If aliens arrived tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d ask them?

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You Came All This Way… Why?

If aliens arrived tomorrow, the first thing I would ask them is:

“Of all the places in the universe, what made you stop here?”

Because I would need to understand the itinerary.

Did you mean to come to Earth? Was this a planned visit? Or did somebody miss a turn somewhere?

And before we get too comfortable, are you visiting, or are you looking for somewhere to stay? There is a difference, and we need to establish that early.

Once we got those details settled, though, I think my curiosity would take over.

What does home look like to you?
Do you have families?
Do you laugh?
Do you have music?
When you lose someone you love, how do you remember them?

I would want to know what matters to them. What they carry with them when they travel so far from home.

Then I would ask what they had noticed about us.

I wonder what Earth looks like to someone who has never lived here. Would they notice our kindness? Our creativity? The way we keep finding reasons to hope?

Or would they struggle to understand why we spend so much time hurting one another when there is already so much pain we cannot prevent?

I would hope they stayed long enough to see someone feed a stranger, hold a grieving friend, or make a child laugh. I would want them to see those ordinary moments before deciding who we are.

And yes, before they left, I might ask whether they read.

Because if my books can help somebody on Earth, who am I to rule out a whole other planet?

If aliens arrived tomorrow, what would your first question be?