What happens if the search is successful? What if
extraterrestrial signals are found? The SETI community has agreed on a "Declaration of Principles"
as to the procedure for notifying each other and the rest of the world should
a discovery be made. First, the discoverer must make all possible attempts
to verify that the signal is indeed extraterrestrial. Then the discoverer
can notify others in the field to obtain an independent verification of
the discovery. If this test is passed, the discoverer can then broadly disseminate
the information to the scientific community, the Secretary General of the
United Nations, and the public. Any data collected will be made available
to the scientific community for further analysis. As you can see, in spite
of all the "conspiracy theories" that abound in the science fringe
communities, there will be no attempt to hide any data or keep it from the
public eye.
With a little luck, we may know within our lifetime if
we are alone in our galaxy. I'm hopeful that we will find many friends out
there. |