The Allure and Terror of First Contact with Aliens

First contact with an alien species has been a timeless fascination since we first looked to the stars. Somewhere out there, is someone or something looking back?

Initiatives like the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) tirelessly look for signs of our closest neighbours, and every day, fabulous tools like NASA’s James Webb telescope expand our understanding of the universe.

The mind-bending possibilities of first contact with extraterrestrial life have been just as irresistible to authors, filmmakers, and audiences alike. Timeless stories such as Carl Sagan’s Contact embody hope and shared human purpose, illustrating the best of our qualities in the face of the unknown. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin explores the stark differences—and heart-warming similarities—that might arise between us and the extraterrestrial.

In contrast, stories such as Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain terrify us with insidious, lethal pathogens. Likewise, in Peter Watts’s Blindsight or Stanisław Lem’s Solaris, we are faced with vast, incomprehensible alien intelligences that may be foes—or just utterly indifferent to us.

My story, “Code L1,” in Writers of the Future Volume 41, defies expectations about what alien life might be like, with horrifying consequences.

How We Imagine First Contact in Science Fiction

In The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells shows humanity under the tripod feet of a militarily superior invader, uninterested in communication and focused entirely on occupation and destruction. No matter how much money we invest in trying to dominate and destroy each other, we may have no answer to an alien invasion.

Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and 2001: A Space Odyssey tantalise us with mystery as humanity explores abandoned ruins and gifts from elder civilisations. If we stumbled into the lost tombs of some extinct advanced race, what could we learn about how they lived? Could we repurpose their tools for our own advancement—or might they end us?

The exploratory team in “Code L1” wrestle with these questions and more as they too explore lost, deserted ruins and try to piece together how these absent aliens lived and died. Despite mounting anxiety and terror, the human spirit always strives to learn.

The Reality of First Contact Might Be Unimaginable

In imagining alien contact, we’re biased by our own experience.

Many argue that life “as we know it” is extremely unlikely to develop, given the sheer number of correct conditions needed, not to mention a slice of luck. But what about “not as we know it”?

On Earth, the hominid structure is the one that seems to make the most sense: two arms, two legs, and a residual tail. On an alien world, however, the dominant species might be avian, marine, or insectile. They could exist as bacteria, viruses, or even something noncorporeal.

There is a popular internet meme about how an alien would reconstruct an animal from only the template of its skeleton, leading to ridiculous images. Fossils found on some dead, dusty world might not tell us how an alien looked. In “Code L1,” the characters apply educated guesses and mistaken anthropology to a long-gone race, only to find their imaginations fatally lacking.

Alien Communication and Misunderstanding

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome in a first-contact situation is communication. Even if an alien species might use spoken language, comprehension would be challenging.

Many scientists believe that mathematics, pictograms, or even music could be more universal languages.

In Ted Chiang’s novella Story of Your Life, better known as its film adaptation Arrival, the difficulty in communicating with the aliens is a central theme. The heptapods perceive time in a nonlinear way, and their very language is a tool of cultural uplift. The film goes further in exploring how misinterpretation can lead to confusion and conflict.

In “Code L1,” the aliens are assumed to be primitives, and the story’s characters consider them pet curiosities. The signs that they are horrifically mistaken are missed repeatedly until it’s almost too late.

The Dangers of Alien Exploration and First Contact

First contact brings its share of dangers. In our own history, vast numbers of Indigenous Americans succumbed to common diseases brought over by European settlers, for which their immune systems had no defence. Imagine “settlers” from another planet entirely.

Besides contamination protocols, we would need to be scrupulously careful. A seemingly harmless device could be a dreadful weapon, deadly in careless or the wrong hands.

Fiction is littered with examples of humanity using alien technology to gain advantage or power. Ridley Scott’s Alien warns of the dangers of corporate exploitation, and James S. A. Corey’s Expanse novels are founded on dangerous alien tech poorly managed by the power-hungry.

It is this corporate greed that “Code L1” embodies in theme. In reducing exoplanets to real estate and pushing out indigenous life-forms, humanity finally encounters something that pushes back.

How First Contact Could Change Humanity Forever

Unquestionably, meeting alien life would change us forever. Technological sharing between people could open many avenues. But could we trade with another race? What might we offer in payment?

Whole new theories of evolution would be explored, not to mention the question of religion. Could alien life find a place in long-established belief?

Alternatively, some may begin to worship foreign, intelligent life as saviours and superior beings. We might see the formation of new religions, offshoots of established faiths, and “alien cults.”

In “Code L1,” the survivors of the alien encounter are changed forever by what they have experienced. Gone forever is humanity’s casual bulldozing of the stars. Awe—and not a little fear—take its place.

Conclusion: Preparing for Alien First Contact

In the words of Socrates, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

From science and science fiction, we have countless theories and imaginations, but if we ever do encounter alien life, it’s going to surprise us.

First contact is never something we could truly be ready for, and it could mean our end—or a beautiful new beginning.

Knowing we don’t know and can’t possibly prepare is, I think, the first step to preparation. Look again to the stars as wonder rather than resource, through classic science fiction’s brave optimism.

The only thing we can control about first contact is ourselves. Whether the stars are watching or not, we should show them humanity’s best. Be the people we’d like to meet if or when they come calling.

A little understanding and cooperation is a good place to start. After that, well … who knows?