Pop culture is full of references to messages from outer space. Some of them were friendly attempts at communication, such as the five-note musical sequence transmitted to Earth by aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Others were more ominous, such as a coded countdown to an attack in the movie Independence Day (1996). People on Reddit and X have recently been sharing what they believe would be the scariest message from space our species could receive. While theoretical, these scary extraterrestrial messages reflect the fears we have regarding the unknown.
Discussions Around the Scariest Message from Space
Imagine receiving a signal from space and expecting it to be a message intended for us, only to discover that it was some sort of Martian sports broadcast. Well, this is likely to happen to any alien civilization that receives a signal from Earth. Among the very first transmissions from Earth an alien civilization would receive would be a broadcast of the 1936 Olympic Games. While this wasn’t by any means the first broadcast, it was at a high enough frequency to potentially make it through the ionosphere. In fact, in another film about alien transmissions, Contact (1997), a signal sent from the star Vega contained embedded footage of the Olympic broadcast. This was a sign that aliens had picked up on our broadcasts, and had responded.
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Before we begin looking at what readers think aliens would message us, we need to ask why we haven’t been messaged yet. Well, first off, we can’t assume that they would be sending signals using the same technology as us. Some have also put forward the Zoo hypothesis as a potential answer. According to this theory, aliens could be observing us like animals in a zoo, perhaps waiting for us to advance beyond war and conflict. Or perhaps they may be studying us like rats in a lab. As OddFeature posted on Reddit, “Anything that we could understand would be pretty scary. Like they just send a “Hey, we’re aliens, nice to meet you” message, but if it happens to be in one of our languages, that means they’ve been studying us or something like that.”
Commenting on Instagram, Netownian said that the scariest message from space would simply be “we’re coming” with no other context. This ambiguous message would be terrifying as it wouldn’t reveal what their true intentions are. Would these aliens be friendly, or would they be on their way to annihilate humankind? This, above all, shows how fearful we are of the unknown. Moreover, it also reveals how we view our own species. We are accustomed to anything different from us being a threat. Whether it be a different tribe, race, or country, humans have constantly caused war with those different from us, even among our own species. It’s therefore no surprise that we would anticipate any other alien race to be just as violent and destructive.
Why Haven’t we Heard from any Aliens Yet?
Considering the vastness of the universe, it seems statistically unlikely that we are the only planet with intelligent life. So, then, as physicist Enrico Fermi famously asked, “Where is everybody?” Well, there is the Rare Earth Hypothesis, which suggests that complex life is extremely rare and we may be alone. There is also the possibility that other civilizations are yet to arise or have already met their demise. As AresLeviathon commented on Reddit, “You are the last. Be better than us.” This is not to say that we have not received any signals from outer space, though.
There are fascinating examples of mysterious signals that have only ever been observed once. For example, in 1977, A strong, narrowband radio signal was detected by the Big Ear radio telescope in Ohio. It lasted for 72 seconds at a frequency of 1420 MHz. It became known as the “Wow!” signal, because that is what the astronomer Jerry Ehman wrote next to the data printout. Then there is the SHGb02+14a Signal detected by SETI@home project using the Arecibo telescope in 2003. The signal came from a point somewhere between Pisces and Aries and was detected several times over a few weeks. Recently, NASA detected a deep space object that emits a signal every 44 minutes.
The Bottom Line
While we are yet to hear from aliens, it seems our inclination is to assume that any communication would be scary to receive. Yet, perhaps this is simply a reflection of our own violent nature as a species. We consider ourselves intelligent, yet have not moved beyond violence and war. Therefore, we think that any other intelligent species is equally likely to engage in war. Yet, perhaps it is this mindset that stops aliens from contacting us in the first place, silently waiting for us to evolve as a species. Or maybe the scariest message from space would be no message at all.
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