Nick Pope, who worked for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) between 1985 and 2006, says the world is incredibly underprepared for the eventuality of extraterrestrial contact.
Whether humans discover alien microbes on Mars or detect radio signals from a distant civilisation, Mr Pope said “top-level strategic planning” needs to be readily available.
And exclusively for Express.co.uk, the UFO expert took it upon himself to draft a five-page-long document outlining what he thinks is an adequate response to discovering aliens.
You can read the entire contingency plan written by Mr Pope below.
Mr Pope said he believes people have grown disillusioned with outer space after the Apollo program failed to extend humanity’s reach into the stars.
He thinks this somewhat dampened public excitement around the hunt for alien life, which in turn has left our defences wide open.
Mr Pope said: “It’s an uphill struggle. It’s always tricky to convince people to spend money on what a lot of people might consider white elephant projects, considering a lot of the social problems we have.
“As often as I like to say questions like ‘are we alone or not in the universe’ – that is one of the most profound questions we could ask.