A group of researchers while presenting a report at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science stated that humans might not panic when alien microbes crash land on earth. The researchers who asked people regarding their reaction upon discovery of alien life were quite surprised to know that most of the people in the United States will warmly welcome extra-terrestrial life forms to earth.
"If we came face to face with life outside of Earth, we would actually be pretty upbeat about it," said Michael Varnum, a psychology professor at the Arizona State University in a press release.
During the research, the team led by Varnum surveyed over 500 people and asked them how humanity would react if an announcement of alien microbes is made. People who took part in the study gave more positive responses than negative ones, which clearly indicated that the general public is not influenced by alien movies where extraterrestrial life forms will carry out a killing spree on our planet.
Varnum and his team also analyzed the newspaper stories which covered potential discoveries of alien life including the unnatural blinking of Tabby's star, and the potential discovery of Martian microbe fossil in 1996. The team noted that the language used in these stories were positive in nature, and they did not convey any negative emotions.
Recently, Varnum conducted a similar study when news outlets reported about interstellar visitor Oumuamua. According to Varnum, the news of the interstellar object elicited positive responses even after many conspiracy theorists called it an alien spaceship. Varnum also revealed that most of the media outlets covered the news about Oumuamua in a positive angle.
However, Varnum's study majorly involved potential microbial aliens which may reach the earth. We should wait and see the public reaction if a dominant alien life form visits the earth for an invasion.
