Fear of the Unknown

Aliens from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"  Credit: Columbia Pictures

 Let's face it: fear is a factor in accepting the reality of extraterrestrial life.

Even a UFO enthusiast who is dying to have a UFO sighting him or herself, might think twice - or thrice - about welcoming an opportunity to come face to face with an alien being. We may get a scare just meeting with a stranger in the woods or even on a busy city street - for it is only natural to feel most comfortable with the most familiar, and the least comfortable with what is least known. So to face something totally unknown to us that clearly seems otherwordly, would surely be for most of us a totally shocking experience, and one which we in hindsight might want to be without. Totally and absolutely without.

Of course, once the unknown would become more known, more common, the fear factor would change. It would become less and less shocking to encounter an alien lifeform, and with increasing media exposure the social scene would expand to involve such encounters. But until that happens, the fear alone makes sceptics of some of us, and indifferent of the rest of us who haven't got any experience to back up the knowing - or an open mind to accept that which hasn't been witnessed yet. To accept another's reality may be hard even with ordinary stuff, let alone the extraordinary or the otherwordly. And since the UFOs are most probably flown by someone, the mere idea of the existence of alien crafts poses a psychological threat. And fear breeds aggression, scorn and ridicule. That's what we just have to contend with - the rest of us.

And when they do appear, they may not be as kind and childlike as in the above picture from Close Encounters of the Third Kind - but a bit scarier and demanding of their own space here on Earth. Who knows what it would be like! Here is how space.com suggests we should interact with the extraterrestrials. What do you think?