The following opinion piece was originally published in the Globe & Mail, Canada's largest national newspaper, in August 1991...

EXTRATERRESTRIALS: What If They Liked The Taste Of Human Flesh? by Dr. Michael J. West

The possibility that life might exist elsewhere in the universe has fascinated human beings ever since our ancestors first gazed into the starry skies. Could life also have arisen on other worlds, or is the Earth unique? Are there other intelligent beings in the cosmos with whom we might someday make contact? As long ago as 400 B.C., the Greek philosopher Metrodorus of Chios reasoned that "It goes against Nature, in a large field to grow only one shaft of wheat, and in an infinite universe to have only one living world." Such speculations have sparked lively debate among astronomers, and fueled the imaginations of innumerable science fiction writers. The idea that human beings may someday travel among the stars in search of extraterrestrial life remains only a dream at present, far beyond the capabilities of existing technology. Yet it is certainly conceivable that advanced civilizations of other worlds, if they exist, may already have learned to navigate the vast expanses of interstellar space, and perhaps already set out to explore the cosmos. The possibility, however remote, that highly-advanced extraterrestrial beings might someday come to Earth raises some interesting philosophical and ethical questions. What if one day extraterrestrials really DO arrive here? Just imagine the possibilities.... What if extraterrestrial beings someday came to Earth and found that they liked the taste of human flesh? Would alien "farmers" raise herds of human "livestock" to be slaughtered for meat? Might men, women, and children end up baked, broiled, or barbecued to satisfy some hungry extraterrestrial's appetite? Perhaps certain "strains" of humans beings would be selectively bred to produce especially tender meat.

Suppose extraterrestrials discovered that they liked the taste of human milk. Might female humans be imprisoned on alien "dairy farms" where they would be regularly impregnated so that their breast milk could be gathered for little alien children to drink? After these women "cows" were no longer productive milk producers for their alien owners, might their fate be similar to that of dairy cows here on Earth -- ground up to make a few kilograms of human hamburger?

What if it became fashionable on some distant planet to wear coats made from human skin? A "human fur" coat made from the scalps of a few dozen earthlings might keep some fashion-conscious extraterrestrial warm from the chilly night air on a far away world. Might extraterrestrial "trappers" someday lay traps for unsuspecting humans walking the streets of our cities in order to satisfy the demand for human pelts? What if leading extraterrestrial scientists and doctors began performing experiments on live human subjects in order to advance their own medical knowledge? Perhaps they would undertake large medical studies, infecting hundreds or thousands of human "guinea pigs" with their most dreaded diseases in the hopes of finding a successful cure.

Many unfortunate humans might spend their entire lives imprisoned in tiny cages in alien laboratories, enduring years of painful experiments before death finally ended their misery. Others might be dissected while still alive so that alien vivisectors could study their anatomy or experiment with new medical techniques.

Although such experiments would cause tremendous stress, suffering, and eventually death for their human subjects, perhaps alien researchers would simply ignore their cries of pain, convinced that human experimentation is essential for medical progress. Alien lives are obviously worth more than any human life, because as every highly-intelligent extraterrestrial knows, those dumb humans aren't really capable of anything but the most primitive feelings and thoughts. To an advanced alien civilization it might seem that sacrificing thousands or millions of human lives for medical research is a small price to pay if it could eventually save the life of even just one cute little extraterrestrial child.

What if the idea that human beings possess fundamental rights of life and liberty seemed as absurd to them as the idea of animals having these same rights seems to many humans? What if the Earth were to become a favorite vacation spot for extraterrestrial hunters who would come here for the "sport" of hunting humans? Is it possible that killing other living creatures simply for fun is a favorite pasttime enjoyed by all advanced civilizations in the universe? Will future generations of human beings live in fear of having their heads blown off by some extraterrestrial yahoo with a gun? Might the walls of alien hunters' homes someday be decorated with the heads of humans they had "bagged" while on a hunting trip to Earth?

If we human beings believe that we have the right to be treated humanely by any extraterrestrial beings that we may someday encounter, even those more intelligent or technologically advanced than us, do we not then also have a moral obligation to likewise treat other sentient creatures that we encounter with similar compassion and respect? Does this not also apply to our treatment of other animals with whom we share our planet? As Albert Einstein, the greatest astrophysicist of this century (and himself a vegetarian) said: "Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."

If extraterrestrials ever come to Earth, let's hope that they will have developed a deeper sense of compassion and respect for all living creatures than Earth's supposedly most intelligent species seems to have developed so far.

Michael West is a professor of astronomy and physics at Saint Mary's University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Copyright by Michael J. West