Well, I came here expecting snark, and here is aplenty. It’s almost impossible that we will be contacted by little green men, stepping out of their flying sauc

Well, I came here expecting snark, and here is aplenty. It’s almost impossible that we will be contacted by little green men, stepping out of their flying saucers in front of the white house. Instead, if the SETI search continues at its current pace, it is possible that some time in the next few decades we will have our first evidence of an extra-terrestrial intelligence. This could be either in the form of received radio signals, or an exo-planet, who's atmosphere shows telltale markers of an industrial civilization. What happens next is as much a political question as a scientific one. Even if we sit on the news for years, its obvious that someone is eventually going to try and send a signal back. The UN has a role to play in ensuring that first contact is handled in a calm and thought out way. Unless there is somebody in a position to co-ordinate things, every other country with a radio telescope will be beaming up signals. Would you really want first contact to come from the US, China, North Korea, Russia and France, all at the same time? It’s good that the UN is thinking about these problems now, so that if, and when that momentous day does arrive, we are prepared to speak clearly, with one unified voice.