Is humanity prepared for a hypothetical alien invasion?

Have you ever wondered what you should do if little green men come to planet Earth and decide they want to take our luscious green planet for themselves?

Alien invasion theories have taken over the internet this year after three unidentified flying objects were shot down in the U.S. and Canada within a span of three days. But what would happen if an alien invasion were to actually take place?

Without giving further details, the retired colonel of the US army Manuel Supervielle assured CNN in 2019 that there is a "contingency plan" for that case.

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Some publications go further assuring that specific training is carried out by elite forces of the US army focused on the fight against enemies from outer space.

Publications such as Futurism or Seeker attributed to a squadron called "space aggressors" (belonging to the United States Space Force -USSF-) a training unit against the alien threat.

The USSF is a special force based at the Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado (in the image) that plays the role of "enemy" in highly demanding exercises.

In a 2017 report published in Seeker, Captain Christopher Barnes, head of training for the 26th Space Aggressor Squadron, explained: "We play the bad guys." They are the ones who put other soldiers in trouble by acting as a threat from outer space. Or from another country.

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The real objective is for the US army to be able to face a battle in space or for control from space. That means controlling alien attack satellites; regardless of if they are North Korean, Chinese or extraterrestrial.

But what if we can’t rely on the army? There are those who are preparing to organize a resistance if aliens do decide to invade us. Just like in the 'V' series.

In 2007 Reuters interviewed Travis Taylor and Bob Boan, authors of the book 'Alien Invasion: How to defend Earth'. Both scholars said an insurgency similar to the one the US encountered in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein would take place.

In the aforementioned Reuters article, Travis Taylor and Rob Boan's theory on how to deal with the invader is summarized: "Humanity will have to dig in and fight with improvised weapons and hit-and-run tactics." The classic tactics of guerrilla warfare.

It would be logical, in the face of an extraterrestrial threat, for all nations to unite. This was stated by Gorbachev and Reagan (respective leaders of the United States and the then Soviet Union) in 1985 during a summit in Geneva.

Gorbachev revealed the conversation in a 2009 interview. Ronald Reagan asked him, "What would you do if the United States was suddenly attacked by someone from outer space? Would you help us?" The then leader of the USSR replied: "Without a doubt."

However, no government appears to have an official protocol to manage an alien invasion. In fact, in 2010, British astrophysicist Martin Dominik asked the United Nations to draw up a protocol in this regard, during a conference at the Royal Society.

Because aliens haven’t made contact with us (or so we think),  there’s not even a consensus among the scientific community on what to do in case we receive an extraterrestrial message.

"There is a huge debate within the scientific community about whether or not we should respond," John Eliot, joint coordinator of the UK's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Research Network, told The Guardian.

The great difficulty would lie in the ignorance of the alien language, but there is also fear and doubt: are these beings from space friendly or violent? In any case, according to John Eliot, our response would take at least 100 years to reach its issuer.

From HG Wells's classic 'War of the Worlds' to Tim Burton's sarcastic 'Mars Attack', the subject of alien invasion is part of popular culture.

Science fiction dealt with the theme recurrently. Especially during the Cold War, when some Hollywood movies encouraged (or exorcised) fears of the nuclear hecatomb and the Soviet attack.

In the eighties, on the other hand, Steven Spielberg presented aliens as kind beings in the film E.T.

In any case, scientists think that an extraterrestrial visit is highly unlikely. There are many light years that separate us from a planet where intelligent life is a probability.

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And besides, who would undertake a journey thousands of light years to visit the unknown inhabitants of a small blue planet at the edge of the galaxy?