Contact with Alien Civilizations

Michael Michaud served as Director of the U.S. State Department's Office of Advanced Technology and as Counselor for Science, Technology, and Environment at the American embassies in Paris and Tokyo. He led the negotiation of international agreements, played an active role in reviving U.S.-Soviet space cooperation, represented foreign policy interests in interagency discussions of U.S. space policy, and testified before Congress on space-related issues. He has published thirty articles and papers on the implications of contact, as well as sixty articles on other subjects and the book, Reaching for the High Frontier: The American Pro-Space Movement, 1972-1984.

A Belief in Other Minds.- A New Era.- Searching for Intelligence.- Sending Our Own Signals.- Probabilities.- Probabilities: The Astronomical Factors.- Probabilities: Life.- Probabilities: Intelligence.- Probabilities: Civilization, Technology, and Science.- Probabilities: Longevity.- The Drake Equation, Take Two.- Should We Continue the Search?.- Direct Contact.- The UFO Controversy.- The Drake Equation, Take Three.- Why Don’t We See Them?.- Reformulating the Problem.- Thinking Outside the Box.- SETI and Religion.- The Consequences of Contact.- Hopes.- Fears.- Dangers.- Mixed Emotions.- Some Assumptions Examined.- Before Contact.- Assumptions: After Contact.- The Drake Equation, Take Four.- What Is Missing.- Some Conclusions Drawn.- Paradigm Shifts.- The Human Role.- Annex: Preparing.