One of humanity’s most significant events will be the discovery of intelligent life elsewhere in universe. Back in the 1980s, a group of astronomers involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence became concerned about the way news of this first contact might spread around the world.
Their worry was that the unplanned spread of information might be hugely damaging. Information could become distorted, and people might panic, leading to widespread confusion and even violence.
Indeed, something like this occurred in the 1940s following the famous War of the Worlds broadcast of a fictional news story describing Earth being invaded by Martians. In various places the story was accepted at face value, and in Ecuador, the news triggered confusion and riots that led to the death of some 20 people.
So in 1989, a team from the International Academy of Astronautics drew up a set of guidelines for releasing information about potential contact events. The guidelines have since been widely accepted by SETI researchers and other scientists likely to be involved in a contact announcement.
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