By Mark O’Neill

There’s an interesting discussion over at Universe Today about whether we would be told by governments if aliens were to contact us via SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence).

Maybe I’ve watched too many science-fiction movies but I’ve always had the impression that if an alien race were to pop in for a chat, we would know about it pretty much right away. I mean, look at that movie with Mel Gibson when he found an alien in his kitchen. Try covering that one up!

But Universe Today raises an interesting question – if an alien species were to contact Earth, would governments choose to tell us or would they keep it secret for the sake of their economies and political agendas? Would an alien message unite the world or cause absolute mayhem?

In this day and age of technology, can an alien transmission really be kept secret or can anyone with a transmitter pick it up?