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252 A Mirror Image. Anthropologist Ashley Montagu warned that the manner in which we first meet may determine the character of all our subsequent relations.’* What matters is not just the first impressions that we have of the aliens but also the first impression that they have of us. They, too, might be confused by contact, uncertain of its consequences, and unsure of how to react to encountering another civilization. In a longer perspective, proposed Harrison, our focus is likely to shift away from our initial reactions to the long-term effects of contact. The minimum detection scenario, if it unfolds at all, will be a chapter in history. The years that we anticipate devoting to deciphering and inter- preting the first message will be long past.’? Again, this assumes remote contact. Those most optimistic about our reactions believe, implicitly or explic- itly, that the insulation of distance would moderate our emotional responses. Notably lacking in the literature are analyses of emotional reactions in a direct contact situation. The unwillingness of SETI advocates to address that possibility has left the field largely to science fiction. One of the most frequently denied stereotypes about contact is the predic- tion of panic. Mary Connors, drawing on a study of reactions to the 1938 Orson Welles “The War of the Worlds” broadcast, found that much of the fear and panic alleged to have occurred was manufactured or exaggerated by the media. She concluded that contact would engender little public alarm.”° However, she assumed the remote detection scenario. “The War of the Worlds,” by contrast, described an invasion. Reactions might be very different if contact were direct. Those humans who perceive such an encounter in the context of the more brutal episodes of human history might fear attack, invasion, or enslavement. Would that mean panic? We already have examples of extraterrestrial phenomena causing alarm: asteroids that pass close to the Earth. A scientific posting on the Internet stating that there was a small risk that a particular asteroid might collide with the Earth in the future generated a brief flurry of media interest, but there was no panic (later calculations showed that this body would miss our planet).”! Sociologist Lee Clarke examined the issue of panic in the context of the possible future impact of an asteroid on the Earth. His research showed that panic actually is quite rare in disaster situations. The more consistent pattern is that people bind together in the aftermath of disasters, cooperat- ing to restore their physical environments and their cultures.” Mixed Emotions Would There Be Panic?