WELL, THERE YOU HAVE IT. JUST WHEN I WAS BEGINNING TO WORRY ABOUT SUGGESTIONS THAT WE COULD BE INVITING TROUBLE IF WE BROADCAST DELIBERATE SIGNALS TO THE STARS, ONE OF YOUR TEAM MEMBERS TELLS ME THAT IT MIGHT BE DANGEROUS EVEN TO LISTEN.

FROM JIM POWELL AND RICHARD TUNA
TO JILL TARTER, NASA/SETI
AUGUST 8, 1987

WE UNDERSTAND THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE UPSET OVER OUR SUGGESTIONS. BUT THEY ARE ONLY SUGGESTIONS, ARISING FROM A SUBJECT THAT IS SIMPLY FUN TO THINK ABOUT, SIMPLY KID’S STUFF. WE HAVE NEVER MADE A FIRM CLAIM THAT “MORE HIGHLY EVOLVED” BEINGS WILL NECESSARILY BE HOSTILE AND EXPLOITIVE. STILL, IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US NOT TO ASSUME THAT IF ETI’s ARE MORE TECHNOLOGICALLY OR CULTURALLY ADVANCED THAN US, THEY ARE MORE BENEVOLENT FOR THAT REASON (NOT THAT THERE IS VERY MUCH WE CAN DO, NO MATTER WHAT WE ASSUME).

THE MOST HUMBLING FEATURE OF THE RELATIVISTIC BOMB IS THAT EVEN IF YOU HAPPEN TO SEE IT COMING, ITS EXACT MOTION AND POSITION CAN NEVER BE DETERMINED; AND GIVEN A TECHNOLOGY EVEN A HUNDRED ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE ABOVE OUR OWN, YOU CANNOT HOPE TO INTERCEPT ONE OF THESE WEAPONS. IT OFTEN HAPPENS, IN THESE DISCUSSIONS, THAT AN EXPRESSION FROM THE OLD WEST ARISES: “GOD MADE SOME MEN BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN OTHERS, BUT MR. COLT MADE ALL MEN EQUAL.” VARIATIONS ON MR. COLT’S WEAPON ARE STILL POPULAR TODAY, EVEN IN A SOCIETY THAT POSSESSES HYDROGEN BOMBS. SIMILARLY, NO MATTER HOW ADVANCED CIVILIZATIONS GROW, THE RELATIVISTIC BOMB THREAT IS NOT LIKELY TO GO AWAY.

AS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS THAT COMPUTER NETS SHOULD NEVER BE CONNECTED TO RADIO TELESCOPES … WELL, ONE CAN CARRY PARANOIA TO EXTREMES, AND HUMANS OFTEN DO. WHY SHOULD ALIENS BE ANY DIFFERENT?

IN HIS NOVEL, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, H. G. WELLS DESTROYED THE COMPLACENT ARROGANCE OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WITH A WORK OF FICTION ABOUT INSCRUTABLE MARTIANS WHO INVADED THE EARTH AND GAVE US A GLIMPSE OF WHAT TWENTIETHCENTURY WARFARE MIGHT BE LIKE. BUT WE ARE NOT FACED WITH FICTION. WE ARE FACED WITH A POSSIBILITY THAT IS INTOLERABLE AT ANY DEGREE—ONE THAT WE CAN AVOID ONLY BY NOT CALLING ATTENTION TO OURSELVES, BY NOT SETTING IN MOTION AGAINST US FORCES THAT WE CANNOT RESIST. WELLS CAUGHT SOMETHING OF THE BACKWARD SHADOW OF WORLD WAR I IN HIS NOVEL. WE SEE A SHADOW THAT MAY BLOT OUT OUR ENTIRE HISTORY. TO SEND OUT SIGNALS THAT MAKE PLAIN OUR COMING INTERSTELLAR CAPACITY IS THE SAME AS THE TITANIC STEAMING FULL AHEAD THROUGH THE DARK, INTO A FIELD OF ICEBERGS THAT IT HAD ALREADY BEEN WARNED ABOUT.

WE ASK THAT YOU TRY JUST ONE MORE THOUGHT EXPERIMENT. IMAGINE YOURSELF TAKING A STROLL THROUGH MANHATTAN, SOMEWHERE NORTH OF 68TH STREET, DEEP INSIDE CENTRAL PARK, LATE AT NIGHT. IT WOULD BE NICE TO MEET SOMEONE FRIENDLY, BUT YOU KNOW THAT THE PARK IS DANGEROUS AT NIGHT. THAT’S WHEN THE MONSTERS COME OUT. THERE’S ALWAYS A STRONG UNDERCURRENT OF DRUG DEALING, MUGGINGS, AND OCCASIONAL HOMICIDES.