When will we humans make our first Alien interaction?

[Agayek]

Probably this. If there's (at least) one intelligent race out there (which, with the laws of probability and just how fucking big our universe is, is likely) they're probably going to avoid us until we know better than to shoot them down or try to kill them.

Because wave your peace flag all you like, you know as well as I do that with the world being the way it is now, an alien would show up, someone would say the T-word, and then missiles would be flying and we'd all be doomed to sweat under the lash of our nine-tentacled alien overlords.

Or they will do what every single human being on the face of planet Earth has done when encountering a civilization with significantly less advanced technology for the first time: Rape, Pillage, Murder, Enslave and Steal.

Unfortunately, since they are aliens, they're thought patterns, values and various other determinants for decision making are alien to us. As such, no human can predict what they will do. I find it highly unlikely we will be left alone until our technology rivals theirs though.

Not for a long time. If there are sentient life forms capable of interstellar space travel they'd probably leave us alone until we can sort out all of our issues, and any nonsentient or non spacefaring life would have to be discovered by us, and we won't be leaving our solar system for a few hundred years. I'm pretty sure that Carl Sagan said in cosmos that if a race is able to survive long enough to develop interstellar space travel then they probably will have left war behind a long time ago, so that leaves the possibility of hostile alien invasion, thankfully, quite slim.

What possible basis could Sagan have to make that statement with any sort of definitiveness? There is just as much factual bearing to claim any spacefaring civilization will behave like the Orks from Warhammer 40k.

Humanity is almost guaranteed to be killing each other still when we reach the level of interstellar travel. If human nature hasn't changed in over 200,000 years, it's not going to change significantly in the next few centuries.

Edit:
On topic, it's impossible to tell when we will make first contact. It could be tomorrow, it could be in 40,000 years. There's no way to tell.

That said, my random guess is within 100 years of FTL travel/exploration. And it will involve one or more parties trying to murder the other.

 

[joschen]

I have an idea. Lets build a automatic particle cannon that randomly fire at objects further then 4.4 billion miles away. That will force them to notice us!

Oh, and frack pluto.

 

[-AC80-]

statistics say that there are planets about there that "could" support life but the big question is that we evolved from bacteria into humans via evolution and natural selection. Who is to say that somewhere out there there is an other human race older or younger than ourselves via some corce in the evolutionary chain. eg we could be looking at a plant filled with moneys, bacteria or some kind of higher evolved human ar a race thousands-millions of years older/younger besides if they are older we are more likely to start a war against them. Right?

(in term meaning that this is il-logiagal)

 

[-AC80-]

I have an idea. Lets build a automatic particle cannon that randomly fire at objects further then 4.4 billion miles away. That will force them to notice us!

Oh, and frack pluto.

dont forget ALL of our night sky is now probably burnt out, exploded and gone, in to real time but the speed of light in space causes us to see it is still there. distant stars are probably galaxies now. and light is curved via gravity so we still dont know whare 1/10th of what we see actually is located.

 

[blue heartless]

Where do you think the technology powering your gaming rig came from?

Japan? HA! You should get your head out of fairytale land and start getting me some sugar water!

 

[Kortney]

When we land on Mars, we will uncover the remains of an ancient extinct civilization. The discovery will jump our technology hundreds and hundreds of years forward, making space exploration possible. They will call it the greatest discovery in human history.

But.

We people of the galaxy will call it...

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

There is no way for us to know when we will have our 'first encounter' with xenos.
May never happen, but I bet it will.
I can't wait to meet the Orfine again... sooo cooool/cuuuuteee.
Hauuuuu~

 

[RobCoxxy]

But what if FTL travel is not possibly achieved, and not just by us, by extraterrestrial beings?
Nobody meets anyone, ever. *Sad face*

On the bright side of things, we'll probably be the ones to end up fighting them.
Hell, as a species, humanity always thought itself. Only natural that we'll end up trying to kill other intelligent species as well, not looking at anyone in particular...
Christians/Republicans.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

When we land on Mars, we will uncover the remains of an ancient extinct civilization. The discovery will jump our technology hundreds and hundreds of years forward, making space exploration possible. They will call it the greatest discovery in human history.

But.

We people of the galaxy will call it...

MASS EFFECT.

Awesome...

 

[Vrex360]

It's going to be a long time, maybe not until you've achieved space travel. Possibly decades, maybe even centuries.

Honestly though it depends on whether or not the Sangheili armada might remember that they dropped me off on this planet in a drop pod a considerable number of years ago and that they may consider picking me up, because you know, it's been a while and I've done the field research of human culture and you know, job's done... you know we can start the invasion, right? I mean that is why I was sent here right? I mean I assume you guys just forgot about me, yeah?

[sub]I knew I shouldn't have slept with the Supreme commanders daughter.... dammit![/sub]

P.S odds are it'll either be my kind's the alien race's intent to make peace and further galactic knowing and research or given your humanities violent history and savage culture, you are more likely to be deemed worthy only of extinction.

 

[alinos]

we will make contact when aliens feel like it

i dunno about you but the space program seems to be stagnant if not reversing(on account of the ships that keep 'splodin)

if we make contact ourselves ie not on earth it wont be for at least another 100 years

or maybe its 2012 since its a great Change to the world not END although end still works as long as its taken metaphorically not literally

aliens rocking up on our doorstep would be a complete change and could even cause a better semblence of world peace or it could cause us to blow each other to kingdom kum

 

[TimeLord]

We will never make first contact because we are alone in the universe.

Take that NASA

[sup]I'm sorry, did I spoil the ending for you?[/sup]

EDIT: I jest, FTL travel will make it more possible that we will find Alien races rather than them come to us due to human nature

27 years time, when an alien hatches on a commercial towwing spaceship.

Spoiler: And they'll look like this

This.

and who says we already havent? area 51 anyone? conspiracies are fun.

I say we create an army of Escapists to infiltrate Area 51 and discover that it actually contains zombies

 

[BlumiereBleck]

we already have we shot them down at rosewell. and that siting a few months back that the army said was them but didnt have eveidence to proove it AREA 51!!

 

[joschen]

I have an idea. Lets build a automatic particle cannon that randomly fire at objects further then 4.4 billion miles away. That will force them to notice us!

Oh, and frack pluto.

dont forget ALL of our night sky is now probably burnt out, exploded and gone, in to real time but the speed of light in space causes us to see it is still there. distant stars are probably galaxies now. and light is curved via gravity so we still dont know whare 1/10th of what we see actually is located.

Ok then. Build it on the moon. And make the range unlimited, eventually it will have to hit something.

 

[Tiny116]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/what-will-life-be-like-100-years-from-now-423462.html
There you go have a read.

 

[SprtnKingII]

Someone said they'd like it if a hostile race camedown because we might work together. I think if aliens were hostile and able to travel here they probably would have worked out a way to get rid of us instantly and without us knowing.

Op: I wonder if we will destroy our own race before we meet anyone from anywhere else.

 

[Mcupobob]

In the future, when it happens. I'm no phsyic so thats the best I can come up with.

 

[Keepitclean]

If we do interact with aliens our race will be oppressed or we will oppress them. I guess we technicallt have met aliens. We purge extraterrestrial bacteria off the space shuttles when tehy return from space.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Well first we need FTL travel or dimnetional travel which ever comes first and as to whether or not they will be friendly that could go either way.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

A Wise Man once said "The only proof we need of other intelligent life in the universe is that no one has made contact with us". Very profound, I'm not sure who said it though.

You did.