Michael Michaud Interview

Michael Michaud is the author of the recent, terrific book, Contact With Alien Civilizations, and one of our leading thinkers on the subject of possible contact-- the various forms contact may take, how we might manage the initial event, and how human civilization might adjust. He graciously agreed to participate in an email interview with me. I focused the exchange on the possibility of actual, physical contact.

First, Mr. Michaud, thank you again for doing this interview.

*) You have written extensively in the possibility that alien civilizations exist, and on possible contact scenarios. Dr. Seth Shostak has written he believes the SETI searches he helps lead could find an alien civilization within the next twenty years. What do you think of that estimate?

If interstellar radio signals from other civilizations exist, the probability of our finding them will increase as we employ better search technologies and, hopefully, better search strategies. However, the exact timing of a detection is not predictable. We don't know how widespread other technological civilizations are, or if any are sending interstellar communications that we can detect.


*) Unlike Dr. Shostak, you seem open to the possibility that aliens are in fact physically visiting Earth. Actually, Shostak says he has seen no evidence of such visits. Given that such visitors would be intelligent and likely extremely sophisticated, do you think the unadorned scientific method is necessarily up to the task of detecting aliens who may be actively trying not to be firmly, finally established by humans to exist? Might applying the principles used to conduct covert intelligence operations to some UFO cases be useful?

I have not seen any credible evidence that we are being visited now. As I emphasized in my book, there is no reason to focus on our present moment in history. If there ever were any visits, they might have taken place millions or even billions of years ago. Superior technologies might allow extraterrestrial visitors to hide in our solar system, but that does not prove that they are here. A more thorough scientific examination of the small percentage of UFO sightings that are truly puzzling may be a good idea, but it would be difficult to get public funding or to persuade highly credible scientists to participate.


*) Several years ago, I had an instant message conversation with Nick Pope, UFO point man for the UK Defence Ministry for a while. He told me he believed there may well be an alien base within our Solar System. What’s your view of that assessment?

I have never seen any evidence at all to support the claim of an alien base in our solar system. It is not clear to me that a species capable of interstellar travel would need such a base, particularly if they send machines rather than inhabited spacecraft.


*) In your writing, you have dealt with the possibility that aliens may have been visiting throughout human history. If They ever do come—given even our abilities at misinformation and disinformation—wouldn’t even entertaining the idea that aliens may have been the angels of the Bible, for example, give them a huge psychological advantage from the start that could easily be turned against us for no real reason, since we cannot finally determine exactly what happened in the past?

People have claimed to have seen the equivalent of angels at many times in human history, though they may have called them by other names. Psychological manipulation of large populations of humans by invoking past myths may not be as easy as some conspiracy theorists believe. We can not assume that alien intelligences, whether biological or post-biological, would be omniscient. Consider this mirror image: If we ever found another intelligent species beyond the Earth, it is highly unlikely that we would know their psychology or history well enough to manipulate their beliefs.


*) There seems to be two schools of thought regarding the consequences of physical contact with aliens, especially. One is optimistic, arguing such an event could allow us to leap ahead. The other is pessimistic, fearing the end of human culture as a vital, living force. You take a more nuanced position. Do you think the political leaders and the international system of today would be sufficiently prepared if an alien craft landed somewhere at high noon tomorrow, making their existence obvious?

Political leaders will not take the ETI question seriously until they have convincing evidence that such beings exist. They are unlikely to make plans for what they see as a low-probability event. In that sense, they will not be prepared. The so-called SETI Protocols were designed to (among other things) provide a reference point if this issue ever arises, and to provoke at least a few policy people to think about the implications of contact. I would emphasize again that first contact could take many forms, including the detection of a faint signal from many light years away. As I said in my book, the landing of an inhabited alien spacecraft on the Earth may be the least likely scenario.