Finding Intelligent Life and First Contact Scenarios: Towards Public Awareness and Engagement and the Impact of Discovery

Abstract The prospect of human contact with extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) carries profound societal implications, far surpassing the impact of discovering non-sentient microbes on distant planets. Such an encounter would reverberate throughout human society, challenging established beliefs, including theological doctrines, and reshaping our cosmic perspective. During the last decade, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) and non-intelligent extraterrestrial life has received notable attention in digital media and newspapers and influenced public thoughts and perceptions about astrobiology, SETI and planetary science fields. This abstract takes a science communication and society perspective, evaluating our current decision-making processes and policies in anticipation of potential discoveries and their consequential interactions with varying forms of extraterrestrial life, including public attitudes, news dissemination and rumour control, and decoding and messaging ETIs.