Our planet ‘could be an alien zoo, and we are the exhibits’, scientists warn

If our civilisation met truly advanced aliens, they might well put us in a planet-sized zoo – much as we do with less intelligent species.

And it might have already happened, scientists have already warned (and that would explain why we’ve never seen any aliens.

At a meeting of the the METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Project in Paris this week, scientists discussed the idea of whether we really are in a zoo.

Perhaps surprisingly, they also suggested how to attract the attention of the ‘zookeepers’ – and get out.

Read more: At least one killed after shooting in Dutch city of Utrecht
No-one noticed meteor exploding over Earth in November
Teenager stabbed in ‘far-right’ incident in Surrey

Douglas Vakoch, president of METI said, ‘Perhaps extraterrestrials are watching humans on Earth, much like we watch animals in a zoo. How can we get the galactic zookeepers to reveal themselves?’

Vakoch believes that simply showing that we are searching for extraterrestrial life could be the key, Forbes reports.

Vakoch said, ‘If we went to a zoo and suddenly a zebra turned toward us, looked us in the eye, and started pounding out a series of prime numbers with its hoof, that would establish a radically different relationship between us and the zebra, and we would feel compelled to respond.

‘We can do the same with extraterrestrials by transmitting powerful, intentional, information-rich radio signals to nearby stars.’