Aliens--what if we Do find them?

Aliens are out there... and we need to stop trying to
talk to them, he says.

"We only have to look at ourselves to see how
intelligent life might develop into something we
wouldn't want to meet," the award-winning British
scientist said in the series for the Discovery
Channel.

To drive the point home, Hawking argued that aliens
visiting Earth would likely be the same as when
explorers first arrived in the New World.

"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as
when Columbus landed in America, which didn't
turn out well for the Native Americans," he said.

If aliens in space ships did come to Earth, Hawking
suggests, they may be more "V" than "E.T."

"Such advanced aliens would perhaps become
nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever
planets they can reach," he said, arguing that they
may have taken to the stars because they depleted
resources on their home world.

However, if humans were to encounter aliens,
Hawking believes they would likely be animals or
even just microbes.