Unhidden Foundation (SPA0034)
Call for Evidence: House of Lords Select Committee on UK Engagement with Space: the importance of building resilience in public mental health ahead of any possible discovery of the existence of extraterrestrial life
I am writing in response to the Call for Evidence for the inquiry on UK Engagement with Space. This submission is on behalf of the Unhidden Foundation (”uNHIdden”). We are a non-profit foundation focused on supporting people, in terms of health, mental health and wellbeing, around the topic of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) and the possible discovery of the existence of non-human intelligence (NHI).
We are medically-led and our Medical Advisory Board includes Fellows of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists and the Faculty of Public Health.
This submission is relevant to the last of the nine bullet points in the list of key issues on which the Committee invites views, specifically:
The impact of space on national security and resilience.
In particular, we are raising the question of societal resilience to the possibility of receiving undeniable evidence of extraterrestrial life or intelligence - perhaps a biosignature from a distant exoplanet captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, or a sign from right here on Earth. Would we be prepared for the profound impact of such a revelation? What proactive measures should governments take today to ready our society for tomorrow?
The lack of planning for the possible discovery of the existence of extraterrestrial life
In 2010, the Royal Society convened a two-day Discussion Meeting on the topic of ‘the detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society’. The subsequent paper (Dominik & Zarnecki, 2011) [ref 1.] stated:
“If extra-terrestrial life happens to be detected, a coordinated response that takes into account all the related sensitivities should already be in place.”
Nearly 15 years on from this paper, is there a plan for a co-ordinated response in place? There is certainly nothing known to the public. The closest the UK seems to have got to this was an effort by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology in 2023 and 2024.
At a hearing of the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee on 13th December 2023 [ref 2.] Stephen Metcalfe MP asked:
“…if life were found in whatever form, do Government have a plan about how that would be shared with the public?”
The then Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan MP replied as follows:
“The communication plan would depend on the exact specifics of the hypothetical that we are talking about and how it would play out, and would also be a cross-Government undertaking with particular Cabinet Office involvement.”
Sitting beside her, Permanent Secretary Sarah Munby added:
“We have a small effort within our space team looking at the question of how we would handle such an announcement.”
UFO researcher and personality Nick Pope submitted a Freedom of Information Act request about the work that Ms Munby mentioned. In a post on X on 31st May 2025 [ref 3.], he announced that he had secured the release of a one-page proposal, as part of an internal DSIT challenge competition, bearing the title: “UK readiness for black swan scientific events: Case Study - The discovery of life beyond Earth.” A key paragraph read:
“The primary focus of the report will be the impact on the science landscape, with any considerations to wider impact set within this framing. The emphasis will be on the department’s readiness and response, and the lead it might play cross-government.”
Unfortunately, Mr Pope went on to announce in a further X post on 4th September 2024 [ref 4.] that:
“This proposal was selected but…work has now been paused indefinitely.”
In other words, the work on the DSIT plan was stopped and there is apparently, no intention to prepare one anywhere across government.
The challenge of ontological shock
The term 'ontological shock' is linked to the term 'ontological security' and can be traced back to 1960 when it was used by the psychologist R. D. Laing in his book ‘The Divided Self’ [ref 5.]. However, the original, psychological sense of the term relates to symptoms of schizophrenia and self-disorders. The decontextualised and sociological use of the term comes later: in 1991 Anthony Giddens refers [ref 6.] to ontological security as a sense of order and continuity in the way in which an individual sees the world. Meaning is found in experiencing positive and stable emotions, and by avoiding chaos and anxiety. If an event occurs that is not consistent with the meaning of an individual's life, this will threaten that individual's ontological security. Such an event is an ontological shock.
Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall discussed the difference between the physical and ontological threat of UFOs in their 2008 paper ‘Sovereignty and the UFO’ [ref 7.] They argued that:
“Threats can take two forms, physical threats to life and ontological threats to identity or social being… The physical threat, of course, is that ET presence in “our” solar system would indicate a vastly superior technology to human beings’, raising the possibility of conquest and even extermination…The ontological threat is that even if the ETs were benign, their confirmed presence would create tremendous pressure for a unified human response, or world government.”
At the Sol Symposium in November 2024, Dr Wendt delivered a talk titled "The Last Humans: UFOs and National Security" [ref 8.], where he discussed the potential societal "auto-immune" response to the discovery of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs). He proposed that such a revelation could act as an "ontological shock," fundamentally challenging human self-perception and the legitimacy of state authority. In choosing the term “auto-immune”, he was suggesting that the threat from the discovery of extraterrestrial life was not the ET beings themselves, but rather humanity’s reaction to it. (The subtle point was that the ET threat did not actually have to be real). He stressed the importance of the careful management of information about the topic, suggesting that a gradual, controlled release of information might prevent widespread societal disruption.
uNHIdden’s observations and recommendations
In April 2024, uNHIdden published a White Paper titled “The impact of Exceptional Experiences and disclosure on mental health and wellbeing”[ref 9.] One of the five recommendations was as follows:
“The UK Government should develop a plan for UAP disclosure that brings together multiple branches of government and community groups as a single, open, shared endeavour, putting people and their wellbeing first. This needs to be done in a way that builds trust.”
That recommendation remains valid today.
In the past year, uNHIdden has tried to build relationships with health providers, professional bodies and other mental health charities to take work in this area forward, with mixed results. While we were able to convene a meeting at the Royal Society of Medicine in July 2024, the stigma that surrounds the UAP topic has limited the extent to which the invited parties have been prepared to get involved.
Instead, uNHIdden has itself begun to develop a “Preparedness Plan” for building resilience in public mental health ahead of any possible discovery of the existence of extraterrestrial life. This is based on a Health Needs Assessment, which is a structured process used to identify and prioritise the mental health needs of a population. It helps inform the planning, development, and commissioning of services to improve mental health outcomes and reduce inequalities. We should be able to go out to consultation on a draft Plan in the coming weeks.
We urge the committee to consider the need for a robust plan to build resilience in public mental health ahead of any possible discovery of the existence of extraterrestrial life with due seriousness as part of its inquiry.
References
Dominik, M., & Zarnecki, J, ‘The detection of extraterrestrial life and the consequences for science and society’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 13th February 2011. Available at: The detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, Oral evidence: Work of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, HC 39. Wednesday 13 December 2023. Q76. Available here: committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/14006/pdf/
X post from Nick Pope dated 31st May 2024. Available here: https://twitter.com/nickpopemod/status/1796576634998505753
X post from Nick Pope dated 4th September 2024. Available here: https://twitter.com/nickpopemod/status/1831150831028035995
‘The Divided Self: a study of sanity and madness’ by R. D. Laing 240 pp. TAVISTOCK PUBLICATIONS London, 1960.
‘Modernity and Self-Identity - Self and Society in the Late Modern Age’ by Anthony Giddens 264pp. STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, Stanford, 1991.
Wendt, A., & Duvall, R., (2008), ‘Sovereignty and the UFO’, Political Theory 36(4) pp607-633 SAGE PUBLICATIONS. Available here: Sovereignty and the UFO
Dr. Alexander Wendt, "The Last Humans: UFOs and National Security" – talk at the Sol Symposium, November 2024. Available here: Dr. Alexander Wendt, "The Last Humans: UFOs and National Security"
‘The Impact of Exceptional Experiences and Disclosure on mental health and wellbeing’, uNHIdden, April 2024. Available here: uNHIdden-White-Paper-web.pdf
16 April 2025