Why must a meeting with extraterrestrials remain secret?

The results were disappointing: most people were prepared either to exterminate the "invaders" with the gun or to consider them as incarnations of the devil. In the late fifties, the Brookings Institution undertook a study, paid for by NASA, to identify the long-term goals of the future space program of the United States and their impact on American society.

The research also included the implications of the eventual discovery of extraterrestrial life and intelligence. It was found that the discovery of lower forms of life, or even of a "subhuman intelligence", could be easily assimilated; instead, the discovery of a form of intelligence superior to that of the earth would have been followed by profound effects. The researchers alluded to numerous known cases from the past, concerning societies that were very sure of their place in the Universe but that disintegrated when they were overwhelmed by a superior culture, which they did not know before, the culture promoting ideas and styles of different life. And the societies that survived radically changed their value system and behavior.

Carl Gustav Jung, one of the founders of psychoanalysis, illustrates our possible encounter with a more evolved cosmic civilization with the words: "Our dreams would slip out of our hands, we would find ourselves without dreams, we would discover that our intellectual and spiritual aspirations are both exceeded so that it would leave us completely paralyzed".

Traditional religions, the most enduring pillar of morality, would see their sacrosanct dogmas threatened. Some believers would be forced to accept that in the Universe there are other paths to divinity and other intelligent hierarchies than the ones the holy books tell them about. And the fundamentalists will consider that everything related to "aliens" is "the work of the Devil", against which they must fight by all means.

Science would be obliged to recognize the fact that very few of the things that constitute the pride of some research institutes would still have value. As a consequence, people would lose faith in all science, including the one taught at school. Many theories, laws, and statements like "there cannot be a speed greater than that of light" could no longer be supported.

 If there was an official statement regarding contacts with extraterrestrials, if it were known that there are infinitely better technologies near us, the economy would collapse, the stock markets would close, and many businesses would stop, with global effects impossible to evaluate.

In particular, the army would be facing a serious problem, because in a military confrontation with a more advanced civilization, we would have no chance. And if that civilization came to Earth only to impose universal love and peace, it would still be extremely serious, because, as Scott Mandelker observes, "peace is a terrible threat to the status quo: peace will make armies lay down the weapons, the police to tighten; the entire economic system will have to find other bases than war… For those in power, peace is downright dangerous".

In addition, any earthly government, should it come into possession of information on extraterrestrial technologies, will want to keep it strictly secret, in the interest of its own "national security", to ensure a relative advantage over other countries. Even those who don't know what to do with this information would be afraid that others might discover a use for them sooner, of course for new offensive or defensive weapons.

Stanton Friedman believes that if an official statement was made regarding contacts with extraterrestrials, the clientele of churches and insane asylums would increase. He adds, however, that there will also be delighted people. They would forget their national affiliation, considering themselves "citizens of the Earth". It would be a blow to nationalism, nation-states, and politicians, a change that no government would allow. In short, if the authorities find out about the existence of an extraterrestrial civilization, they will do everything in their power to hide this information, with the utmost strictness.