Aliens may have stopped trying to contact humans because they simply got bored, Nasa scientist claims

Is there a reason aliens are ghosting us? Maybe they are bored of trying? That’s the latest theory from scientists who suggest that, contrary to popular belief, aliens are handling equipment similar to our own and so simply cannot detect humans.

Termed “radical mundanity”, a new paper takes a look at explanations for why there is a lack of evidence of technology-using extraterrestrials civilisations (ETCs) in the galaxy, also called the Fermi paradox.

Many attempts have been made to explain the Fermi paradox, ranging from humanity locked up in a celestial zoo to aliens transcending to unrecognisable forms.

According to the Drake equation, there should be many civilisations near enough and capable enough to get in contact with us. The equation attempts to estimate the chances of coming into contact with intelligent life, and suggests that the chance of that should be high.

But Dr Robin Corbet, who is based at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center, puts forward the theory that there are a modest number civilisations in the Milky Way, and “none have achieved technology levels sufficient to accomplish large-scale astro-engineering or lack the desire to do so”.

He said that ETCs could send out high-power beacon or probes to contact other civilisations, but it would require a huge amount of power and would take millions or even billions of years to receive a response. This provides little motivation to operate such technology, meaning aliens may have given up trying to make contact with us.

He also said that the Earth is “not likely to be a very interesting place to visit” if there are a reasonable number of ETCs in the galaxy.

The senior research scientist added that the mundane principle means the likelihood of an alien invasion is negligible.

In ‘A Less Terrifying Universe? Mundanity as an Explanation for the Fermi Paradox’ Dr Corbet wrote: “This consideration also leads to the expectation that no ETC will colonise a large fraction of the Galaxy, even using robotic probes, and that there are no long-duration high-power beacons.”

The scientist said that ETCs could send out powerful long-duration beacons that are visible from other planets, in turn revealing themselves.

However, this has not happened because the ETCs are ”nowhere near the super-science levels” that allows them to be detected. Thus, the radical mundanity principle.

But there is still a glimmer of hope for those hoping we’re not alone, as Dr Corbet said there is a “reasonable chance” we could make contact with ETCs, but the detection may “leave us slightly disappointed”.

This is because it would not lead to much advancement in our technology level, and would imply that “life in general would be rather common”.

“The idea is that they’re more advanced, but not much more advanced. It’s like having an iPhone 42 rather than an iPhone 17,” he told The Guardian. “This feels more possible, more natural, because it’s not proposing anything very extreme.”

“They don’t have faster-than-light, they don’t have machines based on dark energy or dark matter, or black holes. They’re not harnessing new laws of physics.”

Dr Corbet is the senior research scientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.