Harvard Professor Explains What We Need to Do When the Aliens Arrive ✖ After Loeb went viral for his previous comments, he has now penned an essay on what we, as mankind, should do if aliens ever appear on Earth. Step one? Interestingly enough, Loeb says in his new piece — published by Scientific American — that our first step would be to determine exactly what we want do. That makes sense, right? "Clearly, interstellar affairs are not an imminent policy concern for any nation at this moment, so there is no international protocol issued by the United Nations for what to do," Loeb writes. "We should keep in mind that within a million years, humans might reside on the moon, Mars or free-floating space platforms, and each community might choose to respond differently. It is premature to contemplate a global policy long before it is required."