Several human professions have trailblazers who have considered the implications of contact with an Intelligent Extraterrestrial Race (ET). This essay will review those forays into the future, and ask questions about the meaning and relevance of visionary extensions into an uncertain future. I tentatively conclude that Contact may not be what we imagine. Our vanity may be the biggest obstacle to clear foresight.

Astrobiology was perhaps the first science to seriously consider details of extraterrestrial life, and being conservative, they focused mainly upon on bacterial and other lower life forms. Until exopolitics emerged, modern speculation about contact with Intelligent Extraterrestrials was left to science fiction writers, and theologians far from the public spotlight.

The world of UFOlogy added another dimension when Exoplitics was born, thanks to the insights and efforts of Alfred Webre and Dr. Michael Salla. Other political scientists have considered the issue. In an article in Political Theory (2008, 36:4), “Sovereignty and the UFO”, Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall explore the political implications of potential contact with an Intelligent race of Extraterrestrials. They conclude that the taboo factor is powerful, rendering reasoned discussion practically impossible, because consideration of an ET presence is fundamentally incompatible with the current anthropocentric foundation of political theory.

When global air and sea travel began to shrink the world, International law came into being, to address issues related to globalization. Toxic spills, terrorism, commerce and crime were typical areas for the practice of International Law. When space faring became commonplace, and orbital commercial ventures were planned, there was a movement to consider how the current legal mechanisms would operate with respect to space-based issues. Space Law is emerging as a discipline, as evidenced by websites and blogs such as this one.  The University of Mississippi Law School is the only accredited law school in the USA with a program specializing in space law. This spring Michael Dodge will be the first law student in the history of U.S. jurisprudence to graduate with this unique specialization. I wonder if, in the course work, they had considered legal perspectives on Contact and Disclosure scenarios.

In an article in Nursing Science Quarterly (2007,20:229) titled “Imagining Nursing Practice in 2050: Looking Through a Rogerian Looking Glass.”, author Vidette Todaro Fransceshi openly anticipates that the profession of nursing would deal with Extraterrestrial patients, and that space, being the next frontier and the environment for the next stage in human evolution, will become an increasingly important arena for the practice of nursing.

Commerce is another area where traditional lines of thought have been applied to the space environment. In 2005, for example, the Journal of Vacation Marketing published an article exploring the links between various extraordinary forms of tourist travel, such as pilgrimages, exotic destinations, and outer space. The authors discuss motives, culture, spirituality, the “frontier travel experience”, and how to fine tune marketing efforts. They conducted a small research effort to gather data, and their findings suggest a variety of motives that people have for wanting to venture into space, including self actualization, the fulfillment of childhood desires, and spirituality. Although they did not discuss encounters with ETs, their study is illustrative of an emerging trend to consider seriously the ramifications of space travel.

Environmentalism has been extended to outer space, in a (failed) effort to keep it pristine. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 had provisions to avoid the contamination of extraterrestrial bodies with earth organisms.

Sociologists have written extensively on the colonization of space, UFO cults, globalization and internationalization extending into space, without, however, adding the prefix “exo” to sociology. If contactees such as Philip H. Krapf are vindicated, and a teeming galactic community of species and societies comes into focus, the sociologists will certainly have their work cut out for them.

Anthropologists studied Aboriginal narratives of Star Nations, and to that extent at least, have had to consider the ET dimension. An anthropologist at California State University goes further, to explore the nature of ETs, and speculates on an extraterrestrial anthropology. You can read his paper here.

Ethicists, military strategists (of course), and psychologists have also ventured in mind beyond the confines of the known biosphere. Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary first coined the term “Exopsychology” in his book by that title. He explored the relationships between human evolution, consciousness, genetics, quantum theory and technology. His book, which is the foundation for this current incarnation of exopsychology, was decades ahead of its time. A few other psychologists have discussed UFO and contact phenomena, either from a transpersonal, Jungian perspective, or in a  (failed) attempt to explain believers as being deluded or pathological. The vast majority of psychologists steer clear of anything related to the subject.

Theologians take the prize for being first off the mark, for having had lengthy discussions about the existence of extraterrestrials, and possible contact scenarios. Their work has been so extensive that it deserves a separate entry. In short, theological discussions about Intelligent ETs date back centuries. As early as 1277, a papal bull was declared, warning against dangerous teachings that supported the creation of multiple worlds. Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in 1600 for, among other offenses, having declared that the heavens are full of inhabited planets. Exo-theology, and exo-Christology are two terms that have recently appeared in the theological literature, where thre are on-going serious, highly intellectual discussions on how to prepare for extraterrestrial contact. The involvement of the Catholic Church with extraterrestrial topics and phenomena is significant, lengthy and complex, and should not divert us from the question at hand: does speculation about extraterrestrial contact represent a prelude to a New Age, when we will actually be in contact with galactic neighbors, or is the speculation really another phenomenon altogether?

Visionaries often presage the future through their art and writings. But not always. Sometimes, they are off the mark, such as the 1950’s prediction that better technology would result in people working less, and feeding a huge leisure market. The prophetic writings of Jules Verne have been largely enacted, but those of science fiction writers such as Issac Asimov and Frank Herbert have yet to be realized.

Are the professionals from the legal, nursing, marketing and other disciplines to be included among visionaries and science fiction writers, when they attempt to consider ET contact scenarios? That is one possibility, and we will know for certain only if and when Contact is a reality. What are some other possibilities?

The first one that comes to mind is that people tend to project their desires, fears and aspirations onto vague, uncertain patterns. Similar to when we see things in cloud formations, we see things in UFO encounter stories. because we are pattern-seeking entities, we tend to fill in the blanks, and make sense of the nonsensical by adding elements, minimizing other elements, and making connections where there may in fact be none.

There are so many diverse stories, with so many contradictions and levels of reality, and continually elusive evidence, that the entire phenomenon is wide open to any and all forms of interpretation and speculation. Not that there is no evidence: there is. It is just that the evidence tends to take the form of testimony. As I have written before, “A mountain of testimony does not equal one alien toothpick.” Hoaxers are numerous. Photographic and video evidence tends to be blurry, of doubtful or unsubstantiated provenance, or forever saddled with the suspicion that it was computer generated. Some videos appear genuine, especially when you consider the sheer number that appear on the Internet every day; but those ones tend to be points of moving light in the distance. When you consider the entire body of evidence, it seems logical to conclude that yes, indeed, UFOs exist, that they are something completely unknown to us, and probably involve beings from other worlds, other dimensions, or other realities. The point here, is that the evidence is not crystal clear, unambiguous, and simple to behold. It is fuzzy, vague, incomplete, and a perfect backdrop for the projection of our mental contents.

For those who have seen a spacecraft-like phenomenon, there is no doubt. For everyone else, the majority, there is considerable doubt, or if not doubt, then room for imagination, and to project their minds upon the poorly defined, weakly integrated, multi-faceted UFO story. In other words, when engaging in the UFO field, personal egos have plenty of room to make sense of the facts by making mistakes.

Who can see things as they really are? Only the Wise, they say. And the Wise Ones are, most probably, staying far away from speculation and emotion-ridden UFO groups, because they have more important things to do, like stopping Armageddon.

We must admit that, apart from those who have had a personal contact experience, consideration of extraterrestrial contact and disclosure scenarios contains a hefty dose of pure speculation. Contactees who have received instructions, visions, explanations, and so on, would of course deny that speculation has anything to do with it. But we are not here considering contactee reports, but professionals reaching forward in time and considering the ET question from the particular perspective of their profession. Many motives potentially come into play.

Several typical desires could play out, as they so often do in professional circles: to stand out from their peers, to be seen as advanced or visionary, to demonstrate open-mindedness to their peers, to partially fulfill childhood dreams of ET contact, to score points against a rival, and similar ego based impulses. Speculation about ETs is not about doing research, or making real contributions to science; it is about attempting to lead the way into the future, to break new ground, to innovate, to find meaning in work, and contribute by asking questions, as opposed to furnishing answers - which is a good thing, because excellent science is based on asking the right questions.

As with most human endeavors, the work of ET-minded writers is probably, most often, a mixture of the noble and the base, gold and lead, soul and ego. An ET-related impulse perhaps comes from the depths of inner wisdom, maybe in a dream or sudden flash, or in an attempt to do something about that strange UFO sighting, and in the course of acting upon that impulse, ego considerations creep in to alter and contaminate the work. We give more credence to those who do not profit financially from their ET and UFO stories, but we do not always see the subtler, egoic ways that people gain from participating in the ET/UFO field of study.

When considering the nature and motives of someone writing about contact scenarios, we can be on the lookout for attention-seeking, self promotion, and dependence on criticism of others. If any of those are dominant, then ego may have taken over too much control. Ego usually takes on more subtle manifestations, that are invisible to observers. Some may, for example, wish to study the ET phenomenon in order to quell an inner anxiety that arises when ETs are associated with disaster scenarios. They will never admit that, perhaps not even to themselves, yet it could be a motivating force, operating in the background. Such motives can skew writings and research in subtle ways, but, alas, most work, is more or less perceived, defined and distorted by our personalities. Vanity is another, more serious pitfall.

Who are we to presume that, for example, an extraterrestrial race would want to negotiate with us? The so-called negotiations and treaty with President Eisenhower and his military people are, if true, clearly in violation of the most basic ethical standards. If those meetings happened, they were to manipulate us, pure and simple. An enlightened, benign treaty negotiation between an extraterrestrial race and humanity would not take place in secret, and be restricted to one nation. If that meeting took place as reported, then the ETs are in cahoots with the military-industrial-media complex, and we are in dire straights.

If humanity is to take its place among our Galactic neighbors, then we must get beyond nationalism, and adopt an “Earth first” mentality. Compared to planetary societies, we are backwards. When a group of adults comes upon some boys out of control in the park, perhaps playing dangerously with knives, the adults, if responsible, take charge of the situation. The goal is to prevent or stop fighting before someone gets hurt, help anyone who is hurt, and set them back on track, perhaps by bringing them to their parents. The group of adults would act in a parental role, even if they were not in fact the parents of the boys. The adults might speak with the boys, and even speak softly, after engaging them with something interesting. They would distract the boys, promise them things, maybe demonstrate their power. Perhaps ETs are in a similar situation with us. Perhaps they see us as we might see a group of older boys holding a larger group of younger boys hostage. Our situation is similar, in that a group of powerful interests control most of the worlds resources, media, and politicians. It is only a small number of people, for example, who wish to continue the manufacture and sale of armaments, and who manipulate to prolong the wars that use up those weapons. Only a relative few people control the major media, and perpetuate ideas that keep us locked into the eco-degenerative status quo. If ETs are already secretly involved in our affairs, either they are helping us resolve some of our problems, or they are taking advantage of us in some way. Probably not both, because our problems are critical, threatening biosphere integrity. To take advantage of a planet in such a dire state would be unethical at best.

How many exopoliticians, exo-economists, and exo-theologians consider contact scenarios that involve people being put in their place, whether or not they agree with the process? Are we so vain, as a species, that we cannot entertain the possibility that we are a species out of control, and that any contact with extraterrestrials, no matter how it appears, would probably be a way of intervening and making us change our ways? Who are we to think that we are ready to join the Galactic community? We are wrecking our biosphere, fighting amongst ourselves, and allowing greed to dominate our economic activities. We reject our own people at artificial borders, and teach our children to reject others based upon religion and nationality. The level of thinking is often so low, that we cannot see past the most patent manipulations, and our nations are largely controlled by corporate psychopathic interests. Our tolerance of diversity is weak, racist tendencies are hard-wired in our brains, and we tend to be emotionally reactive when faced with uncertainty and the unknown. Let’s face it: we are a species that is at a low level of evolution. Granted, we have amazing potential, create fantastic art, imagine better systems, China has population control and we are progressing scientifically, so maybe we do deserve a break.

It may be, though, that the break we get is not the one we would wish for ourselves. What responsible civilization would let us have, for example, a clean, unlimited energy source? If we were to receive such a boon, you can bet that it will have many, many strings attached. It would not surprise me to learn that advanced human inventions are being suppressed not only by military and corporate interests, but by extraterrestrials or highly enlightened human groups, out of concern that the the technology would be mis-used.

in conclusion, let us not get carried away with our imaginations, and assume that Contact will be a rosy affair, complete with ticker-tape parade and flocks of doves being released, church bells tolling across the land, muezzins calling out “God is Great” from the mosques, the military pledging to destroy their weapons, and a plan to design a new economy based on ecological reality and compassion for all beings. We can hope and dream, but the more we take action now to remedy our problems, the greater the likelihood that Contact will be more like meeting the neighbors, and less like getting pulled over by the police.

I have presumed that ET visitors are ethically more advanced than us. That is a huge, optimistic assumption, and may be incorrect. Advanced technology, as we know, does not necessarily accompany advanced ethics. A separate essay will explore the ramifications of the opposite assumption: that ET visitors are not at all “Interstellar Policemen”, and are, in contrast, self-serving. What would contact look like in that scenario? What could and should we do in such a situation? If indeed a gradual disclosure process has already begun, then some of the darker ET contact scenarios, including conflict, may already be a reality.