For generations, human beings have wondered: What would alien life from another planet be like? But we rarely ask the opposite: What would they think of us?
It’s a question that can produce some, well, uncomfortable answers if you happen to be an earthling.
鈥淚f I were looking at Earth from a distance, I would be pretty disappointed,鈥� theoretical physicist Avi Loeb says. 鈥淢ost of our investing is dealing with conflicts to prevent other people from killing us or us killing others. Look at the Ukraine war over a little bit of territory. That is not a sign of intelligence.”
The debate on whether little green men or UFOs are among us escalated in February when former President Barack Obama, responding to a podcaster’s question, said aliens are 鈥渞eal,鈥� but he 鈥漢asn鈥檛 seen them鈥� and 鈥渢hey鈥檙e not being kept at Area 51.鈥� President Donald Trump later that he was directing release of government files because of 鈥渢remendous interest.鈥�
Stepped-up interest in UFOs also is swirling as the United States heads back toward the moon with Wednesday’s launch of mission. The four astronauts aboard will do a fly-around of the moon before returning to Earth.
In a world riven by war, civil unrest, climate change and divisiveness, it’s easy to wonder what newcomers to Planet Earth might make of us and our struggles. Whatever the case, well over a majority of Americans echo the sentiment of the slogan from 鈥淭he X-Files鈥�: 鈥淭he truth is out there.”
conducted by the Pew Research Center showed about two-thirds of Americans said their best guess is that intelligent life exists on other planets. About half of U.S. adults said UFOs reported by people in the military are 鈥渄efinitely鈥� or 鈥減robably鈥� evidence of intelligent life outside Earth.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to think this is the only place in this extraordinarily and incomprehensibly large universe where life and intelligence and even technology have emerged,鈥� says Bill Diamond, president and chief executive of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.
鈥淚t sort of says about humans, 鈥橶e don鈥檛 want to be alone.'”
Something is up there. But what?
Americans have been fascinated by the thought of life outside this planet following the recovery of debris in 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico. The military initially said the material was from a flying disc, only to reverse course and tell the public it was from a weather balloon.
Hollywood ran with it. Flying saucers, little green men and eventually humanoid gray aliens became part of popular culture. April 5 even is celebrated annually throughout the iconic 鈥淪tar Trek” franchise as 鈥淔irst Contact Day鈥� to mark the date in 2063 when humankind, in 鈥淭rek鈥� canon, first made contact with Vulcans.
Much in the popular culture suggests any aliens might be aggressive. Priscilla Wald, who teaches about science fiction at Duke University, has a theory as to why.
鈥淚t seems to me it鈥檚 a reflection on who we are, that we鈥檙e projecting onto aliens the way we treat each other,” Wald says. “So the aliens are coming down, they want to conquer us, they鈥檙e violent. Who does that sound like? It sounds like us.鈥�
In 2024, of unidentified and unexplained aerial phenomena. However, that gave no indications that their origins were extraterrestrial.
On two separate occasions, Debbie Dmytro saw things in the sky over Michigan鈥檚 southern Oakland County. The greenish object Dmytro says she saw March 1 in the sky over Royal Oak, Michigan, looked like neither plane nor helicopter. Dmytro, a 56-year-old medical professional, acknowledges that it could have been some type of commercial or delivery drone.
What she saw in 2023 in the same general area north of Detroit is not so easily explained.
鈥淔our yellow lights, yellowish golden lights and they were all flying very, very low,鈥� Dmytro remembers. She says the lights were about 100 feet (30 meters) up at their nearest.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anything so low without any noise and flying in complete uniformity,鈥� she says. 鈥淚s it something man-made? Is it something that鈥檚 not manmade? Who knows?鈥�
Who knows indeed? UFOs, the term for unidentified flying objects, has in recent years given way to UAP 鈥� unidentified aerial phenomena or unidentified anomalous phenomena.
鈥淎bsolutely, there are such things鈥� as UAPs and UFOs, says Diamond, whose SETI 鈥� Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence 鈥� seeks to explore, search and understand the nature of life and intelligence in the universe.
鈥淧eople observe things in the sky that they can鈥檛 immediately identify or recognize as either human engineering such as planes or drones or helicopters, or animals, such as birds, and therefore they don鈥檛 know what they are,” Diamond says.
Time for the truth
Like so many, Dmytro wants to know what the government knows. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 more information out there. I鈥檓 open to learning more,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 have an open mind. It鈥檚 always about scientific proof.鈥�
Retired Rear Adm. Timothy Gallaudet says evidence clearly shows there are UAP zipping around the airspace and in the oceans.
鈥淭he nonhuman intelligence that operates them or controls them are absolutely real,鈥� Gallaudet says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e recovered crashed craft. We don鈥檛 know if they鈥檙e extraterrestrial in origin.”
Gallaudet worked as acting administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He participated in a 2024 congressional hearing on UAP disclosure and says the release of government files promised by Trump is something people find of interest. He just hopes the president follows through.
There are billions of galaxies in the universe and each has billions of stars, so the likelihood life developed elsewhere is fairly high, according to University of Michigan Astronomy Professor Edwin Bergin, who teaches about looking for life elsewhere. He believes that if intelligent beings navigated vast distances to reach Earth they would make themselves known 鈥� despite humanity鈥檚 penchant for creating chaos.
鈥淚 would think that they would look at us like we were crazy … but they would come out,” he says. “I mean, why come here otherwise unless you鈥檙e going to sit and observe.鈥�
Loeb, director of the Institute for Theory & Computation at Harvard and head of the university’s Galileo Project for the Systematic Scientific Search for Evidence of Extraterrestrial Technological Artifacts, believes in the likely existence of extraterrestrials.
鈥淭hey might be laughing at us,鈥� he says. “They might be watching us … to make sure we will not become predators, that we will not become dangerous to them.鈥�
In the interest of national security
Much of the government鈥檚 secrecy around UFOs and UAP is tied to national security concerns, according to Diamond.
鈥淲e have pretty advanced technologies, satellite, ground-based that are for various purposes mostly national security and defense that are pointing at the sky or things on board aircraft,鈥� Diamond says. 鈥淪ometimes these pick up objects. The technology behind it is sensitive and protected.鈥�
Government data, including a 鈥渢rove 鈥� of UAP video the Navy is sitting on, should be shared with scientists for research and a better understanding of the characteristics of the objects, says Gallaudet, who spent 32 years in the Navy and viewed classified UAP video.
鈥淲hen you look at these things in our airspace having near collisions with our aircraft, that鈥檚 a real valid concern,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e are just not sure of what they are and what they intend to do with their interaction with humanity. That could be a national security threat, or not.”
鈥淲hen has ignorance ever been a good national strategy?” Gallaudet asks. “Whether it be scary, harmful or not, or a mix, I think seeking the truth is in our best interest.鈥�
Meanwhile, Diamond doesn’t think any 鈥渢rue alien encounter could be kept secret.鈥�
鈥淚f any civilization has mastered interstellar travel, they have technology and capabilities beyond our wildest comprehension,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f they want to interact, they will; if they don鈥檛, they won鈥檛. If they want to be seen, they will be, and if not, they won鈥檛 be!鈥�
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