Would the discovery of intelligent life on Mars be kept quiet?

Question

I know a lot of astronomers/ scientists are gonna say hell no I would want to be the first one to announce one of the the biggest discoveries in history, but hold on-
If Curiosity picked up a feed of ominous, antennaed Martians glaring at the camera holding up signs saying Hi to the nice Earth people, and to prepare for invasion, would the government really want that to get out? Even if someone at NASA seen that, wouldn't they want to keep it quiet for 2 very good reasons?

1. They wouldn't want to look foolish from a hoax. Who, with a trained scientific mind, would believe something like that is real? Something like that would be on indefinite investigation and/or written off as a prank no matter what their instruments tell them.
2. And the most obvious reason- MASS PANIC. Maybe it's just me, but I can't see a government agency, or someone in the know, giving the green light to an official announcement like that. I don't have to list the hundreds of reasons why that would be a bad idea. I will say that way too many people would become unhinged at the idea of such a thing. Even if the Martians were peaceful, way too many people would take to the streets. Could people even handle the idea of an unaware Martian animal wandering along the Marsscape?

So, would a prominent scientist, or anyone in the government make an official announcement, whether we're ready or not?

Answer 1

You saw how the "finding" of the shiny piece of plastic was all over the news before anyone knew what it was?



The fear of a hoax is real. Pranks (I would use a stronger word) do happen, therefore we must have a protocole for such unexpected "discoveries".



For example, SETI has had, already, a handful of cases where intelligent signals were detected**... and quickly traced to hackers who had artifically added the signal to the already-recorded data. However, in the case you describe, this would probably only delay the announcement (if the discovery is real) by a day or two, just enough time to ensure that it is not a hoax.



Mass panic? That must be why no one ever announced anything about asteroid 99942 Apophis... oh wait, they did.



In fact, as soon as one astronomer announced that there might be, maybe, perhaps, some chance that (with incomplete data) this thing could maybe perhaps hit Earth... it was instantaneously announced as doomsday.



Don't you remember the utter panic in the streets? Don't you remember that the entire world population immediately returned to the stone age...?



Oh wait. They did not.



It is only afterwards, when better data showed that Apophis would NOT hit Earth that the charlatans began their hoaxes about government coverups, trying to convince gullible people that Apophis will still hit us. You see, the charlatans had books to sell about the upcoming doomsday, and the damn scientists were screwing up their sales.



As far as Mars is concerned, IF (a mightly big if) there were some kind of advanced animal on Mars (whether "intelligent" or not), there would have been SOME sign of something on the gazillion pictures taken to date. There is nothing. So, if suddenly Marvin the Martian holds up a sign which says (in English?) "Hello people of Earth" and smiles in the rover's camera, my first instinct would be to find out who is behind the prank.



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**This is NOT about the WOW signal, which is a single (72-second) blip which is still unexplained. The problem is that "intelligence" is determined from the content (even if we don't understand it) of the message. There is no content in that particular "blip".

If it was an "intelligent signal", it was 72 seconds of a carrier wave. No modulation, no chopping... nothing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal

Answer 2

Well, let me start off with a resounding ''hell no''.



Try this - - if there were 8 people at the party where you got drunk and tried to get your missing car keys out of your neighbor's cousin's brassierre... and they were video-capturing it on their blackberrys.... do you think that this would stay a secret?

How about if you begged them to keep it a secret? How about if you paid each of them $500 to keep it a secret?

Really? *Someone* in the group would still send it out and embarass you?



Now - imagine the biggest scientific find in centuries... and there are (roughly) 800 scientists that all have access to this information from video feeds... (not to mention a couple thousand assorted technicians and others...)

Just *how* do you figure it could be kept secret?



Now - yes - they would consider a hoax. (Naturally). But they would not be concerned about *personally* looking foolish - they would leave that up to the idiotic news-reportes or lunatics that immediately claimed this as real. They would have every opportunity to look for hoaxes or pranks in the coming days *after*.

''Hey - we saw this picture of ''friendly Martians'' waving signs - - but we suspect there is a hoax - since it looks like rubber masks and the 'Martians' apparently speak English''....''Oh, Faux News reported this as the Second Coming and a sign of the Apocalypse? We can't be held responsible for that - - we *said* we thought it might be a hoax...''



(2) Mass panic. Really? After all the silly alien television shows and movies? You really think there would be *mass* panic? A few fringe idiots would panic or run amoc... but most people would be ''oh - that's so cool!''

Yes, I really think you would need to list the ''hundreds of reasons this would be a bad idea''. People like to say this - but honestly - it just isn't happening.



You *can't* keep this from the public and you don't *need* to keep it from them.

Answer 3

No of course not.



Why would a piece of esoteric science that is really of no interest to anyone except biologists be covered up? To the rest of us, it would be of no consequence. The vast majority of people are not the least interested in space, or sci-fi. In fact people are generally suspicious of anyone who is deep into sci-fi, what with all the dressing up, obsession with weapons, and so forth.



The much vaunted and anticipated discovery of "life in space" would be the biggest non-event in history. The media would sensatonalise it for a week, then go back to it's obsession with crime and sleeze, taking it's readership with it. People would just be totally disinterested. Fortunately, it is never likely to happen, so we won't have to endure the week of insufferable sensationalism that it would generate.



As for Martians holding up signs: dream on. Humanity is not the centre of all creation. Any "Martians" that might exist in some thought experiment would be totally occupied with their own problems, lives and dreams and would not care a toss about humanity.



Mas panic? You'd have to be kidding. Even the onslaught of the luftwaffe upon London during ww2 did not cause "mass panic". Neither did hurricane Katrina, or Mt St Helens. "Mass panic" is a total myth. It has been proven many times that in times of stress and hardship, people work together and help each other.



If life was even discovered in space (ho-hum), every imbecile under creation would get their ugly faces on television offering their opinions on it, just liek when any other "event" happens. Ready? You're kidding right? After decades of z-grade sci-fi movies about space boogiemen, what is there to be prepared about?



Cheers!

Answer 4

Physicists call for alien messaging protocol

http://www.kurzweilai.net/physicists-call-for-alien-messaging-protocol



Politicians Talking About UFOs and Aliens (PHOTOS)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/politicians-ufos_n_1897563.html



This idea that governments are afraid that the public would panic at the disclosure of extraterrestrials is nonsense. It might be an issue for many people for about a week, and then it would be back to business as usual. What the governments are truly afraid of -- is losing control of the people.



Believe me, if a FBI or CIA agent tells you that if you value your health and that of your loved ones, you'll keep your freaking mouth shut about anything that you know or have seen, or else. Most people would tend to go along with that.



Best regards

Answer 5

Often wonder about the mass panic bit. It seems to be used with no real reference seeing as we have never been in that position. Many people on the planet are more interested in the next meal or will they survive a regime trying to kill them. So, why will there be a mass panic? I think most people will acknowledge it and carry on living or dying.



I really think this mass panic bit is used by people who claim there are real aliens and illuminati and gubbmint coverups and so on and there is nothing to back it up.

Answer 6

Not if were found in the next three weeks and promised to support Obama.

Now, if they prefer Romney, then we will not hear about them until after December.

Even if they went to the news-desk at NBC, it would bury the story until after the election.



(Why mass panic? What would there be to panic about?)

Answer 7

There is no other life to be found outside of this earth. It is true that there are other lifeforms, but not the ones you read about in science fiction. The Bible tells us there are angels (BEWARE most "angels" are messengers and can be people that are alive - cf. the original languages in the Bible). God also tells us about "powers and principalities" but does not go into detail; they are there and observing us, but are not anything you read in s-f or see in theaters.

Answer 8

Area 51...