The search for extraterrestrial intelligence operates under a veil of secrecy that most people are unaware of. According to Dr. Jill Tarter, co-founder of SETI, scientists follow strict protocols that require them to keep potential alien discoveries hidden from the public while conducting thorough verification. These revelations came during a recent interview on StarTalk, hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, in which Tarter explained how the scientific community handles what could be humanity’s most important discovery.
To illustrate the magnitude of the challenge, Tarter used a striking analogy: after 50 years of SETI operations, “all the searches we’ve done so far are like saying, ‘Let’s go look for fish in the ocean,’ but using only an eight-ounce cup, dipping it into the ocean, taking a look, and asking, ‘Are there any fish there?’” The comparison highlights how minuscule our search efforts have been compared to the vastness of space that remains unexplored.
Despite this limited scope, SETI operates under formal protocols established in 1989 that dictate exactly how a potential extraterrestrial contact should be handled. According to the guidelines of the International Institute of Space Law, cited by Tarter, any potential signal must be confirmed by at least two different radio telescopes located in separate regions of the world before any public announcement can be made. The primary objective, as Tarter explained, is to “make absolutely sure you’ve got it right” and ensure that “whatever you announce is not just a glitch in your detection system.”
The importance of this protocol became evident in 2019 during the incident known as BLC-1, when researchers detected what appeared to be an artificial signal coming from the direction of Proxima Centauri, our nearest star. Officially designated Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1, the signal exhibited characteristics consistent with extraterrestrial technology: it was extremely narrow-band, at 982.002 MHz, and appeared across multiple observations over several months. Natural cosmic sources typically broadcast across a wide range of frequencies, making this focused transmission particularly intriguing to researchers.
SETI’s culture of secrecy is also reflected in the way information reaches the public. In her StarTalk interview, Tarter admitted uncertainty about how society would react to an alien contact, stating, “I don’t know, Neil,” while expressing concern about potential political implications. Even her promise that “you will know what I know” regarding alien discoveries runs up against the formal protocols, which require long periods of verification before disclosure.
Perhaps most controversially, Tarter suggested that the ethics of responding to extraterrestrial contact could be controlled by “religious entities across the planet,” rather than by scientific consensus alone. This claim raises difficult questions about who should have the authority to shape humanity’s response to alien contact, and whether religious institutions should play a role in decisions grounded in scientific discovery.
According to SETI’s protocols, the verification process serves two main purposes: preventing false alarms that could undermine scientific credibility, and avoiding premature attempts to communicate with unknown civilizations. Guidelines from the International Academy of Astronautics specify that scientists should only announce discoveries after independent confirmation and must refrain from attempting contact until global governments can coordinate an appropriate response.
This systematic approach means that the public could remain unaware of investigations into alien signals for years—or even decades. The BLC-1 case demonstrates how a possible extraterrestrial signal can be detected, analyzed, and ultimately dismissed without the public knowing during the verification phase. Although researchers eventually determined that BLC-1 was terrestrial interference, the incident underscores just how close humanity may have come to confirmed alien contact—while remaining completely in the dark.
