Why Aliens Won’t Attack Earth

Why Aliens Won’t Attack Earth

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Despite what the movies tell us, any aliens that visit Earth probably won’t want to enslave or vaporize us, veteran E.T. hunter Jill Tarter says. Hostile aliens abound at the multiplex these days, terrorizing our planet in films such as “Battleship” and “Men in Black 3.” But science fiction is probably far from reality in its depiction of Earth-contacting extraterrestrials, said Tarter, who announced that she’s retiring after spending 35 years scanning the heavens for signals from intelligent life beyond Earth.

“If aliens were able to visit Earth, that would mean they would have technological capabilities sophisticated enough not to need slaves, food or other planets,” Tarter, who is stepping down as director of the Center for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Research at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., said in a statement. Tarter, other scientists and a variety of artists and entertainers will gather in California in June, at SETICon II, to discuss humanity’s place in the universe and the future of the search for life beyond Earth.