How would humans react if we really found aliens?
If aliens reach out to us, what would happen first? It's a question that has puzzled science-fiction fans and scientists alike for many decades now. Although it is very unlikely, since the start of space exploration in the mid-1900s, there have been some subtle clues that extraterrestrial beings do exist somewhere in space.
On October 30th, 1938, a dramatised version of the 1898 H.G Wells novel "the war of the worlds" played on radio systems across the USA. The story emphasises a martian attack on earth. The radio broadcast caused a varied reaction across the US when people mistook it for a real radio report. Accounts vary as to the level of a reaction there was, while some accounts describe a nationwide panic and others describe many people not actually having heard the report, it gives us a clue as to how humans would react.
Many people are skeptical about the reliability of the information we receive regarding space, myself included, and others believe everything they are told. This would cause a nationwide debate as the two sides would have their diverse beliefs and we would need exact proof from the space explorers in order to settle the commotion. If evidence does reach the public before the scientists have finished analysing it, they would use something called The Rio Scale which represents the degree of likelihood that alien contact would happen. While alien contact is unlikely, the numbers on this scale would either mean that the public run far from the expected "first contact area" or would quickly forget this ever happened and move onto gossiping about the next big news update.
In conclusion, is hard to predict how humans would deal with the discovery of aliens as we all have different opinions and beliefs. Based on the current situation, aliens are not coming to earth and if they do it will be so far into the future. Some of us in our lifetime may never experience this. We simply cannot predict the future.
We may react in shock or in fear but we will never know until it happens.
Comments (108)
05 Dec 2019
Thanks for your post. Do you think humans like the idea of aliens because they think of them being human-like? What if an alien was a living organism without a face or ability to communicate. Do you think we'd be as excited to find a species like that?
Firstly thank you for these questions they have really encouraged me to think further about my views. Personally, I think that humans would like the idea of aliens being human-like because they could help solve some major problems facing the earth. If aliens are like humans they could help us think of ideas on how to prevent global warming or pollution, they could bring some new ideas that maybe even we aren't capable of thinking about.
However, if the aliens that scientists found seemed to be faceless or not have the ability to communicate humans would be scared. Humans' natural instinct is to be scared of something more peculiar or strange and we would go into a nationwide panic. I think humans would also be a bit curious of this new species we have found but would soon realise that they could possibly be a threat. In addition, I think scientists would be the ones excited if we found non-human-like aliens as it would be a new and exciting discovery. Based on the competition (regarding some of the major countries in the world that have contributed to new space discoveries such as the USA and China) scientists would feel excited yet proud that they were the ones to find such an interesting species and it would be a huge breakthrough in space exploration. It would make all the billions of pounds spent on developing space exploration further, worthwhile.
Excellent further thinking! You've reduced my scepticism about human ineterst in this type of alien. Thanks!
What is ineterst?
or did you mean interest?
05 Dec 2019
I liked your post. It seems very informative and it helped me to understand the space time line a lot better now.
06 Dec 2019
If aliens are real the government would surely keep it a secret because ( for some reason) they might want to make money out of it. What I mean is that if you came across a diamond worth 100,000£ you would obviously want to sell it for the money. Government or whoever would possibly keep it a secret to stop other people coming out with the idea and making money out of what they originally discovered. If it was an alien apocalipse I’m sure it wouldn’t quite be a secret ( we might possibly be dead). Or maybe aliens are not real after all. Maybe it is only us in the universe. That’s up to NASA to find out!
I don't quite understand, if aliens were discovered by the government who would they sell their discovery to? Would they sell the aliens or the opportunity to steal the fame for the discovery? I personally don't think the government would keep the discovery secret as they have been trying to figure out if they exist for years now. They would want everyone to know that space exploration was successful. With all the money going into it, they would surely want everyone to know about it.
That's an interesting and original thought, frank_chocolate!
Adding onto frank_ chocolate's comment I also think that the government would definitely sell this discovery as this is an ambiguous question which has been unanswered for many decades. In addition to that, the government would certainly try to boast their discovery and try to get a lot of attention from the media and people. They would do this to reveal to people that they should be trusted and voted.
06 Dec 2019
In my opinion, I think that aliens are real because some people have actually seen aliens! But as I said this is my opinion. But this has been stuck in scientists mind for a very long time.There is no prof of there are real. What do you think?
I agree with you because many people have actually claimed to of seen aliens, but we also need to make sure that what we think is scientifically backed up. What if aliens are real, but they are human-like and smarter than us so they can hide from us? We may never find proof and will just have to live with the burning question.
06 Dec 2019
in my opinion aliens are not real because if aliens were real they would of all ready took over Earth and area 51 has no aliens its just a army base
What if aliens don't even want to attack earth? What if they are friendly? This is a possibility; they may just want to live a quiet and peaceful life.
you can't tell people that aliens aren't real that is what people believe
I understand, I myself don't think aliens are necessarily are real. I just wanted to ask exactly how they came to their conclusion. This is what I asked myself when i was first questioning aliens existence.
06 Dec 2019
You see scientist are more likely to be correct becouse they have been studying for many years but in my opinion I think aliens are real becouse humans haven't checked the craters on the moon and some people have seen them as determined orange said
I strongly agree. We must trust scientists as they are the professionals. I don't think they would give the public false information about extraterrestrial life in space.
06 Dec 2019
I would say people will think that there dreaming and would not belive there eyes
This is exactly how I would react.
Same here
09 Dec 2019
This post is very good and describes what people could feel if Aliens did come to Earth
Thank you. I was having some trouble understanding it all and when i formed my thoughts i wanted to make a post to help other people understand too.
09 Dec 2019
We would be shocked if I found an injured one I would help it
I agree humanity would be shocked. We have spent quite a lot of time on space exploration and we haven't found anything yet. I have a question, would you still help an injured alien that wasn't human-like and was quite aggressive towards you? In my opinion, I would want to help it but I would be to frightened of it.
09 Dec 2019
This is very original and interesting to read about I really would be something special if aliens were real and soon came to reach out to us. Keep up the good work!
thank you! It would be exciting and special, wouldn't it? Although the whole thing does sound a bit daunting, I mean aliens coming to live with us, it is the kind of thing you see in movies. Not in real life.
But only one and we do not know how many aliens there even are
Yes, this is true, it is unknown how many aliens there are and if they are even real at the moment.
Great
09 Dec 2019
This is to Frank_chocolate.
That is your opinion so that means you think that.I am perfectly in titled to your opinion. But not everyone agrees with that. What I think is that aliens are real and they might come in harm and might not come in harm. The reason why I think this is because people have said they have seen aliens also there is actually a real festival that celebrates that day! So what I am saying is that,why would people celebrate something that never happened? Like I said, this is my opinion. Some people might think aliens are real and will come in harm. But others might think aliens are not real and nothing like that will ever happen. What do you think? Lets wait until the future to find out!!!
I agree everyone has there own opinion and I understand where you are coming from. Some people have seen aliens. I think it is just down to whether you believe in aliens or not. There are accounts that prove aliens are real and I think you should carry on believing what you believe. It makes for a great debate topic, doesn’t it?
11 Dec 2019
If we found aliens we would learn more and the question "Are aliens real?" would be answered
It would end the confusing debate and would put a stop to questions not having answers
11 Dec 2019
Wow
11 Dec 2019
If that really did happen then lots of people would overreact and some people might be upset 😢 as it had never happened before ,in another way people would be more cautious if they cared, it could also be a distraction for more violence unlike fewer people who would not even care if we actually found aliens.
11 Dec 2019
I think some people will be freakout and some not and some people argue-if they exist but i think they do because if we are real in out of space something els will. I think people will not be happy because they could look freaky or they could come to Earth one day and kill some or accidentally hurt some one because they dont no what they are doing. On the other hand they might be helpful because they might of discover something or they might have cures for people and they could just be their if you are lonely. In conclusion i think people will be happy because if you need a friend they will be there to help you or keep you company. But i think most people will not be happy with them because they might be slimy or disgusting.
What do you think governments would do if extra-terrestrial life was discovered?
Is it ok if I answer this question also?
I think the government could act in multiple ways if we found aliens. Firstly, I think they would really try to prove their discovery is real even further as many people in society are extremely confused by the idea and would need lots of statistics and proof in order to accept and believe the discovery. I also think that the government would try and exaggerate what they have found in order to gain worldwide fame and make people more interested. I think this is wrong as they could be dealing with somethings life and they would be using it and talking about in a way that would indicate it is an 'object' and isn't something without feelings. This confuses me because I don't understand why society and the government think aliens might attack. They could be friendly beings. Furthermore, in terms of how the government might feel, I think most of the members would be scared as they would be the ones to meet the aliens first and in case they are not so friendly, it might backfire. Also, they might feel weak because it is there duty to protect the earth and other life forms could threaten our existence, of course, that is if they aren't human-like or friendly. I hope it is ok that I answered this question, I understand it was directed at someone else but I felt really passionate about it and wanted to express what I thought. It is a really interesting question.
Of course it's OK - all questions are for everyone! Thanks for your thoughts, and can you answer your own question - why might people think aliens might attack?
11 Dec 2019
I think it is wrong to call the scenario where possible alien visitors could come to Earth, 'the alien apocalypse'. Humans are very varied, some are naughty, some are nice; aliens could be naughty or nice too. People get too caught up in films where they portray aliens as destructive monsters with huge, evil eyes and schemes to crack planets in to two. I'm not saying aliens out there are definitely good but without meeting them we should not judge them in that way. People need to be more open-minded and see things in other perspectives like 'Ender' in the movie 'Ender's Game,' where he finds that the aliens are not attacking anymore and humans just keep killing them, believing in more than sci-fi alien movies. My point is that unless we meet aliens, we will never no whether they mean any harm, or it could be that harm means something different to them. Their minds could work differently to ours.
And we don't know what form they could take - and if they even have a sense of 'right/wrong'!
I agree. With movies that have aliens in, many of them portray this extraterrestrial life as scary or monster-like. There is too much of a stereotype around aliens and we don't even know how they look or act. That is if they are real of course. Personally, when I watch a movie with aliens in it, I always have to remind myself that how they are portrayed is just a stereotype surrounding them and it really upsets me. These creatures could be human-like and have feelings too. Why as a society do we build an idea about something before we really get to know it? Why do we have to turn something negative just because we are sceptical it exists? As we share similar opinions, I have a question for you genuine_cat, would you be excited if you found out aliens were real? Or would you be upset if the aliens we found were considered monster-like? I myself would be nervous if I found out aliens were real because due to the stereotype, I would be sceptical that they would be peaceful but I know I must not 'judge a book by its cover' as they say.
I think you've answered my other question here!
I in a way agree with you, in the sense that aliens might not be bad but -as Tom said- they might not have a sense of what we would call 'good and bad'. In truth, aliens could be wildly different to the strangest alien any human could possibly imagine. No matter how hard you try, you can not t
Sorry about that other comment, I accidentally clicked submit for approval.
Adding on to this comment, the fundamental laws of humanity might not apply to aliens. A example of this, is the difference between good and bad for them. Good might be destruction, or maybe for them there is not good and bad. Just to do your duty. Aliens might operate their life’s in a totally different way.
As I was saying, no matter how hard you try, you cannot think of anything that you have not pieced together with things you either have experienced or have been told about. Everything you imagine is - in a way - human. The same would go for aliens, in the case that we could simply not be able to think of. For all we know, an extra-terrestrial of the same intelligence as us might have completely different senses to us.
Yeh, I see your point.
11 Dec 2019
Lots of people would be excited to receive information that we have met an alien from outer space! This is because many just read the paper headline and believe what they see. This is the wrong thing to do and is a perfect demonstration of closed mindedness!
However other people, use scepticism when reading the news. This means they will read something and think 'hmmmm that doesn't sound right'. They will read all the facts to get to the truth. This is the right thing to do and is a perfect example of open mindedness!
Personally I am very open minded and sceptical and use my year 6 brain to think about things that I am reading. When recieving information that people have met aliens, I would look at various news reports to see different people's opinions. Then I will make up my mind based on what I have read. Thanks for reading my long comment!!
11 Dec 2019
As i have previously posted last week, that if aliens were to come to our planet, we do not know what may happen. Two different species may or may not get along. We are not talking about films E.T and Flight of the Navigator to compare it will be a similar experience. So in answer to the question, how would humans react - it will be too much to take in accepting it for a start, reaction could be delayed due to the shock as well as having not knowing what will happen. History also has proven of the bad things that happen when someone form another country tries to go to another country to help the people there, but only to take control, and tat is wrong from every concept. And i am still waiting for the answers for my space questions of 2 weeks ago.
12 Dec 2019
If we really found aliens, it would be exciting for everyone apart from scientists because they have sort of predicted there are aliens somewhere in the universe. And like Tom said, they might not have a sense of right/wrong meaning they could invade us not knowing how wrong that is. If they were to invade us, we might be too distracted to look at them closely because we are in the middle of a fight but if they came in peace we could respect them more and maybe have DNA tests to see if we are related to them. If they come with an intent to harm, humans will immediately dismiss them for "bad" people, when they just don't know it's wrong because they don't have a sense of right and wrong. But they might not even be an intelligent species, just some invisible-to-the-naked-eye bacteria which gives us diseases and illnesses without even knowing. I think we just need to not interfere with aliens unless they do first because we are the ones with consciences and no what to do better than them.
succinct_leaves
These are very interesting thoughts - do you think humans would react differently to extra-terrestrials if we found out we were related to them?
12 Dec 2019
I think if society found aliens we would be happy because people could get rich if they sold their discovery to someone so really I think we wouldn't take care of the alien because it was only one alien.
I do also think we would be shocked/scared if we found one because we wouldn't know if it was a nice alien or a naughty alien. If it was a nice alien, we would treat it like a normal human, helping lives, being friendly, give it a few friends etc. But on the other hand, if it was a bad alien we would imprison it because it would probably try to destroy society so we would treat it like a criminal and send it to prison.
I would try and make it welcome if I found an alien and I would make it my friend.
12 Dec 2019
I think humans would treat aliens wrong because it is different and even though you should accept everyone know matter if they are the same or different. But people don't except changes which is wrong but at the same time personally I don't mind if you are different but it would be a big change for aliens to come to earth and I don't think that I would be able to get use to it. Although people will not accept it I think I would tell myself that I should do the right thing which is accepting them because i know what it is like for you to be left out and I am Shure that most people do also know. I think that we would need to get use to it if we did find them but at the moment I am happy as I am but I will not be upset if aliens do come. Thankyou for your amazing post it inspired me to understand that everyone is different and we need to just learn and except that people like to experess them selfs in many diffrent ways. Thankyou.
12 Dec 2019
I'm not quite sure but i predict that the world would freak out because earth ,human-kind are not ready.if there are aliens out to get us then we are nowhere near understanding these maybe demonic or friendly creatures.
12 Dec 2019
I think that people would be gobsmacked, perplexed and they would kind of freak out because you were not expecting to see aliens and the aliens could be bad
12 Dec 2019
I think this is interesting, but reacting to aliens is way to far-fetched.
12 Dec 2019
but do spaceships still exists ?
12 Dec 2019
But they could be nice
12 Dec 2019
Aliens are what humans see as monsters.If humans saw aliens,nationwide panic?Definitely. I like your article because you have found evidence and really made the point clear. Also, I think that aliens are probably not going to come.
12 Dec 2019
I agree with genius chocolate because the past has shown that humans can be cruel to those who are different. For example the slave trade ,which started in 1501 and ended 25 march 1807, is when some of the human race thought they were superior because of the colour of their skin. This was a horrible experience for many at the time and many innocent lives were lost. This would be a terrible experience for the '' aliens.'' Another example is the feminine problem that continues to this day. This treatment of woman ended in the suffragets a group of womwn that went on strike . If aliens are treated this way it could end tragically.
If aliens had come to find us, do you think they might be more intelligent than us?
12 Dec 2019
government will do what they always have been doing - to hide the truth. they feel threatened that aliens may be far superior than humans and therefore intelligent than us. government would not want to expose the truth to us.
13 Dec 2019
If we found aliens I think we should try to be nice because who knows if they have tech or not and they could be very dangerous so IF we do find aliens we should approach cautiously and hope we do find life out there because I can have a alien friend
13 Dec 2019
If we found aliens I think we should try to be nice because who knows if they hate technology or not and they could be very dangerous so if we do find aliens we should approach cautiously and hope we do find life out there because I can have a alien friend
13 Dec 2019
The actual question is how would aliens react if they found us?
13 Dec 2019
I think that I would like to see aliens because they could teach us a whole new system and I would like to be friends with them,they would be very interesting creatures and helpful.
13 Dec 2019
If I found out we had aliens in our solar system I would be freaked out because we have aliens and they could cause huge problems but they could be good and we could find a cure or a new material.
13 Dec 2019
If aliens do exist or not human life would possible thing its fake.But there could be aliens because space stations have seen random objectives on the moon and other places in space but also they could be space junk.At this moment of times the space station will probably not tell us and there has been spushisons around area 51 one about aliens been kept there.But in my opinion I believe that aliens do not exist and if they did they would not have the technology to get to earth or communicate to human life .
13 Dec 2019
For this post i am not sure because i think its half and half because most humans will be possibly scared beacause they might be dangerous and they probaly never knew aliens existed But then again people might be happy or exited because they found a new living creature around space
13 Dec 2019
Aliens are fake and I dont believe in them. If they did come to Earth i certainly would be shocked because most people do not believe in aliens, I would also have a lot of questions like has your race developed artificial life? Most people would be really weird ed out by this occurrence. Most people really would be shocked and that is what I think.
This is an interesting and open-minded question - why would you ask this?
I have asked this because if they have artificial life we can learn from them and team up with other terrestrial lifeforms and we can get a lot of things that would not be possible for a long time.
13 Dec 2019
I think people wold be exited because it might be a new creature they saw. But also people might be scared because some might be dangerous and harmful. Also people might think that aliens don't existed.
True, do you think some people after seeing the aliens, would still think there fake? Many people are really sceptical that they do exist and it would take a lot of convincing them. They could think it is a robot just to scare the world. I would want to really make sure it is real before I believe it, I would want to make sure the aliens aren’t fakes. What do you think?
13 Dec 2019
if aliens came to earth then it would end up really awkward because one they dont speak our langue two they will propally just stand around.
Do think aliens can feel awkwardness?
to be honest im not sure but that would just be awkward to be honest😊😁
13 Dec 2019
As there have been many rumours about us meeting aliens, i don't think we would be that surprised. Of course if you saw a 9 eyed specie with 1 leg you would probably feint in shock, but what are the chances of that happening.
15 Dec 2019
I think some humans would just be surprised and maybe scared and other humans might be curious.I also agree with you Confortable coyote because they won't be able to speak our language and we won't be able to speak there language.
15 Dec 2019
If we could actually see aliens the first thing some humans will do is take lots of pictures of them even though they are teriffied I mean that's what lots of human do if they see something unusual and maybe they could be right under our noses there could be invisible aliens
16 Dec 2019
I think humans would be very very SHOCKED because aliens are very rare and hard to find .I also think scientists will be very shocked because they have done work on trying to find aliens but I'm sure they would be rather happy.
16 Dec 2019
humans will be very anxious and unsteady at first because what they can see is not normal and it is a bit of a shock to see an alien but in time they will learn lots about them and get out of there frights and will be a lot calmer to see a green 8 eyed creature.
Unlikely.
16 Dec 2019
Personally, if i saw an alien in space or out, i would take a few photos for proof so scientists can do some research on where they came from and how and why did they come here. Scientists have been studying space and aliens for a while now and there was no sign of them. I would feel very proud of myself because i found a very rare thing that could help many people and answer any questions they have. 😜😊
Good idea. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
16 Dec 2019
i think that if humans find aliens we will be shocked because there from a different planet but scientist word not be that shocked as they have maybe searching for them how word you fill if you saw aliens ?
I agree scientists might have more time to prepare themselves for the discovery if they have been seeing hints to aliens existence for a while, although if they aren't expecting it, they could be quite shocked.
16 Dec 2019
I think that aliens eat humans but they are dieing because there on the Moon and we are on the Earth.
16 Dec 2019
humans would not know how to react🤔👍
How would you know.
16 Dec 2019
People will probably be shocked if they see Aliens if I saw an Alian my eye balls would fall down my head into my mouth
As I said, diffrent people would act in diffrent ways
16 Dec 2019
Different people would act in diffrent ways if they saw a alien. If I saw one, I would be so surprised that I would faint.
16 Dec 2019
i think that human will be shocked because if there was aliens it will be weird.
I agree with you
18 Dec 2019
In my opinion, I think that I would be hesitating or devastated because I have never see their species before so I don't know how the aliens would react and how other humans would react and frank_Chocolate I am wondering how you would feel if you were wandering around and you found a hurt alien on the ground because it fell out of its space ship and what would you do. would you help it or would you leave it lying on the ground?
Thank you for the questions. I think, I would help it but not by picking it up and taking it home, but by calling for help from the police as they would be able to get in touch with experts in the government. They could also ensure everyone’s safety. I would only do that if I thought it was dangerous, maybe if I saw it was trying to hurt me or anyone else. However If I thought it was safe I would take it home and then call the police because aliens might be friendly and human like, but we won't know until it possibly happens.
19 Dec 2019
I believe that aliens are more clever than us if they do exist. Humans could have formed from them not apes. Who know what they look like or what they do. There is obviously life on another planet if aliens exist but they could live on any thing. If we found aliens then it would be yet another discoveries for human kind.
This is an interesting thought and one that could be true. There is no way of knowing where humans came from and we could of evolved from aliens.
28 Dec 2019
I am almost certain that aliens are fake and I don't understand how anybody could possibly believe in them. If they could just about be real, everyone would be scared and curious because it is so strange that something from out of the earth's atmosphere and that is exactly how I would feel they did come to Earth and start roaming around. And I'm certain that people would have an endless amount of question such as "do you have any forms of life in your home planet.
Hilarious_fruit why do you think that they do not exist what evidence have you gathered to form your answer
05 Jan 2020
If we find aliens and we do tests on them nobody knows how long aliens have been around or even how they lived. Most people would be scared of aliens whilst others would be intrigued in the strange finding. Of course we will never know if we have found an alien because the government won’t tell unless they find something incredible about the creatures. Aliens could just be humans that have evolved a different way to us and formed differently. We think of aliens as ugly creatures that live on another planet but what if there not. Nobody knows...
05 Feb 2020
in my opinion i think that aliens are real because in a lot of non-fiction books I've read there has been cases of astranout's seeing aliens whilst there in the space rocket or whilst there on the planet so if i saw an alien i would be amazed because it would be a one in a life time expereince so i would be quite happy yet confused :)
21 Apr 2020
ALIENS ARE REAL.... Aliens are real and i strongly believe in them .if it comes to pass that aliens come to live with us,it will be interesting and I'm saying
this because aliens comes from space and they are the only organism that have been staying in space and they do have great knowledge about their home and they can help human beings solve their problems. Many people think aliens does not exist but it is not true and many people will try to harm them but it wont bring anything.as for me I will accept them because they might have greater knowledge than scientists and will solve great problems for us.
01 Jun 2020
Useful information I agree with you
05 Oct 2021
if i could ever meet an alien .....
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