Why Aliens Would (Probably) Come In Peace

WHEN THE MARTIANS FIRST LAND on Earth in the 1996 sci-ficomedy Mars Attacks!, for a moment it appears all will be fine.

- Sarah Begley

“We come in peace,” says their leader, as the music swells and a dove soars overhead. Seconds later the Martian pulls out a laser gun and opens fire on a crowd of human onlookers. Yet another blockbuster alien invasion has begun.

That’s Hollywood, of course. But the melodrama underscores one of humanity’s most widely held fears: that if and when we do encounter extraterrestrial beings, they will wreak all kinds of havoc, much as they do in the movies.

Or will they? For his new book, Aliens: The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life, quantum physicist Jim Al-Khalili asked a series of experts to explore how humans might actually make contact with aliens. The possibility is not as far-fetched as it once seemed: since NASA launched its Kepler mission in 2009, researchers have discovered thousands of new planets and “revolutionized our concept of how many habitable worlds could exist,” writes astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol in one of the book’s essays.

But while Hollywood suggests we should expect to battle their inhabitants, science tells a different story. Here, five popular alien myths that Aliens debunks.

MYTH NO. 1