Nick Pope, who worked for the British Government between 1985 and 2006, has claimed neither the UK nor any other country is truly prepared for whatever may be lurking in the void of space.
Between 1991 and 1994 Mr Pope examined UFO sightings for the MoD in a bid to determine if they had any defence-related significance.
The MoD pulled the plug on the UFO project in 2009 and Mr Pope has since extensively toured the world, giving lectures at seminars and alien-related conferences.
Which is why he told Express.co.uk he was not surprised to hear this month the German government has no plan ready for the possibility of first contact with extraterrestrials.
Earlier in August, the German Ministry of Economics said in a statement it considered first contact “extremely unlikely according to current scientific knowledge”.
Mr Pope has now said people are quick to dismiss calls for the creation of contingency plans.
He told Express.co.uk: “I was interested but not surprised to see that Germany has no official plan for what to do in the event of encountering extraterrestrials.
“The UK doesn’t have a plan either – nobody does – and I think this is a big mistake.
“People respond to the suggestion of a plan in two ways. Sceptics say it’s a waste of time, while conspiracy theorists say there is a plan but the government isn’t telling us.”
Mr Pope is certain the UK does not have a contingency plan drafted because odds are he would have been the very person to write it up.
The UFO expert said scepticism aside, it would be prudent for the Government to prepare for what could be the single “most high-impact scenario you could imagine” – meeting aliens.
According to Mr Pope, the Cabinet Office with input from the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser and the MoD should coordinate this effort.
He outlined three main scenarios that would fall under the umbrella of alien first contact.
This would include detecting radio signals from distant alien civilisations, discovering alien microbial life within the boundaries of the solar system or the arrival of alien ships and probes over Earth.
Mr Pope said: “Some of the issues that need to be addressed in a plan include the potential biological hazard posed by extraterrestrial life, and the question of whether we should reply to any message we receive from aliens – and if so, who should reply and what should they say.
“But there are more subtle issues. What if we pick up a message from another civilisation but can’t decipher it? Should it be published?
“Given that it might contain advanced scientific and technological information that someone could weaponise, probably not.
“There are bits and pieces of existing guidance that can help us with all this.”
Mr Pope said US space agency NASA has some guidance concerning “planetary protection” from potential extraterrestrial contaminants.
But the UFO expert stressed little is being done in terms of binding legislation to cover these issues in a “single document”, on a national and international scale.
Mr Pope said he is ready to draft such a contingency plant for further consultation with appropriate experts and stakeholders.