydread69 t1_ivj45to wrote

I hate how mainstream science ignores the overwhelming evidence that they are already here.

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cardlackey t1_ivjbtke wrote

They are just calling about your cars extended warranty.

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logginginagain t1_ivjea6k wrote

They can save their effort. The odds are a billion to one

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devilishlydo t1_ivjo37j wrote

It's okay. We're still coming to a consensus on our first contact protocol, too.

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DamonFields t1_ivi539c wrote

Help! We’ve been stranded on a planet full of lunatics!

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RenaissanceManc t1_ivgx9ne wrote

Honestly when I see titles like this I just think 'so what'?

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MixxieMixeiBoi t1_ivgy6ro wrote

Again with looking for creatures that only exist in fiction (movies included)... 🤔

That's like trying to look for bigfoot, vampires, werewolves, and the likes, even if they never actually existed in real life.

Edit: What is with the downvotes?

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Pinktail t1_ivihh4c wrote

2.5 degrees increase in temperature and the world's leaders inaction somehow makes me feel we won't need any contact protocol, they will be exploring our ruins , we will be long gone.

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Suralin0 t1_iviwv4y wrote

Step One: Keep all politicians the heck away from first contact.

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