Before his tragic death, professor Stephen Hawking made a chilling prediction about what will happen to humanity when contact with aliens is made – and now it might be coming true
10:44, 03 Aug 2025Updated 10:58, 03 Aug 2025
Aliens could be on the way as scientists try to work out what a mysterious object flying towards Earth could be (stock)(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A warning made by Stephen Hawking on contacting alien life could be coming true. The scientist, who helped to redefine our understanding of the world, made a chilling warning to humanity on what will happen when we make contact with aliens.
Now, seven years on from his tragic death, his predictions could be about to be realised due to one scientist. Before he passed away, Stephen admitted that should the human race manage to make contact with aliens, it could spell the end of life as we know it.
He explained that actively looking for alien life could lead to a deadly invasion, like how previous civilisations have been destroyed here on Earth between humans.
Stephen Hawking said that humanity should “keep its head low” to avoid being decimated by alien life(Image: Getty Images)
Speaking on the possibility of alien life in 2004, Stephen said: “The extraterrestrials would probably be far in advance of us. The history of advanced races meeting more primitive people on this planet is not very happy, and they were the same species – I think we should keep our heads low.”
While he did call for more relaxed searches for intelligent life, such as listening out for any bizarre alien radio signals, he warned against showing our presence to any other life-forms in the universe. This move, dubbed the “intelligence trap”, could mean that by actively looking for alien life, we could find societies far more advanced than ours, putting us in grave danger.
Now, Hawking’s chilling warnings have been only strengthened after a Harvard astrophysicist suggested that a mysterious object currently hurtling itself to Earth could be a UFO. The scientist said that overconfidence in our ability as a intelligent life form could lead to “hostile” encounters with any other alien species.
Professor Avi Loeb and other scientists have been conducting several studies of the 3I/ATLAS probe that was found coming towards the planet at the end of June. Some astronomers remain perplexed by the mysterious object, believing it to be a comet passing through the solar system.
Some astronomers are now believing that a comet passing through the solar system could be a UFO (stock)(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
But for Professor Loeb, he admitted that the object could in fact be artificially made and could be headed for Earth, as it appears to make its bizarre course of passing by Jupiter, Mars and Venus. He admitted that because of the unusual path the object is taking, it would be a sign of alien life.
He added that the reason for the aliens to visit our solar system would be for one of two reasons: to be friendly or to be hostile. He explained that should the hypothesis turn out to be true, could pose a huge problem for humanity.
Should 3I/ATLAS be alien life forms, then scientists say it could spell the end of humanity as we know it(Image: NSF NOIRLab/Int.Gemini Ob et al. / SWNS)
In a study written by the professor, according to the Daily Mail, wrote: “[This] could potentially be dire for humanity, and would possibly require defensive measures to be undertaken (though these might prove futile).” The mysteriously flying object will eventually pass by Earth within 223 million miles on December 17, and currently has a speed of 41 miles per second – equating to around 150,000 miles an hour.
Debate continues to rage on about whether humanity should contact alien life. While some astronomers say that there would be huge benefits to making contact with extraterrestrial lifeforms, many argue against the idea, admitting it would be a “tactical mistake” to attract attention.
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