Found lying around The Register.
By Lester Haines • Get more from this author
Posted in Space, 27th September 2010 14:13 GMT
The head of the UN’s Office for Outer Space Affairs is poised to become first point of contact for extraterrestrials.
Astrophysicist Mazlan Othman, 58, is concerned that we simply don’t have a proper welcome mat ready to unroll when ET finally gets in touch – something she feels is ever more likely as we scour the skies for signs of non-human life.
she recently told fellow scientists: “The continued search for extraterrestrial communication, by several entities, sustains the hope that some day humankind will receive signals from extraterrestrials. When we do, we should have in place a co-ordinated response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism for such co-ordination.”