# If an extra-terrestrial ship appears in US skies what is the official USAF response protocol? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548 "2015-01-11T16:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/21 "2015-01-12T03:54:25Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I would guess, scramble fighters like they would if a civilian aircraft were unresponsive. Agreed. And of course they wouldn’t “engage” the ship in any way. I think while there were unsure whether it was an ET they would try to get within visual range to try to figure out what it is. But as soon the chance of it being an ET becomes high, they would want to back off. Any decision beyond that would be taken much higher up and there would not be a standard pilots’ protocol, or mention in the USAF manual. All my WAG. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/22 "2015-01-12T06:58:58Z")
Jimmy Carter also said he once had a UFO experience: [LINK.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter_UFO_incident) ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/23 "2015-01-12T09:51:03Z")
The OP needs to clarify if the spaceship is in orbit or not. If it’s in orbit and there’s sweet fuck all we can do. The US currently has nothing that could get close to it for a rendezvous to examine it in less than a few weeks. Even when the US had the space shuttle, prepping one for launch took weeks. And depending on the orbit the space shuttle might not have been able to reach it anyway. Sad reality is, that if any unidentified object did appear in orbit and just sat there ignoring radio signals, Russia would reach it far sooner than the US. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/24 "2015-01-12T10:33:05Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > The OP needs to clarify if the spaceship is in orbit or not. If it’s in orbit and there’s sweet fuck all we can do. Especially if it’s nuclear-capable. They’re sure to be able to wipe us out then… > [@](#): > > Sad reality is, that if any unidentified object did appear in orbit and just sat there ignoring radio signals, Russia would reach it far sooner than the US. There actually have been objects that have seemingly suddenly appeared in Earth orbit. [2006 RH[sub]120[/sub]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_RH120) is a rock that fell into a temporary orbit and will leave in a few years. [J002E3](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J002E3) is some space hardware that apparently has left orbit but will probably return. In neither case could even the Russians reach the objects while they are in orbit. ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/25 "2015-01-12T10:40:37Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > The Air Force would turn it over to the Navy claiming they arrived over international waters. The Navy would turn it over to the Coast Guard saying it actually was within the territorial limit of the US, and the Coast Guard would turn it over to the civilian authorities claiming there had been no distress call. The civilian authorities would turn it over to INS claiming they were undocumented. INS would claim there weren’t there because the government always denies. > > Short answer, the government would deny it, and blame it on sun outages and shortage of rainfall in the rain forest. You missed one, the INS would turn it over to DHS and DHS would escort them to California, Texas and New Mexico, give them drivers licenses and jobs picking fruit and vegetables. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/26 "2015-01-12T13:13:38Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > The OP needs to clarify if the spaceship is in orbit or not. If it’s in orbit and there’s sweet fuck all we can do. The US currently has nothing that could get close to it for a rendezvous to examine it in less than a few weeks. Even when the US had the space shuttle, prepping one for launch took weeks. And depending on the orbit the space shuttle might not have been able to reach it anyway. > > Sad reality is, that if any unidentified object did appear in orbit and just sat there ignoring radio signals, Russia would reach it far sooner than the US. Maybe we’d find out what the X-37B is really for… [http://sploid.gizmodo.com/air-force-spy-space-drone-lands-safely-after-record-675-1647832535](http://sploid.gizmodo.com/air-force-spy-space-drone-lands-safely-after-record-675-1647832535) ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/27 "2015-01-12T14:19:25Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I hear extraterrestrials only fly VFR. Wouldn’t that be difficult when flying faster than the speed of light? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/28 "2015-01-12T15:17:43Z")
Interestingly the amount of crazy on the internet under the subject heading “UFOs” makes this pretty much ungooglable. But I thought there were actual real non-conspiracy theory based international agreements (from the post war period) about how such things would be handled. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/29 "2015-01-12T15:32:01Z")
Doesn’t answer the question exactly but there are certain readings of the[Outer Space Treaty](http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/documentation/cooperation/treaty.htm) that would allow/oblige the USAF to destroy it avoid “contamination”: > **[UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors'](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/8025832/UN-to-appoint-space-ambassador-to-greet-alien-visitors.html)** > > A space ambassador could be appointed by the United Nations to act as the first point of contact for aliens trying to communicate with Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/30 "2015-01-12T15:42:29Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I thought there were actual real non-conspiracy theory based international agreements (from the post war period) about how such things would be handled. I would have thought that spending time and resources on such things would require some valid evidence that the threat actually existed. (Does the US Army have a plan in place to deal with the case where all soldiers whose last names start with ‘P’ or ‘T’ suddenly sprout horns from their heads?) But against this is the fact that even without evidence lots of silly people may believe in this, so it may make sense to be able to reassure them. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/31 "2015-01-12T15:54:54Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > Wouldn’t that be difficult when flying faster than the speed of light? That’s when your force certification saves the day. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/32 "2015-01-12T23:09:59Z")
Serious Reply Any species capable of interstellar flight would be capable of receiving all the radio, television and other signals we send out. They would be capable of sending signals of their own, announcing their peaceful intentions. Entering our territory at a high rate of speed and without warning of any kind could only be a hostile act. Something that is presumed hostile, moves very quickly and has unknown offensive capabilities would be attacked. This is SPOILERS one reason why Independence Day sucked. The alien ships move quickly over major cities without responding to any of the myriad of signals sent to them. Rather than just blasting away at them, the President launches special helicopters armed with signal lights. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/33 "2015-01-12T23:36:56Z")
I feel like I maybe missed something: regardless of whether there’s a by-the-book military response to an extraterrestrial craft flying around up there, there’s kinda sorta _gotta_ be standing orders about what to do if a _mundane_ aircraft is unresponsively causing a panic in the sky and we don’t know where it’s from, right? I mean, yeah, sure, call it an Unidentified Flying Object, but without the smirk. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/34 "2015-01-13T00:16:09Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Serious Reply > > Any species capable of interstellar flight would be capable of receiving all the radio, television and other signals we send out. They would be capable of sending signals of their own, announcing their peaceful intentions. Entering our territory at a high rate of speed and without warning of any kind could only be a hostile act. Something that is presumed hostile, moves very quickly and has unknown offensive capabilities would be attacked. I doubt it. Would you seriously want to be the first one to attack a presumed extra terrestrial craft that has so far done nothing directly hostile and is just sitting there? For one thing they might well be waiting to see how we respond as a kind of test. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/35 "2015-01-13T00:19:47Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I feel like I maybe missed something: regardless of whether there’s a by-the-book military response to an extraterrestrial craft flying around up there, there’s kinda sorta _gotta_ be standing orders about what to do if a _mundane_ aircraft is unresponsively causing a panic in the sky and we don’t know where it’s from, right? > > I mean, yeah, sure, call it an Unidentified Flying Object, but without the smirk. Fighter jets from several different countries have been scrambled at different times to intercept what are still technically UFO’s in the strict sense of the term because their origin or very nature were never conclusively identified. If it is a smaller craft, it is initially treated just like any other aircraft invading an nation’s airspace. The fighters try to make visualize contact with it to see if it is a civilian aircraft in distress or a foreign military aircraft and then act accordingly. I don’t think that is what this question is really about though. What if the craft in question wasn’t just some unidentified blip that couldn’t be easily identified but instead, something that was obviously of alien origin like a gigantic craft that decided to hover about a major metropolitan area or a legion of smaller craft that vastly exceeded the performance and design characteristics of any known aircraft and stuck around for an extended period? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/36 "2015-01-13T00:48:17Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > I doubt it. Would you seriously want to be the first one to attack a presumed extra terrestrial craft that has so far done nothing directly hostile and is just sitting there?. As I explained, entering our territory unannounced IS a hostile act. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/37 "2015-01-13T01:44:21Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I feel like I maybe missed something: regardless of whether there’s a by-the-book military response to an extraterrestrial craft flying around up there, there’s kinda sorta _gotta_ be standing orders about what to do if a _mundane_ aircraft is unresponsively causing a panic in the sky and we don’t know where it’s from, right? > > I mean, yeah, sure, call it an Unidentified Flying Object, but without the smirk. Yes. There are standard ROE for dealing with seemingly ordinary aircraft acting strangely. In a lot of cases we know where it came from since we tracked it from takeoff & can replay the radar records once it does something strange to attract DoD attention. But if something entered our airspace from way out over the ocean we’d not necessarily know where it entered the high seas from. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/38 "2015-01-13T05:10:43Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Any species capable of interstellar flight would be capable of receiving all the radio, television and other signals we send out. They would be capable of sending signals of their own, announcing their peaceful intentions. Entering our territory at a high rate of speed and without warning of any kind could only be a hostile act. That’s quite a non sequitur. Of course it doesn’t follow that if you don’t first explicitly announce that you are not hostile then you are implicitly hostile. Also, how do you know they didn’t announce themselves already and you just haven’t got the memo from China yet? > [@](#): > > Something that is presumed hostile, moves very quickly and has unknown offensive capabilities would be attacked. This is SPOILERS one reason why Independence Day sucked. No, what the movies get wrong is just how one-sided a war with an advanced ET species would be. It would be Mutual Assured Destruction minus the ‘Mutual’. Firstly, given the age of the universe, the chance of us encountering a species whose technology is mere centuries ahead of us is very slim. They are much more likely to be _millions_ of years ahead. It’s unlikely we have anything that could scratch them. Secondly, even if their technology was only slightly more advanced than our own, that “slightly” would include interstellar travel. Earth sits at the bottom of its own gravity well, and is thus incredibly vulnerable to a space-faring species. All they need to do is nudge a few rocks towards us to wipe out virtually all humans. So I would certainly hope that if we really were to have contact with ETs, then “Attack!” is option 999 or lower. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/39 "2015-01-13T05:46:59Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Serious Reply > > Any species capable of interstellar flight would be capable of receiving all the radio, television and other signals we send out. They would be capable of sending signals of their own, announcing their peaceful intentions… As pointed out this just doesn’t follow. A interstellar species hopefully would have found a way to communicate FTL which would mean that radio is a obsolete technology (by evidence that we don’t pick up their signals) which they would have little use for carrying such equipment. > [@](#): > > Entering our territory at a high rate of speed and without warning of any kind could only be a hostile act. Something that is presumed hostile, moves very quickly and has unknown offensive capabilities would be attacked. Could Only be 😕 Shoot first ask questions later I guess. But no, that does not follow either, especially when dealing with a alien species who may not have a concept of ownership or sovereignty. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548/40 "2015-01-13T19:41:04Z")
I’m sure there would be military jet escorts in pretty short order, but they would keep a safe distance. Beyond that who knows, everyone might just be winging it because even if there are plans in place an alien ship encounter, things probably won’t go like anyone had imagined or planned for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-an-extra-terrestrial-ship-appears-in-us-skies-what-is-the-official-usaf-response-protocol/709548.md?page=3)