--- title: "Study: There May Be as Many as Four Evil Civilizations in Our Galaxy" description: "In a strange new paper, one researcher calculates that there are four \"malicious\" alien civilizations in the Milky Way alone." date: "2022-06-01" modified: "2022-06-01" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/study-evil-civilizations-galaxy" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Exobiology" - "Space" tags: - "alien civilizations" - "aliens" - "Exoplanets" - "extraterrestrials" - "meti" - "SETI" - "wow signal" --- # Study: There May Be as Many as Four Evil Civilizations in Our Galaxy ![In a strange new paper, one researcher calculates that there are four "malicious" alien civilizations in the Milky Way alone.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* In a mind-bending new paper, one researcher calculates that there are as many as four "malicious" alien civilizations in our home Milky Way galaxy alone. According to the [yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper](), by Spanish researcher Alberto Caballero, it's not a leap to assume that if aliens are anything like humans — that is, if they're warlike and prone to invade the territory of others — there's a pretty strong probability that some number would pose at least a potential threat to us Earthlings. The first caveat, as [*Vice* notes in an interview]() with Caballero, is that the sole author of the paper is not an astrophysicist, but a conflict resolution PhD student at Spain's University of Vigo. He has, however, demonstrated acumen in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) field by [publishing a separate paper]() in the University of Cambridge's peer reviewed *I**nternational Journal of Astrobiology* about the [potential origins of the notorious WOW! signal](). Part thought experiment and part game theory, Caballero's admittedly out-there paper is also interesting because of the way he reached his conclusions: by using a formula that takes into consideration how technologic advances seem to make civilizations less likely to invade one another. By using known data about the ways humans have historically invaded each others' territories and comparing it to the number of [assumed habitable exoplanets]() in the Milky Way, this alien-focused conflict resolution researcher deduced that although there could be up to four hostile alien civilizations in our galaxy, Earth is vastly more likely to be destroyed by an asteroid than to be invaded by bloodthirsty aliens. "I did the paper based only on life as we know it," Caballero told *Vice*. "We don’t know the mind of extraterrestrials. An extraterrestrial civilization may have a brain with a different chemical composition and they might not have our empathy or they might have more psychopathological behaviors." That's a fair point. There's a whole lot of base assumptions going into Caballero's paper: first, that an extraterrestrial civilization would even be interested enough in humanity to invade us, and secondly that increases in technological advancements would make them less warlike and not more so. But given that space peace between the US and Russia [continues to hold fast]() amid the latter's US-opposed invasion of Ukraine, maybe it's not such a stretch to believe that if aliens think anything like us, their potential ability to travel the cosmos would subdue their bloodlust. **READ MORE:** [There Are 4 ‘Malicious Extraterrestrial Civilizations’ in Milky Way, Researcher Estimates]() \[*Vice* *Motherboard*\] **More SETI:** [*Scientist Proposes Using Entire Planet as Spaceship to Different Star System*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()