What if NASA reported this was near the Moon

It's a little after noon on a Saturday, and the news blotters and social media feeds are abuzz with chatter about a special announcement. You go outside to trim some bushes, do some yard work, and then run errands. You forgot about the special announcement. You do, after all, have a life.

At 2:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, the networks all go to an interruption. It's time to hear what President Trump has to say. The world is abuzz with rumors. Anchors are pounding their correspondents with questions, and everything from it being an announcement about Iran to the president's newest idea to annoy half the country is floated.

But none of them explain why the activity at the White House is so high, and people are so stressed. The situation room has been under heavy guard for the past four hours. There's a heavy military contingent around the White House grounds; troops are being immediately called back from nearly every point on the globe, and the First Lady and the entire First Family are at the White House.

Shenanigans! This is what it is going to be like if it ever happens. Dear God, it'll be a mess. Particularly if it happens at any time prior to February of 2029. And by the time, on the day of discovery, that the leader of the free world actually addresses the nation, the rumors will have swirled into an ugly mix of things resembling what's found in a child's or an eighty-year-old man's diaper.

Will there come a point when the president comes to the podium? In this case, yes. One reason we can count on it is that we know the man in office well enough that he's going to want to make that last public announcement, to be the last one to do it, before Aliens come and change it all. So, you can guarantee that he'll speak.

Who really sees it going much differently than this?

Marshall law, the military on the streets, violence, a breakdown in communications, looting, rioting, and mass hysteria will be the theme of the day. While the leaders all hunker down in the bunkers, and the aliens show themselves to the soldiers and authorities on the streets, crows will gather to get a look at the ships, and there will be random gunfire into the sky.

The Reality of Aliens

Why would that be how it goes? Well, if you look at every movie from the 80s, 90s, and 21st century that deals with the idea of aliens coming to Earth, how many of them show aliens coming with good intentions? It's a pretty small list. One of the best depictions of it was the television miniseries in the 80s, V.

V stood for Visitors. They were humanoid, bipedal, weird-sounding, but otherwise friendly visitors from another world. They quickly ingrained themselves into our world, with promises of advancements in medical and scientific knowledge. All they wanted was a few key ingredients to help their dying world.

And over time, someone gets suspicious. When the intrepid news reporter, Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), begins to learn more about the Visitors and decides he's going to get an up-close and personal look at their ship, he finds that they aren't what they're pretending to be.

And no, they weren't here for just a few key ingredients to save their world. Their world was turning into a barren wasteland, devoid of enough food, water, and, yes, slaves to do their leader's bidding. Their entire mission was a lie, but why else would a technologically advanced race of aliens show up on Earth with fifty mile-long motherships?

“direct contact with advanced alien civilisations would inevitably lead to the colonisation of Earth by aliens”

Stephen Hawking

In nearly every instance that it's brought up, it all comes down to why? Why would they come here? What would the attraction to Earth be?

It's not the people, unless they're going to be like the Visitors, and use us for food or slaves in their wars. We're still pretty much proving we can prove better ways to kill each other, succumb to our own ignorance, and nursemaid the worst of society.

No, the aliens, if they ever decide to show themselves, are likely to take over and become our new masters. That's why Professor Hawking warned against sending signals into space, and urged that listening was the safest way to monitor and learn about what's out there. We don't want to invite them here.