NASA: Green-Friendly Aliens May Target Earth

A recently published report from NASA's Planetary Science Division and Pennsylvania State University suggests that poor pollution habits on Earth could not only lead to the destruction of humanity as whole, but may even result in a preemptive strike fired by environmentally-friendly alien life forms. (Source: about.com)

The idea of aliens saving the galaxy from polluting humans is certainly a unique perspective. The completed study, entitled "Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis," suggests that aliens might destroy humanity before it spreads beyond Earth and threatens new worlds with its polluting potential.

Human Expansion Could be Seen as Threat

"A preemptive strike would be particularly likely in the early phases of our expansion because a civilization may become increasingly difficult to destroy as it continues to expand," the study reports.

"Humanity may just now be entering the period in which its rapid civilizational expansion could be detected by an ETI (extraterrestrial intelligence) because our expansion is changing the composition of the Earth's atmosphere, via greenhouse gas emissions." (Source: ibtimes.com)

So, how would aliens know our pollution is threatening the galaxy? Their use of spectral analysis, for example, could allow them to detect Earth's atmospheric changes. If the analysis suggests environmental negligence, it could indicate that we're no longer capable of making sound decisions on our future.

Space Messages Could Prompt Negative Reaction

Importantly, the report also warns that sending messages into space may actually prompt a negative reaction.

"The possibility of harmful contact with [extraterrestrials] suggests that we may use some caution for METI [sending messages to extraterrestrial intelligence]," the report notes. (Source: msn.com)

"Given that we have already altered our environment in ways that may be viewed as unethical by universalist ETI, it may be prudent to avoid sending any message that shows evidence of our negative environmental impact."

The 33-page report isn't all doom and gloom, however. It also outlines that an encounter of the third kind could be beneficial, particularly if advanced aliens are able to show us how to solve global problems like pollution, poverty, and disease.