The thought of humanity making contact with extraterrestrial life has fascinated scientists and the public for decades. But if aliens were to reach out to us today, who would represent Earth and how would we respond?
While this scenario might seem far-fetched, experts are considering how humanity could handle such an extraordinary event and linguists are trying to establish how to decode messages from aliens.
Dr Sheri Wells-Jensen, a linguist at Bowling Green State University in the US state of Ohio and a board member of Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, told The National that radio signals are the mostly likely way we might hear from aliens, rather than any dramatic visit from a spaceship.
“We are a very young civilisation technologically,” she said. "If they [extraterrestrials] remember what it was like to be at our stage, they wouldn’t send something beyond our understanding.
“It's a little bit disappointing because we want them to show up on our doorstep. That'd be more fun but probably it's just going to be a radio signal and what we would do is send maths and science information in the radio signal.”
Her prediction echoes decades of scientific assumptions. Radio waves have been central to the search for alien intelligence, with projects such as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (Seti) scanning the skies for any hint of a message from afar.
The famous Arecibo message, sent in 1974, was humanity’s attempt to communicate with extraterrestrials using binary code to convey information about Earth and its inhabitants.
This also reflects the increasing seriousness with which governments and scientists are treating the possibility of alien contact. The Pentagon’s recent UFO hearings, for example, have added weight to the discussion. While no direct evidence of extraterrestrial life was presented, the hearings revealed decades of government investigations into unidentified aerial phenomena, fuelling public curiosity about how humanity might prepare for contact.
Could language be universal?
One of the biggest challenges in responding to an alien message lies in the fundamental differences between human and extraterrestrial communication systems.
Theories have suggested that communication could come in the form of mathematics, visual patterns or electromagnetic signals, as these are considered universal, but what if the language is something that humans cannot yet perceive?
Dr Jeffrey Punske, a linguist at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the US and co-editor of Xenolinguistics: Towards a Science of Extraterrestrial Language, believes some linguistic principles might be shared across species.
Drawing on Noam Chomsky’s theories, Dr Punske explains that the ability to mentally combine objects – such as words into sentences – might be a universal trait among intelligent beings.
“If this is correct, then some of the structural properties of language should hold across species,” he said. “In a broader sense, I believe it is reasonable to assume that language serve similar or perhaps even identical functions with respect to communication. Thus, we would expect the same type of communicative constraints we find in human language.”
Technology could potentially help in decoding alien language but artificial intelligence may not be immediately useful, Dr Punske said.
“It depends on the size of the text and other contextual resources available,” he said. "But as technology evolves, its potential role in decoding alien languages cannot be ignored."
Yet even with advanced technology, interpreting an alien message may not be straightforward, as human bias shaped by culture and experiences could influence how we interpret data from aliens.
“Imagine if aliens sent a cautious, simple signal expecting an equally measured response and we replied with everything we know. That mismatch could scare them away,” said Dr Wells-Jensen. “We don't know what's rude, scary or what could be considered a threat, so we’ll have to be even more careful because we just genuinely don't know what their goal is in contacting us.”
Who speaks for humanity?
While linguists prepare for communication, there is also the question of who would represent humanity in the event of first contact with aliens.
Michelle Hanlon, executive director of the Centre for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi in the US, told The National that no binding international protocol defines a single authority to speak for Earth.
“The Outer Space Treaty [by the UN] suggests that astronauts are ‘envoys of all humankind’, which implies they could represent us in the event of contact in space,” she said.
“But the treaty doesn’t define ‘astronaut’ and a later agreement refers to ‘personnel of spacecraft’, raising the question of whether a space tourist could claim this role, which may not be ideal.”
Dr Wells-Jensen, however, said aliens may have their own criteria for choosing who they might want to communicate with.
“I think the UN thinks that it speaks for Earth – and that seems reasonable to me – but that might not be what they [the aliens] think,” she said. “Maybe they would want to have individual contact with all people. So I think we can't expect them to agree that our hierarchies and our understanding of who speaks for Earth is the same as theirs.”
Broadcasting signals: risk or opportunity?
A growing area of debate is whether humanity should broadcast signals to the cosmos.
While some argue this could alert hostile civilisations to our presence, Ms Hanlon takes a more optimistic view.
“Humans are innately curious and exploratory. Look at how we migrated all across our small globe. There is no way to shut down this curiosity and we must allow it to flow beyond our earthly 'cradle'," she said.
“We have no idea what exists beyond our little patch of space, which means we have no idea what to expect. Who can predict what we cannot even begin to imagine?
“Broadcasting signals are beacons. Hopefully, should one of our signals be answered, the realisation that we are but one intelligent species in this universe will help unite us, as humans, and help us overcome our earthly squabbles.”
