--- title: "NASA Scientists Suggest The Reason We Haven’t Found Aliens Is They All Killed Themselves" description: "NASA scientists have provided a heartbreaking theory for why we haven't yet met any alien lifeforms — because they destroyed themselves before we could." date: "2022-11-15" modified: "2022-11-15" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-scientists-aliens-destroyed-themselves" categories: - "Future Society" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "alien life" - "politics" - "SETI" - "the digest" --- # NASA Scientists Suggest The Reason We Haven’t Found Aliens Is They All Killed Themselves ![NASA scientists have provided a heartbreaking theory for why we haven't yet met any alien lifeforms — because they destroyed themselves before we could.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Tragic Hypothesis In a paper that feels more like a call to action than its science fiction-esque premise would suggest, two NASA scientists have forwarded a heartbreaking explanation for why we haven't yet met any other intelligent lifeforms. The general idea? The aliens destroyed themselves before they could get to us. Behind the [yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper]() are two NASA scientists at CalTech's Jet Propulsion Lab, a student at a Catholic high school, and a Polish political science professor. What resulted is a variation on the famous "Great Filter" theory: that other civilizations that may have existed in the duration of the universe's history have likely "filtered" themselves out by blowing themselves up or otherwise destroying themselves. In an ominous twist, they point out that whatever terrible event has been weeding out aliens from the cosmos would logically strike before these civilizations made it off-world — meaning that if the argument applies to us, disaster would be poised to strike soon. "We postulate that an existential disaster may lay in wait as our society advances exponentially towards space exploration," the paper's introduction reads, "acting as the Great Filter: a phenomenon that wipes out civilizations before they can encounter each other, which may explain the cosmic silence." ## Track Record The researchers considered humanity's history of war, disease, and environmental degradation as a model. If other civilizations were even somewhat similar to us, they'd have a set of intrinsic dysfunctions that would thusly "snowball quickly into the Great Filter" and make a future of interplanetary contact impossible. While this is one of the most pessimistic takes to have in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), the researchers did postulate a few saving graces, if we can foresee far enough to avert our demise. "The key to humanity successfully traversing such a universal filter is… identifying \[destructive\] attributes in ourselves and neutralizing them in advance," the writers continued. So all we gotta do is figure out what's wrong with us, and try to fix it. Sounds easy enough, right? We'll see. **More alien extrapolation:** *[Study: There May Be as Many as Four Evil Civilizations in Our Galaxy]()* ## 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]()