SETI.ORG - Beyond Disclosure Day: The Real-World Protocols

[Gary C]

Contrary to the characterizations of believers, working scientists do think about these questions and put some effort into planning for the possibility of discovering an NHI.

At a Glance:

• What: The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) has ratified updated protocols governing how scientists evaluate, verify, and announce evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence.
• Why it matters: The guidelines are the first major revision in more than 15 years and address today's realities of social media, AI-generated misinformation, deepfakes, and 24-hour news cycles.
• Led by: Professor Michael Garrett (University of Manchester), Chair of the IAA SETI Committee, with contributions from an international team of experts.
• Key change: Any potential detection must undergo rigorous independent verification before a public announcement is made.
• Expanded scope: The protocols now reflect modern SETI research, including searches for technosignatures across the electromagnetic spectrum and other emerging detection methods.
• Researcher protections: New provisions acknowledge risks such as online harassment, doxxing, misinformation campaigns, and intense media scrutiny.
• No Reply policy remains: The protocols reaffirm that no response should be sent to an extraterrestrial intelligence without broad international consultation, including through the United Nations.
• What's next: The updated Declaration will be presented to the global scientific community at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Türkiye later this year, and the IAA will establish a permanent Post-Detection Sub-Committee to address legal, ethical, and societal implications of a confirmed discovery.
• Full Declaration: https://iaaspace.org/wp-content/uploads/iaa/Scientific Activity/iaasetideclaration.pdf

Link to the PR - https://www.seti.org/news/beyond-disclosure-day/

 

[FatPhil]

[*]Key change: Any potential detection must undergo rigorous independent verification before a public announcement is made.

Am I the only one who detects a contradiction in that statement?

I'm not saying that I disagree with their assumptions about how many aliens can dance on the head of a pin, but for complete balance I eagerly await equivalent protocol announcements from the bigfoot and faerie hunters.

 

[Gary C]

I suppose the difference comes down to SETI.org knowing it's membership while the requirement for becoming a fairy hunter is an internet connection.
Maybe.

 

[John J.]

Any potential detection must undergo rigorous independent verification before a public announcement is made.

Am I the only one who detects a contradiction in that statement?

Maybe not a contradiction, I think the IAA is suggesting that the hypothetical discoverers ask other observatories (or whatever) to independently check their observations/ data in confidence, and that this should be done before any public announcement by any of the parties involved.

It might be questionable whether this would happen in the way the IAA authors hope it would. I doubt that IAA has many sanctions available, or legal authority, to prevent leaks or individual scientists/ teams doing what they want. To some, going down in history as the person/ team who divulged the discovery of ETI to the world might outweigh the risk of having their IAA membership cancelled.

I quite like the IAA 2026 Position Paper, but in the real world the IAA's influence and authority is probably very limited.
If, say, a Chinese radio astronomy team detected a candidate signal, they might feel compelled to inform the political authorities who would then determine the course of action, which might or might not align with IAA advice.