What if They Reply?

The chances for success with limited SETI searches, or with beaming signals to distant star clusters, is small because there are so many stars and limited time to look. But what happens if we receive a reply, or we detect a radio signal with the unmistakable signature of an alien intelligence? We may be certain that life would never be the same on Earth again, but it is not clear how the people of the planet would respond to such a startling revelation. As someone has remarked, the nature of that response might be the surest measure of whether intelligent life exists on Earth.