Can We Handle The Truth?

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


What I meant is that surely all those people are not atheist, so are they talking about other religions or about their own religion?

It could be a case of "they are going to panic because of their religion".

reply to post by ArMaP


Should we concentrate on religion with this one though? I'm talking about people in general with their lives. Let's not get bogged down in the simple religion aspect and talk about the general problems with humanity accepting alien life. The economic turmoil, the fear of invasion and destruction, the riots that would occur for no rational reason. Am i being overly dramatic in thinking that is how many people would react?

As I've said in another topic, a lot of it would depend on what kind of "aliens" you're talking about, how far away they are, and if they're any immediate threat.

If it was just an artificial radio signal of some sort, coming from so far away we'd never have any real chance of contact or two-way communication, people might be dazzled by it a little for a while and then gradually go back to their normal lives.

If it was mind-eating acid worms invading us on every corner, that would obviously freak people out a bit more.

But I would be very surprised if "disclosure" turned out to be something as simple as Star Trek-like alien creatures, kind of like us, with similar thoughts and motivations, flying in metallic ships, contacting us from other planets. I find that scenario extremely unlikely.

It simply doesn't fit the available data.

All of my friends would just think thats super cool.

My mom would just start praying and going to church more often probably, my dad would'nt freak. My sister would probably think its cool. My brother would think its cool. I would think its cool, actually I would be super excited as I have been waiting for that day for a while now.


I think the best way to answer this is to look at the people around you. From what you know about them, what do you HONESTLY think would happen.

Mass hysteria? Doubt it, maybe the economy would be hit for a while but humans are very adaptable. Alien existence would become the norm fairly quickly.


In the long run I believe it would be very healthy for the human race to know where not alone. We would stop seeing our countries as divisions are lean more toward a planetary division.

[edit on 23-4-2009 by stevedel0]

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
Should we concentrate on religion with this one though?

I was just "thinking out loud", because I noticed that peculiar way of answering the question, just that.

The economic turmoil, the fear of invasion and destruction, the riots that would occur for no rational reason. Am i being overly dramatic in thinking that is how many people would react?

I think you are, but that may be just because I am an optimist.

But I don't see any "economic turmoil", "fear of invasion and destruction" (unless that was their intention, and it was known by us) and much less riots.

reply to post by Nohup


I defined this later on so why are you choosing to disrupt the hypothetical?

So lets be clear, an alien race lands, they say they are benevolent, all evidence points to them being so, they are weird looking (to our standards) but are friendly. Strange customs, maybe very alien to our own.

How would people react.

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984

Originally posted by Freedom ERP
Of course, you question also begs how much of the truth we could be given?

The simple truth that aliens exist and are here. I'm not saying this is factual or not, just a hypothetical. Now if an alien grabbed me in my room when i was half asleep, i'm betting my reaction would be utterly violent or complete, bowl loosening panic. If they landed and publicly proclaimed their existence then i would rejoice. The simple reason is that the first scenario i would consider to be sinister and the second one i would consider to be open, although i would of course be cautious

Anyway yes the simple hypothetical scenario is that they land on earth, very publicly, without meaning harm, pronounce their benevolence and want nothing more than peace and understanding.

I agree with you, However if they were to land peacebly, and accidently land on the President or even just on the whitehouse would we accept it as an accident?

Originally posted by anubis9311
I agree with you, However if they were to land peacebly, and accidently land on the President or even just on the whitehouse would we accept it as an accident?

If they landed on the lawn of the only super power then it wouldn't be an accident. I'm sure they would observe our culture before contacting us and assume someone is in control. The USA would be a good place to start.

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
I was wondering today, could human beings handle the idea that we are not alone? I mean honestly could people candle it if aliens suddenly announced their existence on earth, landed on the lawn of the current super power and waved? I'm just not sure they could.

Take religion. Currently many religions do not allow for the idea of alien life, the Catholic church has recently said that alien life would also be under god.

I made a very dumb mistake once on a plane when I struck up a conversation about other life forms in the universe with the person sitting next to me who turned out to be a catholic priest .

I was stunned to hear his thoughts on the subject being that there is no way alien life could exist and man was alone in the universe and that god was out there watching over humanity only .

He was a thoughtful and clearly highly intelligent person yet he simply refused to entertain the possibility and started quoting the bible at me (a book which I consider the best proof of UFO existence in history)

Also a close friend of mine but a generation ahead of me completely refused to entertain the idea when I foolishly brought it up


In both cases I was stunned at the denial .

I'm sure both these folks would adapt to any alien revelation but I am at a loss as to how people can just block their minds to the possibility like its some kind of absolute impossibility

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
If they landed on the lawn of the only super power then it wouldn't be an accident. I'm sure they would observe our culture before contacting us and assume someone is in control. The USA would be a good place to start.

Yes most likely that would be the case. Forget Kazerkstan or what ever place is building that alien embasy, they would go for the one in control. If they havent already. Besides chance are they will be non hostile since if they were we are already dead. also we would have been conquered by now.

So most likely people would fear at first, maybe not become violent. However mistrust would be there since we are all brainwashed with movies like the day the earth stood still or others. We would be skeptical until they prove thier trust ( by saving us from bird flu). Then we would either be conquered at that point since the masses would be under thier spell. Or we would then live in peace with these fellow universals.

Hopefully the day of discovery will happen soon. I wanna have my green skined bomb shell of my very own.!

[edit on 23-4-2009 by anubis9311]

Given the above scenario, people would go nuts. It's not every day you find yourself a rung or more lower on the intelligence/evolutionary ladder (or food chain).

It wouldn't matter how friendly the aliens were. Human beings barely get along with each other on this planet as it is, and very few people would trust anything these obviously superior beings had to say. Yeah, some people would worship them. Most wouldn't. A lot of individuals and countries would instantly respond with weapons, which of course would cause the worshipers or even the aliens to get in on the fight.

It wouldn't be about religion. It would be about the basic human response to something different, unknown, and potentially dangerous.

We'd tear this planet apart. The only question would be how long it would take us to do it. Just my opinion.

I'm not sure what the immediate reaction would be on an external level. I'm sure it would create some confusion for many people, especially in religious and scientific communities. How that would make them react physically, I won't hazard to guess, there are many possibilities.

I don't think it would be a monumental event for those who are not particularly religious/spiritual or invested in science. Most people would simply go on with their lives as usual, in my opinion, at least initially.

After the truth sets in though, I think we'd see more people questioning all of the limitations we've put on ourselves and those we've allowed others to place on us.

Maybe we could stop worrying about having an HD TV with 300 channels, 10k friends on MySpace or Facebook, and popular name-brand clothing. And maybe, just maybe, people would start to doubt the legitimacy of the PTB here on Earth.

Hypothetically speaking...

Originally posted by eMachine
I'm not sure what the immediate reaction would be on an external level. I'm sure it would create some confusion for many people, especially in religious and scientific communities. How that would make them react physically, I won't hazard to guess, there are many possibilities.

Why would it cause such confusion in the scientific community? This would be an ideal time for scientists.

As for the idea that people would get on with their lives, i'm sorry but if aliens landed people would not just get on with their lives. The economic system itself would mostly shut down overnight so people wouldn't just get on with things.

[edit on 23-4-2009 by ImaginaryReality1984]

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


I know what you're saying, but I just can't see the small-town people I know bringing their lives to a complete halt, unless they're told by the government/media to stay in their homes or something. That would cause a panic.

I could be wrong, and I honestly hope I am, but most of the people I know seem to be almost automatons... wind them up and watch them go to work in gas stations, supermarkets, and factories, then home to watch TV and drink beer. Unless they're told to do otherwise.

As for the scientific community, yes it would be the greatest opportunity to improve our understanding. However, I think for many people science is a sort of dogma. Many believe in "scientific absolutes" that the space-faring extraterrestrials would have overcome in order to get here. I think something like that would shake our less open-minded scientists.

Edited to add:

Okay, so I guess what I'm trying to say is, as far as the average non-religious and non-scientific person goes, it would depend almost entirely on how the event is addressed by the media.

[edit on 4/23/2009 by eMachine]

[edit on 4/23/2009 by eMachine]

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984The economic system itself would mostly shut down overnight so people wouldn't just get on with things.

I must be missing something, why would that happen?

at this time No. Our governments would try to destroy, it or capture it for its own desires. It would be a new arms race. At this moment in Man's state of mind no. We could not handle the truth. Not to mention how would the truth be revealed? Whose air space would be breached? Who's land would be chosen? It would be seen as a threat, not to mention I would say most people would be scared, seeing such a sight not belonging in our World. The biggest thing many people will have to deal with, with such a truth, is the truth of seeing something unfamiliar. People will be dealing with psychological problems, stress and trauma would def. occur. To put it into laments terms, the plot of the matrix most people are Dependant on a system they understand, putting something their that is not part of the system, and does not fit with things, well people cannot understand it. Shock would occur, then worship. religion would be fixated on such an event, tension would be over whose GOD, it is. Communication would also be something to consider. The truth is, its not going to happen. If it does in the near future it won't be peaceful. thats my opinion. good thread bro.. Just unpractical, I think allot of people need to try to grasp the word ALIEN, its beyond our understanding, seeing something that does not belong, trauma will occur whether it is excepted or not, by your ego's. I myself see no need for the truth right now, we are in a mess down here on EARTH. We need to work on making our world more attractive to be contacted...

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
I was wondering today, could human beings handle the idea that we are not alone? I mean honestly could people candle it if aliens suddenly announced their existence on earth, landed on the lawn of the current super power and waved? I'm just not sure they could.

Take religion. Currently many religions do not allow for the idea of alien life, the Catholic church has recently said that alien life would also be under god. I wonder though how not only religions would handle it but also atheists. How many of my fellow atheists could handle an alien species? It sounds so easy when you think about it but to deal with a species that is intelligent and looks completely different, acts completely different, thinks completely different. Could we handle it?

It is hard to imagine what an alien species woudl act like. I've often turned to fiction to suggest ideas, the series Babylon 5 is to my mind one of the best ways of looking at alien cultures as they really tried to explore it. Maybe an alien culture would still be sacrificing people! We would find this awful but they would find it normal and maybe find us awful for not sacrificing people.

Basically i'm just asking if our planet could truly handle the idea of intelligent alien life existing with us at this point in time.

ThoughtS?

It would complicate religion quite highly, especially if these aliens cure of AIDs, Cancer, and Diabetes before a so called "Messiah" was to drop in if there was to be a Messiah at all.

However, I believe the vast majority of liberals would be willing to accept alien beings though I cannot say the same for conservatives. I believe in time they will especially if they have any illness or disorder that the aliens cure them from.

The governments are the ones that least willing to accept aliens, not to acknowledge their existence, but to achieve direct contact with them and allow public contact with the people. The reason why should be as clear as day to us all. But simple ponder on exactly how the government has kept us in the dark for so long when the issue concerning extraterrestrials should be a top priority in either case the aliens turn out benevolent or malevolent since there is so much we can acquire from them (medical and technological) if they were benevolent and it would be a much better cause to insure our survival to unite together against a common threat if they turn out malevolent. So your guess is as good as mine given how shaky and unsound this government's response has been through these decades.

The Brookings Report is the informal name for a study commissioned from the Brookings Institution by NASA officials in 1960.

the report also suggests that both scientists and religious fundamentalists might have their paradigms most altered by the verification of extraterrestrial life.

While not directly suggesting a cover up of evidence, the Brookings Report does suggest that contact with extraterrestrials (or strong evidence of their reality) could have a somewhat disruptive effect on humanity. Some ufologists and conspiracy theorists have suggested that the Brookings Reports' conclusions offers a motive for government officials to suppress evidence of extraterrestrial life, should it ever be discovered.

www.theblackvault.com...

This report gives weight to previous thinking by scholars who have suggested that the earth already may be under close scrutiny by advanced space races. In 1958, Prof. Harold D. Lasswell of the Yale Law School stated:

www.thelivingmoon.com...

Social implications would be incredible. Allegiance to a nation and its flag would be brought into serious question, particularly among the young, because they would see themselves as human beings, and their prime allegiance would be to the planet. A high moral ground such as this, would have nationalistic orientated politicians and those in the military and security services up in arms.

www.qtm.net...
Dis' is berry int-restin' stuff! Dere's plinty moor ot dere!
Who REALLY decides what we need to know, anyway?
Who decides when, if ever? Hmmm.........

In 1938, Orson Wells broadcast (in the USA) a radio programme, The War of the Worlds, based upon H.G. Wells' science fiction novel about aliens landing on Earth.

The story was related in a series of 'news flashes' and many listeners believed it was news and were gripped by panic as they heard of, fictional, Martian invaders devastating the New Jersey countryside.

I do not believe that this type of hysteria would pertain only to Americans and if the programme had been broadcast anywhere else in the world, the result would have been the same.

Of course we are all now so much more sophisticated, and unlikely to succumb to dramatic interpretation or disinformation? I don't think so. I think many people would find the new reality very unsettling, whatever their ideology. And in my opinion, the unsettled human is a very unpredictable and therefore dangerous entity, even if only to themself. I have no idea how I might respond. I like to think that I would remain calm and cope with this new reality that is outside of all my previous understanding and experience of the world. I do know that I would exercise a little discretion and in the first instance, would be sceptical as to the 'reality' of reported or disclosed ET, and wonder if it were not just another human construct designed to control me and my mind. (I am not paranoid; 'they' really are out to get me!)

I also think that if it is true that ET life has for some time been known by 'worldly authorities', and the information has been kept from the population at large, there is a reason for this and it is unlikely to be because ET is nice and cuddly and just wants to be friends and help us.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


I think this questions answer boils down to perception at the end of the day and not many have a unique perception based on life experience. Too much influence from things such as tv. But that aside ill give you an example,

Aliens appear in the skies in front of our eyes....

Christians = Demons
Muslims = Allah
Athiest = Aliens
Government = Terrorists
People outside society = WTF!!?? Hide and make sticks!!

I think you get what I am saying and although some of that might be slightly wrong it is just a general example of what I am trying to say.

I often think that we have natural instinct for a reason and I trust it to protect.

I wont be running with open arms personally because of this, what they actually are is something that you can figure out once you learn the intentions properly. Motives for visiting this planet are scarce and I always question motive.



[edit on 24-4-2009 by XXXN3O]