Imagine IF Aliens Showed Up The Next Day

In the universe, are we alone?

Don't you think we should have discovered anything by now, considering that there are at least 500 billion planets in the Milky Way alone and more than 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe?

There would be tens of thousands of extraterrestrial civilizations if even a small portion of those billions of planets supported sentient life.

We haven't, however, seen any. We can't help but wonder why it's taking them so long to arrive.

What if I told you, nevertheless, that our civilization may be permanently destroyed by even the most amiable alien species?

Here's what might transpire if aliens paid us a visit tomorrow—this is a WHAT IF. We have a tendency to extrapolate our theories to the cosmos.

Even though we haven't ventured outside our community yet, we anticipate receiving a visit from aliens.

We basically think that space flight is now feasible because technology has had so much more time to advance.

And now here they are, cruising over us in their futuristic, bright spacecraft. To the best of our knowledge, no government on Earth has prepared an "alien greeting party" in case extraterrestrials suddenly appear. Try to remain composed.

Imagine that before entering our planet's private space, the extraterrestrials were incredibly courteous and sent us a signal.

It wouldn't be immediately apparent to you. Not until that signal was confirmed by other observatories run by various organizations.

Yes, that is all. It's aliens, folks. You're aware now. This startling news reached you via television.

" NASA officially confirmed..."...alien ship detected in the Solar System..." Countries and agencies from all over the world would collaborate and move fast to determine the threat level.

They would call in specialists in biology, psychology, linguistics, and combat to try and establish first contact with the aliens.

Expert groups would videotape every exchange in order to decipher basic alien body language and aural cues.

These would assist in determining if aliens arrived peacefully or with the intention of causing significant harm. It's possible that some people think religious leaders ought to speak first.

I have a feeling that aliens did not study our languages in school, therefore I wish them luck if they choose to communicate with us.

You would be doing this while the brightest minds on the planet were occupied with trying to deduce as accurately as possible the intentions of the aliens.

Don't you want to know what the aliens' appearance is like? According to some evolution specialists, elements such as DNA and proteins are universally present throughout the universe.

If that's accurate, extraterrestrial evolution would resemble human evolution. Their eyes would be near the brain, allowing them to see in both directions. They would have three fingers to grasp tools, two legs at the very least for mobility, and a terrestrial basis, just like humans.

Still, try to imagine anything coming from another planet if some of our own living forms resemble this.

The media would be informing you as governments on Earth worked to come up with an action plan. It would be best if you stayed inside and awaited further instructions. Sorting out the newsworthy stories from the unreliable ones would be difficult.

However, try to remain composed and avoid falling for phony end-of-the-world news on Facebook. If nothing else, try to resist the temptation to gather your stuff and flee to the hills.

Governments and scientists would exchange information regarding extraterrestrial interactions at the same time. From this point on, things could go in a number of different directions.

Initially, there may be no visual or audible response. Absolutely nothing. This might suggest anything from the following: either there are no aliens aboard the alien spacecraft, or the aliens are only waiting for their alien backup to blow us all to bits.

Another hypothesis is that there was no use of weaponry when the aliens responded and attempted to speak. I am unable to speak for their potential motivations. We have no idea if they wish to keep the Earth to themselves and get rid of humans.

The language barrier may be preventing us from interacting effectively. Things would start to get tense. It would be disastrous for us. These beings probably possessed the technology to create some extremely sophisticated weapons, given that they were able to travel to Earth. People in the streets would probably be pressing the panic button as hard as they could. Governments would stand by their nuclear weapons in the interim. Our most effective and devastating weapon against them would be that. Or so we believe.

It might come to be that the aliens respond negatively to things that we take for granted on Earth. If, for example, their skin disintegrated when it came into touch with water, then it would be easy to defend ourselves against them.

Not that aliens would inevitably bring about the end of the world. They might not even be trying to hurt us.

However, we humans might not naturally be immune to those alien bacteria if certain dangerous microorganisms from space rode along with them and entered our planet.

And they might gradually eradicate our species from the earth.

However, if aliens weren't visiting Earth to establish friendships, we would have been annihilated long before we had the opportunity to promote harmony among sentient species. Either way, we're not prepared for an interstellar visitor.

Prepare for "first contact," please. Maybe we ought to attempt invading other worlds before they do the same to us.

But that's a discussion for a different WHAT IF.