any response that could happen would happen

I am sure everyone would agree that the government would never reveal the real truths and by government I would mean the government which had the most to do with discovering the advanced civilization even if it were a machine. There would be a stage act testifying that what they were saying was the entire truth but they would hold back what they could in the interest of their own government. If the discovery occurred in a third world country or some country that was academically backward then we would stand a better chance of getting the entire truth surrounding this machine or civilization but otherwise good luck! Humanities reaction would be controlled due to governments cloaking of truths but many would interpret the beginning of the end anyway!

The Aurora spacecraft experiences aerodynamic drag that increases as ~ the square of the velocity. So. although it's very fast, it's range is extremely limited...makes an SUV look good.

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A third rate theory forbids
A second rate theory explains after the fact
A first rate theory predicts...A. Lomonosov

Everyone and never are mighty big words to use.
So I guess you managed to be mistaken twice in just one sentence.

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I think people's reaction would depend on the amount of information we'd get. Or rather how interesting and varied the immediately understandable information would be. If it contained lot of video footage the networks would play it all day with commentary and people wouldn't be tired of it. Even if it had not much practical value and didn't change their daily lives.
However if it contained a map of the stars in the Milky Way with data 2 orders of magnitudes better than what we have now most people wouldn't care much. Same if it had a more accurate theory of fundamental physics than what we have. Govements would struggle just to convince their electorate to spend more on research to make better use of the data.

I remember several years ago having a dicussion with a co-worker, who happened to be an associate Baptist Minister(he is now a Minister at a one of the local churches where I live), about such an event.

I asked him what would be the reaction by the Church to signal detected from an alien civilization. He said that he wouldn't believe it because it was clearly written in the Bible that God created Man in his own image, so any signal would be a hoax. He did leave open the possibility of signal being sent by God to inform the world of the coming of Jesus as per the Book of Revelation.

I asked him if actual aliens showed up and presented themselves. What would be the reaction then? Then he said - "well if they show up in person, the church would be there to teach them about Jesus and how they(the aliens) could be saved thru his grace".

How can you argue with that answer! Amazing isn't it.

Uh, no I would disagree very much. This is my favorite big hole in any CT. The only way the government could use the info is to get a bunch of scientist together, who would then leak all the data rather quickly. Look at the development of nuclear weapons for a good example.

As to the topic at hand, some would freak, some would blink and most would just go on with their life.

I never quite understood that biblical stance. That God created Man in His image is all well and good, but I don't notice the Bible saying that God didn't also create other folks elsewhere - whether in His image or not.

Thats a good point Enzp, but please refrain from posting religious comments here guys, get back on topic before warnings are issued.

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The Jewish response:
There is definitely the possibility of extraterrestrial life according to Jewish thought. There may even be alien Jews - with a Torah adapted to their society.

I doubt the government would cover it up. For many cases, they COULDN'T. A radio signal would be recieved by anyone with a sizeable radio telescope.

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What the photon?
-Ford Prefect, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I never thought of that angle, but you are right! It it contained "valuable" scientific data, the great majority of people could give a rat's ***, and there probably would be arguments in congress as to rather we should even spend money researching it.

On the other hand if it turned out to have a recording of the ET equivalent of the Jerry Springer show stored on it, it would be played over and over and over again...

EDIT: Grammer Mistakes

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I think you're underestimating the sophistication of the average human; the alien equivalent of Jerry Springer would wear thinner than lace before too long. What would really get people interested is any philosophical sucker punches the info would deliver that would shake our perceptions of ourselves. Imagine, for instance, what would happen if the Battlestar Galactica were to land on Earth tomorrow, and reveal to us that we didn't in fact evolve on Earth, but arrived here from space thousands of years ago. I think that would spark quite a bit of public, scientific and religious interest, don't you?

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I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?

It's gotten to the point where careful investigation is needed just to tell parody from reality. I think that means reality is broken.- Noclevername.

Well if a ship suddenly showed up in Earth orbit, it would certainly prove that we are not alone, that we are not the most advanced civilization, and that FTL travel is possible. This would be a serious shock to our world view. Hopefully the Aliens would be peaceful, something that humans have been generally lacking in all thru our history.

If the evidence of Aliens was in the form of a signal, probably a majority of the population would not accept the signal as being true.

Look at the issue of Evolution. All the evidence is clear that evolution is the mechanism by which life arose on Earth. The evidence is solid and continues to grow as we search for answers. Yet, most people still don't believe it.

People don't give up their cheerished beliefs easily, no matter how silly or illogical they may be.

So if SETI suddenly finds a signal from another civilization, don't expect any massive yearning for knowledge and new thinking among the majority of the people. I would expect an attack on the data and the scientists responsible for it. In the end, some people will believe and some won't. It may take a considerable time for a majority to accept it and some never will.

I wud b totally happy to know that there was. that way we can prove to the church that the world wasn't created in seven dayz. lol. Bt what if it was only a piece of technology from the not-so-far future sent way bk in tym by accident.

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RAX

My reaction would be "Cool! How does it work? What else can we learn from it?" but would not change my daily life at all (other than checking the research journals). "The Church" is such a nebulous entity. Buddhists and Hindus probably would consider it a matter of course. As for the rest, the kook sects, will be all over the map, the mainstream will probably try to ignore it until they are forced to accomodate it in some way. The govt. will try to milk it for some tech. advantage. The average Joe probably wouldn't be affected at all other than to be bombarded with new advertising with a space connection ("orbit gum" could come up with a whole series of "alien" gum ads, etc.)

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Sue ikki
mi hatenu yume no
hotsure kana---Choko
(This final scene, I
I will not see to the end.
My dream is fraying.)

I wud b totally happy to know that there was. that way we can prove to the church that the world wasn't created in seven dayz. lol. Bt what if it was only a piece of technology from the not-so-far future sent way bk in tym by accident.

Without getting involved into the religion ascepts here because it's against the rules, this a not necessarily true. After all it is within the realms of possible logic that if an alien craft ever arrived and landd, they to might have a belief in the universe being created in a similar time frame (obviously they would be unlikely to use earth days for their timing system.) You just never know.

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You can't reason an irrational person out of an irrational belief. --- Noclevername

Apollo: The History and the Hoax
Enter the World of Athran

then i would ask them to explain all the evidence for human evolution on earth. or think they were telling us fibs.

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The stock market would go haywire. A large number of corporate-minded people would struggle to get first crack at the artifact so they could exploit alien science. They'd go nuts trying to make sure that the existence of advanced aliens wouldn't compromise our "way of life".

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"I am happy to report that once again the universe is doing just great, thank you, purring with perfection, ever-changing same as always. Light is still cruising along at 186,000 miles per second, and the expanding universe shows no signs of contracting. At this rate, it won't be long before they'll have to let the photon belt out another notch."
Swami Beyondananda's 2007 State of the Universe address

Uh Dragon, what Enzp said wasn't a religeous comment. If you read it right its quite the opposite.

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"The beauty of that discussion of averages is that you don't have to be an expert in Apollo or in photography in order to see where this time study "analysis" breaks down. You just have to be, well...not an idiot." -JayUtah

What would be a bigger shock? Aliens that are not religious without proof, aliens that are not religious with proof, aliens that are religious without proof or aliens that are religious with proof?

On a different note...If we are the first aliens they encounter, and they are the first aliens we encounter...who do you think will be more excited?

I can see it already...
Human: "I knew we werent alone! I just knew it!"
Alien: "Me too!"
*both laugh*